'Says the Lord' in the Bible

Thus says the Lord,“For three transgressions of Damascus and for four (multiplied delinquencies)I shall not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,Because they have threshed Gilead [east of the Jordan River] with sharp iron sledges [having spikes that crushed and shredded].

“I also will break the bar [of the gate] of Damascus,And cut off and destroy the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven (Wickedness),And the ruler who holds the scepter, from Beth-eden (Damascus);And the people of Aram [conquered by the Assyrians] will go into exile to Kir,”Says the Lord.

Thus says the Lord,“For three transgressions of Gaza [in Philistia] and for four (multiplied delinquencies)I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,Because [as slave traders] they took captive the entire [Jewish] population [of defenseless Judean border villages, of which none was spared]And deported them to Edom [for the slave trade].

“And I will cut off and destroy the inhabitants from Ashdod,And the ruler who holds the scepter, from Ashkelon;And I will unleash My power and turn My hand [in judgment] against Ekron,And the rest of the Philistines [in Gath and the towns dependent on these four Philistine cities] shall die,”Says the Lord God.

Thus says the Lord,“For three transgressions of Tyre and for four (multiplied delinquencies)I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,Because they [as middlemen] deported an entire [Jewish] population to EdomAnd did not [seriously] remember their covenant of brotherhood.

Thus says the Lord,“For three transgressions of Edom [the descendants of Esau] and for four (multiplied delinquencies)I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,Because he pursued his brother Jacob (Israel) with the sword,Corrupting and stifling his compassions and casting off all mercy;His destructive anger raged continually,And he maintained [and nurtured] his wrath forever.

Thus says the Lord,“For three transgressions of the children of Ammon and for four (multiplied delinquencies)I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,Because the Ammonites have ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead,That they might enlarge their border.

“Their king shall go into exile,He and his princes together,” says the Lord.

Thus says the Lord,“For three transgressions of Moab and for four (multiplied delinquencies)I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom [Esau’s descendant] into lime [and used it to plaster a Moabite house].

“I will also cut off and destroy the ruler from its midstAnd slay all the princes with him,” says the Lord.

Thus says the Lord,“For three transgressions of Judah and for four (multiplied delinquencies)I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,Because they have rejected the law of the Lord [the sum of God’s instruction to His people]And have not kept His commandments;But their lies [and their idols], after which their fathers walked,Caused them to go astray.

Thus says the Lord,“For three transgressions of Israel and for four (multiplied delinquencies)I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,Because they sell the righteous and innocent for silverAnd the needy for the price of a pair of sandals.

“Then I raised up some of your sons to be prophets [who gave you My revelation],And some of your young men to be Nazirites (dedicated ones).Is this not true, O you children of Israel?” says the Lord.

“Even the bravest among the warriors shall flee naked on that day,” says the Lord.

For they do not know how to do right,” says the Lord, “these who store up violence and devastation [like treasures] in their strongholds.”

Therefore, thus says the Lord God,“An adversary (Assyria), even one surrounding the land,Shall pull down your strength from youAnd your fortresses will be looted.”

Thus says the Lord,“Just as the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion a couple of legs or a piece of the [sheep’s] ear [to prove to the owner that he has not stolen the animal],So will the [remaining] children of Israel living in Samaria be snatched awayWith the corner of a bed and [part of] the damask covering of a couch.

“Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,”Says the Lord God, the God of hosts,

“And I shall tear down the winter house with the summer house;And the houses of ivory shall also perishAnd the great houses shall come to an end,”Says the Lord.

“And you shall go out through the breaches [made in the city wall],Every woman straight before her [unable to turn aside],And you shall be cast to Harmon,”Says the Lord.

“Offer [by burning] a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened,And [boastfully] proclaim freewill offerings, announce them.For this you so love to do, O children of Israel!”Says the Lord God.

“I also gave you cleanness of teeth [because of the famine] in all your citiesAnd lack of bread in all your places,Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.

“So [the people of] two or three cities would stagger into one city to drink water,But would not be satisfied;Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.

“I wounded you with blight [from the hot, blasting east wind] and with mildew;And the caterpillar devouredYour many gardens and vineyards, your fig trees and your olive trees;Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.

“I sent a plague among you like [those of] Egypt;I killed your young men with the sword and I captured your horses,I made the stench of your camp rise up into your nostrils;Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.

“I overthrew and destroyed [some among] you, as [I, your] God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,And you were [rescued] like a log pulled out of the flame;Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.

For thus says the Lord God,“The city which goes forth a thousand strongWill have a hundred left,And the one which goes forth a hundred strongWill have ten left to the house of Israel.”

For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel,“Seek Me [search diligently for Me and regard Me as more essential than food] so that you may live.

Therefore, thus says the Lord God of hosts, the Lord,“There is wailing in all the public plazas,And in all the streets they say, ‘Alas! Alas!’And they call the farmers to mourning [for those who have died]And professional mourners to wailing.

“And in all vineyards there is wailing,For I will pass through your midst [in judgment],” says the Lord.

Therefore, I will send you to go into exile far beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.

The Lord God has taken an oath by himself, says the Lord, the God of armies: the pride of Jacob is disgusting to me, and I have hate for his great houses: so I will give up the town with everything in it.

“For behold, I am going to stir up a nation against you,O house of Israel,” says the Lord, the God of hosts,“And they will afflict and torment you [to the entire limits of Israel] from the entrance of Hamath [in the north]To the brook of the Arabah [in the south].”

The LORD relented concerning this: It shall not be, says the LORD.

Yahweh relented concerning this. "This also shall not be," says the Lord Yahweh.

Therefore, thus says the Lord, ‘Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city [when the Assyrians capture Samaria] and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean and defiled [pagan] land, and Israel shall certainly go from its land into exile.’”

In that day, the songs of the palace shall turn to wailing,” says the Lord God. “There will be many dead bodies; in [sacred] silence they will throw them everywhere.”

“It shall come about in that day,” says the Lord God,“That I shall cause the sun to go down at noon,And I shall darken the earth in broad daylight.

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,“When I will send hunger over the land,Not hunger for bread or a thirst for water,But rather [a hunger] for hearing the words of the Lord.

“Are you [degenerate ones] not as the [despised] sons of Ethiopia to Me,O sons of Israel?” says the Lord.“Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt,And the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans (Syrians) from Kir?

“Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful [northern] kingdom [of Israel’s ten tribes]And I shall destroy it from the face of the earth;But I shall not totally destroy the house of Jacob [that is, the entire nation of Israel],”Says the Lord.

That they may possess the remnant of Edom (ancient enemies)And all the nations that are called by My name,”Says the Lord who does this.

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,“When the plowman shall overtake the one who gathers the harvest,And the one who treads the grapes [shall overtake] him who sows the seed [for the harvest continues until planting time];When the mountains will drip sweet wineAnd all the hills shall melt [that is, everything that was once barren will overflow with streams of blessing].

“I will also plant them on their land,And they shall never again be uprooted from their landWhich I have given them,”Says the Lord your God.