Lamentations 5 Cross References - ISV

¹ A Prayer for Deliverance LORD, remember what has happened to us. Pay attention, and look at our shame! ² Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, and our homes to foreigners. ³ We are now orphans—without fathers— and our mothers are like widows. ⁴ We pay to drink our own water, and our own wood is sold to us at high price. ⁵ Our pursuers breathe down our necks; we are weary, but there is no rest for us. ⁶ We made a deal with the Egyptians and the Assyrians for the price of food. ⁷ Our ancestors sinned and no longer exist yet we continue to bear the consequences of their sin. ⁸ Slaves rule over us, and no one delivers us from their control. ⁹ We risk our lives to obtain our food, facing death in the desert. ¹⁰ Our skin blisters as from an oven, due to ravaging blasts of the famine. ¹¹ They have raped women in Zion, young women in the towns of Judah. ¹² Princes they have hung by their hands; elders they have disrespected. ¹³ Our young men must grind grain with a millstone; our youths stumble under the weight of wood. ¹⁴ Our elders have ceased ruling at the gate; our young men have abandoned their music. ¹⁵ The joy of our hearts has ceased, and our dancing has turned into dirges. ¹⁶ The crown has fallen from our head— woe to us, because we have sinned! ¹⁷ This is why our hearts faint, and why our eyes grow dim: ¹⁸ Because Mount Zion is desolate; foxes roam around it. ¹⁹ You, LORD, are forever— your throne endures from generation to generation. ²⁰ So why have you completely forgotten us, forsaking us for so long? ²¹ Restore us to yourself, LORD, so that we may return. Renew our days as before, ²² unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us without limit.

³ They told me, “The survivors of the captivity there in the province are living in great distress and shame. Furthermore, the Jerusalem wall remains broken down and its gates have been burned by fire.”

⁸ Please remember what you spoke in commanding your servant Moses. You said, ‘If you rebel, I will scatter you among the nations

⁴ Nehemiah’s Prayer“Listen, our God, because we are being mocked. Let their insults fall back on them, and let them be dragged away as captives into exile.

⁷ Remember that my life is a breath; my eyes won’t go back to seeing good things.

⁹ “‘Please remember that you’ve made me like clay and you’ll return me to dust.

¹³ You made us a laughing stock to our neighbors, a source of mockery and derision to those around us. ¹⁴ You made us an object lesson among the nations; people shake their heads at us. ¹⁵ My dishonor tortures me continuously; the shame on my face overwhelms me ¹⁶ because of the voice of the one who mocks and reviles, because of the enemy and the avenger.

¹⁰ God, how long will the adversary scorn while the enemy despises your name endlessly? ¹¹ Why do you not withdraw your hand— your right hand—from your bosom and destroy them?

⁴ We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and a derision to those around us.

¹² Pay back our neighbors seven times the reproach with which they reproached you, LORD.

⁵⁰ Remember, Lord, the reproach of your servant! I carry inside me all the insults of many people, ⁵¹ when your enemies reproached you, LORD, when they reproached the footsteps of your anointed.

³ Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy, for we have had more than enough of contempt. ⁴ Our lives overflow with scorn from those who live at ease, with contempt from those who are proud.

¹⁵ Jeremiah’s Revised ComplaintYou are aware— LORD, remember me, pay attention to me, and vindicate me in front of those who pursue me. You are patient— don’t take me away. Know that I suffer insult because of you!

²⁰ Look, LORD, how distressed I am; all my insides are churning. My heart is troubled within me, because I vigorously rebelled. Outside the sword brings loss of life, while at home death rules.

¹⁵ Everyone who passes by on the road shake their fists at you. They hiss and shake their heads at cherished Jerusalem: “Is this the city men used to call ‘The Perfection of Beauty,’ and ‘The Joy of the Entire Earth’”?

²⁰ Look, LORD, and take note: To whom have you done this? Should women eat their offspring, the children they have cuddled? Should priests and prophets be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?

¹⁹ Remember my affliction and homelessness— wormwood and gall!

⁶¹ LORD, you listened to their insults— all their plots against me,

² LORD, as I listen to what has been said about you, I am afraid. LORD, revive your work throughout all of our lives— reveal yourself throughout all of our lives— when you are angry, remember compassion.

⁴² Then he went on to plead, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom!”

³⁰ You’ll be engaged to a woman, but another man will rape her. You’ll build a house but you won’t live in it. You’ll plant a vineyard but you won’t harvest it. ³¹ Your ox will be slaughtered in front of you, and you won’t be able to eat it. Your donkey will be stolen from you while you watch and won’t be returned to you. Your flock of sheep will be handed to your enemies and there will be no deliverer. ³² Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you watch, and you won’t be able to approach them at all, and you’ll be powerless to help.
³³ “A people whom you don’t know will devour what your land and labor produces. You’ll be only oppressed and discouraged continuously ³⁴ until you are driven insane from what your eyes will see.
³⁵ “The LORD will inflict you with incurable boils on your knees and legs, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.
³⁶ “The LORD will banish you and your king whom you will appoint over you to go to a nation that neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you’ll serve other gods of wood and stone. ³⁷ You’ll become a desolation and a proverb, and you’ll be mocked among the people where the LORD will drive you.”
³⁸ Complete Reversal“You’ll plant many seeds in a field, but your harvest will be small because the locust will consume it. ³⁹ You’ll plant a vineyard, but you won’t drink wine or harvest any grapes, because worms will consume it. ⁴⁰ You’ll have olive trees throughout your territory, but you won’t be able to anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off the trees. ⁴¹ You’ll bear sons and daughters, but they won’t belong to you, because they’ll go into captivity. ⁴² Whirling locusts will consume every tree and the produce of your land. ⁴³ The foreigner in your midst will be elevated higher and higher over you, while you are brought low little by little. ⁴⁴ He will lend to you, but you won’t lend to him. He’ll be the head, but you’ll be the tail. ⁴⁵ All these curses will come upon you and will overwhelm you until you are exterminated, because you didn’t obey the LORD your God to keep his commands and statutes, which he had commanded you. ⁴⁶ These curses will serve as a sign and wonder for you and your descendants as long as you live.”
⁴⁷ Servitude and Bondage“Because you didn’t serve the LORD your God joyfully and wholeheartedly, despite the abundance of everything you have, ⁴⁸ you’ll serve your enemies whom the LORD your God will send against you. You will serve in famine and in drought, in nakedness, and in lack of everything. They’ll set a yoke of iron upon your neck until they have exterminated you.
⁴⁹ “The LORD will raise a distant nation against you from the other side of the earth. Swooping down like a vulture, ⁵⁰ it will be a nation whose language you don’t understand, whose stern appearance neither shows regard nor extends grace to anyone whether old or young. ⁵¹ Its army will consume the offspring of your animals and the produce of your soil until you are exterminated. They will leave you without your grain, wine, oil, the increase of your cattle, and the lamb of your flock, until you are completely destroyed. ⁵² They’ll besiege all your cities until your high and fortified walls in which you have trusted collapse throughout the land. Indeed, they will besiege all your cities, which the LORD your God gave you.”
⁵³ Cannibalism“You’ll eat your own children—the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God gave you—on account of the siege and the distress with which your enemy will oppress you. ⁵⁴ Even the compassionate man among you—the very sensitive one—will look with evil in his eyes toward his brother, his beloved wife, and his surviving sons, whom he spared. ⁵⁵ He will withhold from each of them the flesh of his sons that he is eating—since there will be nothing left—on account of the siege and distress with which your enemy will oppress you in all your cities. ⁵⁶ The most tender and sensitive lady among you, who doesn’t venture to touch the soles of her feet to the ground on account of her daintiness, will look with hostility in her eyes against her beloved husband, her sons, and her daughters. ⁵⁷ She will eat her afterbirth and her newborn children secretly—since there will be nothing left—on account of the siege and distress with which your enemy will oppress you in your cities.”
⁵⁸ Reduction in Population“If you aren’t careful to observe all the words of this Law that have been written in this book, instructing you to fear this glorious and awesome name of the LORD your God, ⁵⁹ then he will inflict extraordinary plagues on you and your children, great and lasting plagues, and severe and lasting illnesses. ⁶⁰ He will inflict on you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they won’t be curable. ⁶¹ Moreover, the LORD will inflict you with illnesses and plagues that were not written in this Book of the Law, until you are exterminated. ⁶² Because you will not have obeyed the LORD your God, very few of you will be left—instead of you being as numerous as the stars in the heavens. ⁶³ Just as the LORD delighted to prosper and increase you, so now the LORD will delight to destroy, exterminate, and banish you from the land that you are about to enter to possess.”
⁶⁴ Scattering among the Nations“He’ll scatter you among the peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you’ll serve other gods made of wood and stones, which neither you nor your ancestors have known. ⁶⁵ Among those nations you’ll have no rest. There’ll be no resting place for the soles of your feet. Instead, the LORD will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a despairing spirit. ⁶⁶ You’ll cling to life, being fearful by both night and day, with no assurance of survival. ⁶⁷ In the morning you’ll say, ‘I wish it were evening.’ Yet in the evening you’ll say, “I wish it were morning,” on account of what you’ll dread and what you’ll see. ⁶⁸ Finally, the LORD will bring you back to Egypt by ship, a place that I said you’ll never see again. There you’ll try to sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”

¹ A Psalm of Asaph
A Prayer for Jerusalem God, nations have invaded your land to desecrate your holy Temple, to destroy Jerusalem, ² to give the corpses of your servants as food for the birds of the skies and the flesh of your godly ones to the beasts of the earth;

⁷ God’s Diagnosis“Your country lies desolate; your cities have been incinerated. Before your very eyes, foreigners are devouring your land— they’ve brought devastation on it, while the land is overthrown by foreigners.

¹⁷ Then the lambs will graze in their pasture; fatlings and foreigners will eat among the waste places of the rich.”

¹⁸ Your holy people took possession for a little while, but now our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.

¹² Their houses will be turned over to others— their fields and wives together— when I stretch out my hand against those who live in the land,” declares the LORD.

²¹ I’ll give it as plunder into the control of strangers and as the spoils of war to the wicked who will invade the land to profane it.

²⁴ Therefore, I’m bringing the worst of the nations, who will take possession of their houses. I’ll cause the pride of the mighty to cease, and their sanctuaries will be profaned.

¹³ Therefore their possessions will be seized as plunder and their homes left in ruins. They may build houses, but they won’t live in them. They may plant vineyards, but they won’t drink their wine.”
Zephaniah’s Description of the Day of the LORD

²⁴ And I’ll be angry and will kill you with swords, and your wives will become widows and your children orphans.

⁸ I’ll make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea. At noontime I’ll send a destroyer against the mother of a young man. I’ll cause terror and anguish to come to her unexpectedly.

²¹ Therefore, make their children undergo famine, and deliver them over to death in time of war. May their women be childless widows! May their men be slaughtered! May their young men be slain by the sword in battle!

³ Assyria won’t save us; we won’t be riding on horses, Nor will we be saying anymore to the work of our hands, “You are our God.” Indeed, in you the orphan finds mercy.’

⁴⁸ you’ll serve your enemies whom the LORD your God will send against you. You will serve in famine and in drought, in nakedness, and in lack of everything. They’ll set a yoke of iron upon your neck until they have exterminated you.

¹ Judgment Comes to Judah’s Leaders “Note this! The Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies is taking away from Jerusalem and Judah everything that your society needs— all food supplies and all water supplies,

⁹ Ezekiel’s Menu“Furthermore, you are to take some wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and mix them together in one container. Then you are to make bread from these grains sufficient to supply you through the time during which you’ll be sleeping on your side. You are to eat it for 390 days. ¹⁰ The food that you’ll be eating is to consist of portions weighing 20 shekels, to be consumed daily at regular intervals. ¹¹ You are to measure one sixth of one hin of water each time you drink it. ¹² You are to eat it as barley cakes and bake it right in front of them, using dried human dung for cooking fuel.”
¹³ Then the LORD said, “This is how the Israelis will be eating unclean food among the nations, where I’ll be sending them.”
¹⁴ “Now, Lord GOD,” I replied, “I’ve never been defiled, ever since I was young until now. I haven’t eaten an animal that died on its own or was torn by beasts, and no unclean meat has ever entered my mouth!”
¹⁵ “Okay,” he responded. “I’ll allow you to substitute cow’s dung for human dung. Cook your food over that.”
¹⁶ He also told me, “Son of Man, look! I’m about to disrupt the source of bread in Jerusalem. As a result, they’ll ration bread by weight while their terror continues to grow and they’ll ration drinking water while their horror continues to mount! ¹⁷ Indeed, they’ll need bread and water, but everyone will be panic-stricken as they waste away in their iniquity.”

⁶⁵ Among those nations you’ll have no rest. There’ll be no resting place for the soles of your feet. Instead, the LORD will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a despairing spirit. ⁶⁶ You’ll cling to life, being fearful by both night and day, with no assurance of survival.

³⁶ “Look! Today we are your servants, along with the land that you gave to our ancestors, so they could enjoy its fruit and its value— behold, in it we are your servants! ³⁷ But now its abundant produce belongs to the kings whom you placed over us because of our sin. They also have power over our bodies and our herds at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

² this is what the LORD says to me: “Make restraints and yokes for yourself and put them on your neck.

⁸ If a nation and kingdom does not serve him—King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon—and does not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I’ll judge that nation with the sword, with famine, and with plague,” declares the LORD, “until I’ve completely destroyed it by his hand.

¹¹ But I’ll let the nation that brings its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him remain in its own land,” declares the LORD, “and they’ll work it and remain in it.”’”
¹² Zedekiah Told to Submit to BabylonI spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah using words like these: “Bring your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people, and you will live!

¹⁴ For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “I’ve put an iron yoke on the necks of all these nations to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They’ll serve him, and I’ve even given the wild animals to him.”’”

¹⁴ The yoke of my sins was bound on, fastened together by his hand. They settled on my neck; he caused my strength to fail. The LORD placed me in the power of those I cannot resist.

¹⁹ Our pursuers were swifter than soaring eagles; they pursued us over the mountains, lying in wait for us in the wilderness.

²⁹ Place my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest for your souls,

¹⁰ So why do you test God by putting on the disciples’ neck a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we could carry?

² So Abraham instructed his servant, who was the oldest member of his household and in charge of everything he owned, “Make this solemn oath to me

¹⁵ After he left there, he encountered Rechab’s son Jehonadab. After he greeted him, Jehu asked him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is with yours?”
“It is,” Jehonadab answered.
“If it is,” Jehu replied, “Put out your hand.” So Jehonadab stuck out his hand, and Jehu took him up to stand in his chariot.

¹ Foolish Trust in Egypt “Oh, you stubborn children,” declares the LORD, “who carry out plans— but they are not mine, and who make alliances— but not by my Spirit, piling sin upon sin. ² They set out to go down to Egypt, without asking my advice; taking refuge in Pharaoh’s protection, and seeking shelter in Egypt’s shadow. ³ But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame, and sheltering in Egypt’s shadow your longing. ⁴ And it will turn out that his officials are at Zoan, and his envoys will reach Hanes. ⁵ There is only loathsome destruction through a people that cannot benefit them, who bring neither help nor profit, but only shame and disgrace.”
⁶ The Animals of the NegevAn oracle about the animals of the Negev: “Through a land of trouble, dryness, and distress, of lionesses and roaring lions, where there is no water, a land of vipers and darting snakes, he carries their riches on donkeys’ backs, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a nation that cannot benefit them,

¹ Only the LORD can Help “How terrible it will be for those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the chariot, because there are so many, and in charioteers, because they are so strong— but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or seek the LORD! ² Yet he is also wise and can bring disaster; he does not take back his words, but will rise up against the house of those who practice evil and against anyone who assists people who work iniquity. ³ The Egyptians are men, not God, and their horses are physical, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out his hand, anyone who assists will stumble, and the one who is helped will fall; and they will all perish together.”

⁹ You went to Molech with olive oil and increased your perfumes; you sent your ambassadors far away, you sent them down even to Sheol itself!

¹⁸ Now, what are you doing on the road to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Nile? And what are you doing on the road to Assyria, to drink the waters of the Euphrates?

³⁶ Why do you go about changing your mind so much? You will also be disappointed by Egypt, just as you were disappointed by Assyria.

¹² I’ll take the remnant of Judah that determined to go to the land of Egypt to settle there, and all of them will come to an end in the land of Egypt. They’ll fall by the sword, and they’ll come to an end by famine. They’ll become a curse, an object of horror, ridicule, and scorn. ¹³ I’ll punish those who live in the land of Egypt just as I punished Jerusalem—with the sword, with famine, and with plague. ¹⁴ Of the remnant of Judah that came into the land of Egypt to settle there, no one will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah where they long to return and live. Indeed, they won’t return, except for some refugees.’”

¹⁵ Raise a battle cry against her on every side. She has surrendered, her pillars have fallen, her walls are thrown down. For this is the vengeance of the LORD. Take vengeance on her; as she has done, do to her.

¹⁸ He despised the oath he had made and broke the covenant. Look! Because he willingly submitted, yet he has done all these things, he won’t escape.

¹³ When Ephraim examined his illness and Judah his injury, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and inquired of the great king; but he could not cure you nor heal your injury.

¹¹ “Ephraim is also like a silly dove, lacking sense: They call out to Egypt, and turn toward Assyria.

³ They will not live in the LORD’s land— Ephraim will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.

¹ Israel’s Sin “Ephraim feeds on the wind, chasing after the eastern winds, storing up lies and desolation day after day. They are making a contract with the Assyrians, and sending oil to Egypt.

¹³ “But your majesty,” they pleaded, “your servants include twelve brothers, the sons of a common father back in the land of Canaan. Please! Our youngest brother remains with our father, and the other one is no longer alive.”

³⁶ Their father Jacob told them, “You’re causing me to lose my children! Joseph is gone. Now Simeon is gone, and you’re planning to take Benjamin, too. Everything’s going against me!”

⁵ You are not to bow down to them in worship or serve them, because I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the iniquity of the parents to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,

⁸ The eyes of the one who sees me won’t see me anymore; your eyes will look for me but I won’t be around!

²¹ Why haven’t you pardoned my transgression and taken away my iniquity? Now I’m about to lie down in the dust. You will seek me diligently, but I won’t be around!”

²⁰ We acknowledge, LORD, our wickedness, the guilt of our ancestors. Indeed, we have sinned against you.

¹² You have done even more evil than your ancestors, and each one of you is stubbornly following his own evil desires, refusing to listen to me.

¹⁵ The End of Rachel’s MourningThis is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter crying. Rachel is crying, and she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no longer alive.”

²⁹ “In those days people will no longer say, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, but the children’s teeth have been set on edge.’

² “Why do you cite this proverb when you talk about Israel’s land: ‘The fathers eat sour grapes but it’s their children’s teeth that have become numb.’

⁵ “Your ancestors—where are they? And the prophets—do they live forever?

³² Then finish what your ancestors started! ³³ You snakes, you children of serpents! How can you escape being condemned to hell?
³⁴ “That is why I am sending you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will whip in your synagogues and persecute from town to town. ³⁵ As a result, you will be held accountable for all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel to the blood of Berechiah’s son Zechariah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. ³⁶ I tell all of you with certainty, all these things will happen to those living today.”

²⁵ he said, “Canaan is cursed! He will be the lowest of slaves to his relatives.”

⁴³ The foreigner in your midst will be elevated higher and higher over you, while you are brought low little by little.

¹⁹ Nehemiah Replies to SanballatBut when Sanballat the Horonite, his servant Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they jeered at us and despised us when they said, “What is this thing that you’re doing? You’re rebelling against the king, aren’t you?”

¹⁵ Nevertheless, the former governors before me placed a heavy burden on the people. They received food and wine, plus a tax of 40 shekels of silver. Even their young men took advantage of the people, but I never did so because I feared God.

⁴ His children are far from deliverance; they’ll be maltreated before they leave home, with no one to rescue them.

⁷ Although you know that I’m not guilty, there’s no one to deliver me from you!

² Otherwise, they will rip me to shreds like a lion, tearing me apart with no one to rescue me.

²² Consider this, you who have forgotten God— Otherwise, I will tear you in pieces and there will be no deliverer:

²² Under a slave when he becomes a king, a fool when he is overfed,

¹³ “I am God; also from ancient days I am the one. And there is no one who can deliver out of my hand; when I act, who can reverse it?”

¹⁰ So now I’ll reveal her lewdness to the eyes of her lovers, and no man will rescue her from my control.

⁶ Therefore I will no longer show compassion upon those who live in the land,” declares the LORD. “Look! I will deliver every single person into the control of his neighbor and into the control of the king. Even though they assault the land, I will not deliver it from their control.”

¹¹ Gideon is Visited by the Angel of the LORDAfter this, the angel of the LORD arrived and sat down in the shade of the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash, a descendant of Abiezer, while his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press in order to safeguard it from the Midianites.

¹⁷ and said, “The LORD forbid that I drink this—this is the blood of men who endangered their own lives!” The Three elite warriors did these things.

⁹ Ahikam’s son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men: “Don’t be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Remain in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and things will go well for you. ¹⁰ As for me, I’ll remain at Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, gather wine, summer fruit, and oil. Put it in your containers and live in your cities that you have taken over.”
¹¹ All the Judeans who were in Moab, those with the people in Ammon, those in Edom, and those in all the other countries also heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant for Judah and that he had appointed Ahikam’s son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, over them. ¹² So all the Judeans returned from all the countries where they had been scattered. They came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and they gathered wine and summer fruit in great abundance.

¹ Gedaliah is AssassinatedIn the seventh month, Nethaniah’s son Ishmael, the grandson of Elishama, a member of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, came to Ahikam’s son Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with ten men. While they were dining together there at Mizpah, ² Nethaniah’s son Ishmael and the ten men with him got up and killed Ahikam’s son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, with swords and killed the man whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. ³ Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with him (that is, with Gedaliah) at Mizpah, along with the Chaldean soldiers who were found there.
⁴ Now on the day after Gedaliah was killed, when as yet no one knew about it, ⁵ eighty men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria came with their beards shaved, their clothes torn, and their bodies slashed. They had grain offerings and incense with them to present at the LORD’s Temple.
⁶ Nethaniah’s son Ishmael went out from Mizpah to meet them, crying as he went. As he met them he told them, “Come meet with Ahikam’s son Gedaliah.” ⁷ When they reached the middle of the city, Nethaniah’s son Ishmael and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern.
⁸ Ten men who were among them told Ishmael, “Don’t kill us because we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field. So Ishmael stopped and did not kill them or their companions. ⁹ Ishmael threw the bodies of the men he killed on account of Gedaliah into the cistern that King Asa had made for protection against King Baasha of Israel. That is the same one Nethaniah’s son Ishmael filled with those he killed. ¹⁰ Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, including the king’s daughters and all the rest of the people in Mizpah over whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had appointed Ahikam’s son Gedaliah. Nethaniah’s son Ishmael took them captive and then set out to cross over to the Ammonites.

¹⁸ because of the Chaldeans. They were afraid of the Chaldeans because Nethaniah’s son Ishmael had killed Ahikam’s son Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

¹⁴ and you also say, “No, but we will go to the land of Egypt where we won’t see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or hunger for bread, and there we will stay,”

¹⁶ the sword that you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt. The famine that you dread will pursue you into Egypt, and there you will die.

¹⁸ “Son of Man, eat your bread with trembling and drink your water with quivering and anxiety. ¹⁹ Then tell the people of the land, ‘This is what the LORD says to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to Israel’s land: “They’ll eat their food in anxiety and drink their water in trepidation, because their land will be desolate in its entirety due to all the violence committed by all who live in it.

³⁰ My skin turns black all over me; and my bones seem burned from the heat.

⁸³ Though I have become like a water skin dried by smoke, I have not forgotten your statutes.

⁴ He made my flesh and skin prematurely old; he broke my bones.

⁸ Now their faces are blacker than coal; they are unrecognized in the streets. Their skin clings to their bones; it has become dry like a stick.

³⁰ You’ll be engaged to a woman, but another man will rape her. You’ll build a house but you won’t live in it. You’ll plant a vineyard but you won’t harvest it.

¹⁶ Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, and their houses will be looted, and their wives slept with.

² I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem, to lay siege against it. The city will be captured, the houses will be ransacked, the women raped, and half of the city will go into exile, but the remaining people will not be cut off from the city.

⁶ I was angry with my people, and I desecrated my heritage, and gave them into your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the aged you laid your yoke most heavily.

⁶ At Riblah, the king of Babylon executed Zedekiah’s sons right before his eyes. He also executed all the nobles of Judah. ⁷ Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze fetters to take him to Babylon.

¹⁰ The king of Babylon killed Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, and he also killed all the Judean officials at Riblah. ¹¹ He blinded Zedekiah and bound him in bronze shackles. Then the king of Babylon took him to Babylon and put him in prison until he died.

²⁵ From the city he arrested one of the officers who had been in charge of the troops, seven men from the king’s personal advisors who were found in the city, the secretary of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and 60 men of the people of the land who were found inside the city. ²⁶ Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard arrested them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²⁷ The king of Babylon struck them down and killed them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from the land.

¹⁰ The leaders of cherished Zion sit silently on the ground; they throw dust on their heads and dress in mourning clothes. The young women of Jerusalem bow their heads in sorrow.

¹⁶ The LORD himself separated them; he will do nothing more for them. They did not respect their own priests; they did not honor their elders.

¹¹ So the Egyptians placed supervisors over them, oppressing them with heavy burdens. The Israelis built the supply cities of Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh.

¹¹ Moses Kills an EgyptianYears later, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people, and took notice of their heavy burdens. He saw an Egyptian beating up a Hebrew, one of his own people.

⁵ and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the slave girl who operates the hand mill, along with the firstborn of the animals.

⁵ If you see your enemy’s donkey lying helpless under its load, you must not abandon it; rather, you are certainly to return it to him.

²¹ Samson is Imprisoned by the PhilistinesThen the Philistines grabbed him, gouged out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza, tied him up in bronze chains, and made him grind grain in their prison.

¹ Settling Some Civil DisputesNow the people along with their spouses complained loudly against their fellow Jews, ² because certain of them kept claiming, “Since we have so many sons and daughters, we must get some grain so we can eat and survive.”
³ Others were saying, “We’re having to mortgage our fields, our vineyards, and our homes so we can buy grain during this famine.”
⁴ Still others were saying “We’ve borrowed money against our fields and vineyards to pay the king’s taxes. ⁵ Now our bodies are no different than the bodies of our relatives, and our children are like their children. Nevertheless, we’re about to force our sons and daughters into slavery, and some of our daughters are already in bondage. It’s beyond our power to do anything about it, because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

¹⁰ then let my wife cook for another person and may someone else sleep with her,

² Take millstones and grind flour. Remove your veil, strip off your robes, bare your legs, and wade through the rivers.

⁶ Isn’t this the fast that I have been choosing: to loose the bonds of injustice, and to untie the cords of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

⁴ They tie up burdens that are heavy and unbearable and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they refuse to lift a finger to remove them.

¹⁸ Pursue Justice“Appoint judges and civil servants according to your tribes in all your cities that the LORD your God is about to give you, so they may judge the people impartially.

⁷ Job Remembers His Respected Position“Whenever I went out to the city gate, a seat had been reserved for me in the plaza. ⁸ The young men would see me and withdraw, and the aged would rise and stand. ⁹ Nobles would refrain from speaking, covering their mouths with their hands. ¹⁰ The voices of the commanders-in-chief were hushed, and their tongues would cling to the roofs of their mouths.”
¹¹ Job Remembers His Acts of Kindness“When people heard me speak, they blessed me; when people saw me, they approved me, ¹² because I delivered the poor who were crying for help, along with orphans who had no one to help them. ¹³ Those who were about to die blessed me, and I made widows sing for joy. ¹⁴ I put on righteousness like clothing; my just decisions were like a robe and a turban. ¹⁵ I served as eyes for the blind and feet for the lame. ¹⁶ I was a father to the needy; I diligently inquired into the case of those I didn’t know. ¹⁷ I broke the fangs of the wicked, and made him drop the prey.”

¹ Job Describes His Current Status in Life“But now they mock me; men who are far younger than I, whose fathers I would have hated to entrust with my own sheep dogs.

³¹ But my harp is in mourning; my flute plays only songs for those who are weeping.”

² the mighty man and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the fortune-teller and the elder, ³ the commander of fifty and the man of rank, and the counselor, the expert magician, and the medium.

⁷ The new wine evaporates; the vine and the oil dry up; all the merrymakers groan. ⁸ “The celebrations of the tambourine have ended, the noise of the jubilant has stopped, and the mirth that the harp produces has ended. ⁹ No longer do they drink wine accompanied by singing; even beer tastes bitter to those who drink it. ¹⁰ The chaotic city lies broken down; every house is closed up so that no one can enter them. ¹¹ There is an outcry in the streets over wine; all cheer turns to gloom; the fun times of the earth are banished.

³⁴ In the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem I’ll bring an end to the sound of gladness and rejoicing, to the sounds of the bridegroom and bride, for the land will become a wasteland.”

⁹ For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “In this place I’m about to bring an end to the sounds of happiness and rejoicing, the sounds of the bridegroom and the bride. I’ll do it in front of your eyes and in your time.

¹⁰ I’ll destroy the sounds of gladness and rejoicing from them, the sounds of the bridegroom and the bride, the sound of the hand mill and also the light of the lamp.

⁴ The roads that lead to Zion are in mourning, because no one travels to the festivals. All her gates are desolate; her priests are moaning. Her young women are grieving, and she is bitter.

¹⁹ I called out to my lovers, but they deceived me. My priests and my elders have died within the city while looking for something to eat to keep themselves alive.

¹³ “‘I’ll silence the noise of your songs and the music of your harps won’t be heard anymore.

²² The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters will never be heard within you again. No artisan of any trade will ever be found within you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard within you again.

¹¹ You have turned my mourning into dancing; you took off my sackcloth and clothed me with a garment of joy,

⁴ lying on ivory beds, stretching out on your couches, eating lambs from the flock, and fattened calves from the stall, ⁵ chanting to the sound of stringed instruments as if they were David, composing songs to themselves as if they were musicians, ⁶ drinking wine from bowls, anointing themselves with the choicest of oils, but not grieving on the occasion of Joseph’s ruin— ⁷ therefore you will be the first to go into exile, and the celebrations of those who are lounging will end.”

¹⁰ I will turn your festivals into mourning, and all of your songs to dirges. I will cause all of you to put on sackcloth and to shave all of your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son, and its conclusion will be like the end of a bitter day.”

⁹ Be miserable, mourn, and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the Lord’s presence, and he will exalt you.

⁹ “He has stripped me of my honor; he has stolen the crown off my head!

³⁹ You have dishonored the covenant with your servant; you have defiled his crown on the ground.

³⁴ Righteousness makes a nation great, but sin diminishes any people.

⁹ “The expressions on their faces give them away. They parade their sin around like Sodom; they don’t even try to hide it. How horrible it will be for them, because they have brought disaster on themselves!”
¹⁰ Encouragement to the Righteous“Tell the righteous that things will go well, because they will enjoy the fruit of their actions.”
¹¹ Warning to the Wicked“How terrible it will be for the wicked! Disaster is headed their way, because what they did with their hand will be repaid to them.

¹⁷ You have done this to yourselves, have you not, by forsaking the LORD your God, when he is the one who led you on the way?

¹⁹ Your wickedness will be punished, and you will be corrected due to your acts of apostasy. Know and see that it’s evil and bitter for you to forsake the LORD your God, but the fear of me is not in you,” declares the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies.

¹⁸ “Your lifestyles and your actions have brought these things on you. This is your calamity—it is indeed bitter, for it has reached your heart!”

¹⁸ Say to the king and the queen mother, “Come take a lowly seat, because your beautiful crowns have fallen off your heads.”

¹ The Sorrowful City How lonely she lies, the city that thronged with people! Like a widow she has become, this great one among nations! The princess among provinces has become a vassal.

⁸ Jerusalem sinned greatly, and she became unclean. All who honored her now despise her, because they saw her naked. She herself groans and turns her face away.

¹⁸ The LORD is in the right, but I rebelled against his commands. Listen, please, all you people, and look at my pain— my young men and women have gone into captivity.

¹ The Condition of Israel How the Lord in his wrath shamed cherished Zion! He cast down from heaven to earth the glory of Israel, He did not remember his footstool in the time of his anger.

¹³ Due to the sins committed by her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests who shed in her midst, the blood of the righteous,

¹⁷ Every hand will be limp. Every knee will glisten with sweat.”
¹⁸ The Coming Terror“They’ll clothe themselves with sackcloth, terror will overcome them, shame will cover their faces, and baldness will spread over their entire heads. ¹⁹ They’ll fling their silver into the streets, and their gold will be cast away as impure. Their silver and gold won’t be able to deliver them during the time of the LORD’s wrath. They won’t be able to satisfy their appetites or fill their stomachs, because their iniquity has tripped them up.”
²⁰ The Temple Defiled“As for his beautiful ornament, he set it up in majesty, but they made detestable images and loathsome idols. Therefore, I’ll give them something loathsome— ²¹ I’ll give it as plunder into the control of strangers and as the spoils of war to the wicked who will invade the land to profane it. ²² I’ll turn my face away from them so that they’ll defile my treasured place. Robbers will enter and profane it!

²⁶ This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Remove your turban! Take off your crown! Things aren’t going to remain as they used to be. What is lowly will be exalted, and what is lofty will be brought low.

¹² They take bribes among you to shed blood. You’ve taken usury and exacted interest. You’ve gained control over your neighbor through extortion. And you’ve forgotten me,” declares the Lord GOD.
¹³ “Watch out! I’m vehemently angry about the unjust gains that you’ve earned, and about the blood that has been shed among you. ¹⁴ Can your heart stand up to this? Can your hands remain strong when I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken and will fulfill this. ¹⁵ I’m going to disperse you among the nations and scatter you to other lands. I’m going to put an end to your uncleanness. ¹⁶ When you’ve been defiled in the sight of the nations, then you’ll know that I am the LORD.”’”

⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but threw them into the lowest hell and imprisoned them in chains of deepest darkness, holding them for judgment; ⁵ and if he did not spare the ancient world but protected Noah, a righteous preacher, along with seven others when he brought the flood on the world of ungodly people; ⁶ and if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by burning them to ashes, making them an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them;

¹⁰ Don’t be afraid of what you are going to suffer. Look! The devil is going to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested. For ten days you will undergo suffering. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the victor’s crown of life.

¹¹ I am coming soon! Hold on to what you have so that no one takes your victor’s crown.

³⁶ “As for the remnants among you, I’ll bring despair in their hearts in the land of their enemies so that even the sound of a blown leaf will chase them and they flee as though pursued by the sword and fall when no one is pursuing.

⁶⁵ Among those nations you’ll have no rest. There’ll be no resting place for the soles of your feet. Instead, the LORD will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a despairing spirit.

⁷ My eyes have grown weak from grief; and my whole body is as thin as a shadow.

⁷ My eyesight has faded because of grief, it has dimmed because of all my enemies.

⁹ Be gracious to me, LORD, for I am in distress. My eyes have been consumed by my grief along with my soul and my body.

³ I am exhausted from calling for help. My throat is parched. My eyes are strained from looking for God.

⁵ “Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? Your whole head is sick, and your whole heart is faint.

¹⁴ Like a swallow or a crane I chirp, I moan like a dove. My eyes look weakly upward. O Lord, I am oppressed, so stand up for me!

¹⁸ Jeremiah Mourns for His PeopleIncurable sorrow has overwhelmed me, my heart is sick within me.

⁵ Why am I seeing this? They’re terrified, they have turned back. Their warriors are crushed, and they take flight. They don’t look back. Terror is on every side,” declares the LORD.

¹³ He sent fire from on high, making it penetrate my bones. He stretched out a net at my feet, forcing me to turn back. He made me desolate; I’m fainting all day long.

²² May all of their wickedness come to your attention, and deal with them as you have done with me because of all my transgressions. For I am constantly groaning, and my heart is faint.

¹¹ My eyes are worn out from crying, my insides are churning, My emotions pour out in grief because my people are destroyed— Children and infants faint in the streets of the city.

⁷ When they’ll ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you are to say, ‘Because of the news that just arrived. Every heart will melt with fear, every hand will grow limp, every spirit will grow faint, and every knee will glisten with sweat.’ Look! It has come and it will be fulfilled,” declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁵ so that their hearts melt and the number of those who stumble increase. I’ve set in place a slaughtering sword at the entrance to all their gates. Oh, no! It’s made like lightning. It’s drawn to slaughter.

¹³ “Therefore I will make you ill when I attack you; I will bring you to ruin because of your offenses.

⁷ then I will eliminate Israel from the land that I gave them and from the Temple that I’ve consecrated for my name. I will throw them out of my sight, and Israel will become the butt of jokes and a means of ridicule among people worldwide! ⁸ “This Temple will become a pile of ruins. Everyone who passes by it will be so astounded that they will ask, ‘Why did the LORD do this to this land and to this Temple?’

² Remember your community, whom you purchased long ago, the tribe whom you redeemed for your possession. Remember Mount Zion, where you live. ³ Hurry! Look at the permanent ruins— every calamity the enemy brought upon the Holy Place.

¹³ and over the land of my people overgrown with thorns and briers— yes, over all the houses of merriment and over this city of revelry. ¹⁴ “For the palace will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; the citadel and watchtower will become barren wastes forever, the delight of wild donkeys, and a pasture for flocks,

¹¹ “I’ll make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a refuge for jackals. I’ll make the towns of Judah desolate, without inhabitants.”

³ My mountain in the field, your wealth and your treasures I’ll give as spoil; along with your high places as the price of your sin throughout your territory.

⁹ Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD that this house will be like Shiloh, and this city will be without an inhabitant?” Then all the people gathered around Jeremiah at the LORD’s Temple.

¹³ He burned the LORD’s Temple, the king’s house, and all the houses in Jerusalem. He also burned every public building with fire.

⁸ The LORD planned to destroy the walls of cherished Zion. He measured them with his line. He did not withhold his hand from destruction. He made both ramparts and defensive walls mourn; they languish together. ⁹ Jerusalem’s gates collapsed to the ground; he destroyed and broke the bars of her gates. Both king and prince have gone into captivity. There is no instruction, and the prophets receive no vision from the LORD.

¹² “Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed up like a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, and the Temple Mount like a forest high place.”

²⁷ The God of old is a dwelling place, with everlasting arms underneath. He drove out your enemies before you and said: ‘Destroy them!’

⁷ But the LORD sits on his throne forever; his throne is established for judgment.

¹⁶ The LORD is king forever and ever; nations will perish from his land.

¹⁰ The LORD sat enthroned over the flood, and the LORD sits as king forever.

⁶ Your throne, God, exists forever and ever, and the scepter of your kingdom is a righteous scepter.

² Before the mountains were formed or the earth and the world were brought forth, you are God from eternity to eternity.

¹² But you, LORD, are enthroned forever; You are remembered throughout all generations.

²⁵ You established the earth long ago; the heavens are the work of your hands. ²⁶ They will perish, but you will remain; and they all will become worn out, like a garment. You will change them like clothing, and they will pass away. ²⁷ But you remain the same; your years never end.

¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your authority endures from one generation to another. ^13bGod is faithful about everything he says and merciful in everything he does.

¹⁰ The LORD will reign forever, your God, Zion, for all generations! Hallelujah!

⁴⁴ “During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor its sovereignty left in the hands of another people. It will shatter and crush all of these kingdoms, and it will stand forever.

¹⁴ To him dominion was bestowed, along with glory and a kingdom, so that all peoples, nations, and languages are to serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion—it will never pass away—and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

²⁷ Then the kingdom, authority, and magnificence of all nations of the earth will be given to the people who are the saints of the Highest One. His kingdom will endure forever, and all authorities will serve him and obey him.’

¹² The Prophet’s Second Complaint“Haven’t you existed forever, LORD my God, my Holy One? We won’t die! LORD, you’ve prepared them for judgment; Rock, you’ve sentenced them to correction.

¹⁷ Now to the King Eternal—the immortal, invisible, and only God—be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen.

¹⁵ At the right time, he will make him known. God is the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords. ¹⁶ He alone has endless life and lives in inaccessible light. No one has ever seen him, nor can anyone see him. Honor and eternal power belong to him! Amen.

⁸ But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of your kingdom is a righteous scepter. ⁹ You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. That is why God, your God, anointed you rather than your companions with the oil of gladness.” ¹⁰ And, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. ¹¹ They will come to an end, but you will remain forever. They will all wear out like clothes. ¹² You will roll them up like a robe, and they will be changed like clothes. But you remain the same, and your life will never end.”

⁸ Jesus, the Messiah, is the same yesterday and today—and forever!

⁴ From John to the seven churches in Asia. May grace and peace be yours from the one who is, who was, and who is coming, from the seven spirits who are in front of his throne,

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” declares the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.”

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. But he placed his right hand on me and said, “Stop being afraid! I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ the living one. I was dead—but look!—I am alive forever and ever! I have the keys of Death and Hades.

¹ To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
A Prayer for Deliverance How long? LORD, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

²⁴ Why are you hiding your face? Why are you ignoring our affliction and oppression?

¹ An instruction of Asaph
A Plea for Deliverance Why, God? Have you rejected us forever? Your anger is burning against the sheep of your pasture.

⁷ Will the Lord reject me forever and not show favor again? ⁸ Has his gracious love ceased forever? Will his promise be unfulfilled in future generations? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger withheld his compassion? Interlude ¹⁰ So I say: “It causes me pain that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

⁵ How long, LORD, will you be angry? Forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?

⁵ Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger from generation to generation?

⁴⁶ How long, LORD, will you hide yourself? Forever? Will your anger continuously burn like fire?

³ How long will the wicked, LORD, how long will the wicked continue to triumph? ⁴ When they speak, they spew arrogance. Everyone who practices iniquity brags about it.

⁹ Don’t be angry beyond measure, LORD, and don’t remember our iniquity for a season. Please look now, we are all your people. ¹⁰ Your holy cities have become a desert; Zion has become like a desert, Jerusalem a desolation. ¹¹ Our holy Temple and our splendor, where our ancestors praised you, have become a conflagration of fire, and all our dearest places have become ruins. ¹² LORD, after all this, can you hold yourself back? Can you keep silent and punish us so severely?

¹⁹ The People Plead to the LORDHave you completely rejected Judah? Do you despise Zion? Why have you struck us, so that there is no healing for us? We hoped for peace, but no good came, for a time of healing, but there was only terror. ²⁰ We acknowledge, LORD, our wickedness, the guilt of our ancestors. Indeed, we have sinned against you. ²¹ For the sake of your name don’t despise us. Don’t dishonor your glorious throne. Remember, don’t break your covenant with us!

³⁷ Answer me, LORD! Answer me so that this people may know that you, LORD, are God, and that you are turning back their hearts again.”

³ God, restore us, show your favor and deliver us.

⁷ God of the Heavenly Armies, restore us and show your favor, so we may be delivered.

¹⁹ God of hosts, restore to us the light of your favor. Then we’ll be delivered.

⁴ Restore us, God of our salvation, and stop being angry with us.

⁴ I’ll again build you, and you will be rebuilt, Virgin Israel! You will again take up your tambourines and go out to dance with those who are filled with joy.

¹⁸ Ephraim’s Prayer and Confession“I’ve certainly heard Ephraim shuddering with grief as they said, ‘You have disciplined me, and I’m disciplined like an untrained calf. Restore me, and let me return, for you are the LORD my God.

²³ This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “They’ll again speak this message in the land of Judah and its towns when I restore their fortunes: ‘The LORD bless you, righteous dwelling, holy mountain.’ ²⁴ Judah and all its towns will live together in the land, along with farmers and those who follow the flock. ²⁵ I’ll provide abundance for those who are weary, and fill all who are faint.”

³⁹ I’ll give them one heart and one lifestyle so they’ll fear me always for their own good and for the good of their descendants after them. ⁴⁰ I’ll make an everlasting covenant with them that I won’t turn away from doing good for them. I’ll put the fear of me in their hearts so they won’t turn away from me.

¹⁰ “This is what the LORD says: ‘You are saying about this place, “It is a ruin without people and without animals.” Yet in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem which are desolate places without inhabitants and without animals, there will again be heard

¹³ In the towns of the hill country, in the towns of the Shephelah, in the towns of the Negev, in the territory of Benjamin, in the areas around Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them,’ says the LORD.”

¹⁹ then I’ll give them a united heart, placing a new spirit within them. I’ll remove their stubborn heart and give them a heart that’s sensitive to me. ²⁰ When they live by my statutes and keep my ordinances by observing them, then they’ll be my people and I will be their God.

²⁵ I’ll sprinkle pure water on you all, and you’ll be cleansed from your impurity and from all of your idols.”
²⁶ “‘“I’m going to give you a new heart, and I’m going to give you a new spirit within all of your deepest parts. I’ll remove that rock-hard heart of yours and replace it with one that’s sensitive to me. ²⁷ I’ll place my spirit within you, empowering you to live according to my regulations and to keep my just decrees.

³⁷ “This is what the Lord GOD has to say: ‘I’m going to allow the house of Israel to ask anything they want from me, including this: I’m going to increase their population as a shepherd increases his flock.

³ “This is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Zion and I will live in the midst of Jerusalem. And Jerusalem will be called, “The City of Truth” and the mountain of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies will be called, “The Holy Mountain”.’
⁴ “This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘There will yet be old men and old women sitting in the parks of Jerusalem, each one of them holding canes in their hands due to their old age! ⁵ The city parks will be filled with boys and girls. They will play in the city’s open parks.’
⁶ “This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘It may seem impossible to the survivors of this people, but is it impossible for me?’ declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

⁴ Then the offering to the LORD by Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable as it was in the past, even as in former years.

⁹ However, you cast us off and made us ashamed! You did not even march with our armies!

¹ To the Director: A special Davidic psalm to the tune of “Lily of The Covenant,” for teaching about his battle with Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, when Joab returned and attacked 12,000 Edomites in the Salt Valley.
A Prayer for God’s Help against Adversaries God, you have cast us off; you have breached our defenses and you have become enraged. Return to us! ² You made the earth quake; you broke it open. Repair its fractures, because it has shifted.

⁹ Don’t be angry beyond measure, LORD, and don’t remember our iniquity for a season. Please look now, we are all your people.

¹ The Destiny of the JudgedThen the LORD told me, “Even if Moses and Samuel were standing before me, I wouldn’t be favorably disposed toward this people. Send them out of my presence! Let them go!
² “When they say to you, ‘Where can we go?’, say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: “Those destined for death, to death will go; those destined for the sword, to the sword will go; and those destined for captivity, to captivity will go.
³ “I’ll appoint four kinds of judgment for them,” declares the LORD: “the sword to kill, the dogs to drag off, the birds of the sky to devour, and the animals of the land to destroy. ⁴ I’ll make them a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Hezekiah’s son Manasseh, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem. ⁵ “Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem, and who will grieve for you? Who will go out of his way to ask about your welfare?

¹¹ The Vision is Interpreted for Ezekiel“These bones represent the entire house of Israel,” the LORD explained to me. “Look how they keep saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our future is lost. We’ve been completely eliminated!’

⁶ Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter, so the LORD told Hosea, “Name her ‘Lo-ruhamah,’ because I will no longer be showing mercy to the house of Israel, nor will I forgive them.