14 Bible Verses about Being Earnest For Israel

And when he approached [and] saw the city, he wept over it,

I am telling the truth in Christ--[I am] not lying; my conscience bears witness to me in the Holy Spirit-- that my grief is great and [there is] constant distress in my heart. For I could wish myself to be accursed from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my fellow countrymen according to the flesh,

and one of my brothers, Hanani, came with some men from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had escaped the captivity and about Jerusalem. They replied to me, "The survivors in the province who have survived the captivity are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned in the fire." When I heard these words, I sat and wept and mourned for days, and I was fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.

Therefore I said, "Look away from me, let me {weep bitterly}; you must not insist on comforting me for the destruction of the daughter of my people."

For the sake of Zion I will not be silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not maintain a quiet attitude, until her righteousness goes out like the bright light, and her salvation burns like a torch.

My bowels, my bowels! I writhe! The walls of my heart! My heart is restless within me, I cannot keep silent, for I hear [in] my inner self the sound of a horn, [the] alarm of war. Destruction on destruction is proclaimed, for all of the land is devastated. Suddenly my tents are devastated, my tent curtains in a moment. How long must I see [the] banner, [and] hear [the] sound of a horn?

"Because of the wound of the daughter of my people I am broken down, I mourn, horror has seized me.

{Oh that my head were waters}, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night, [for] the slain of the daughter of my people.

But if you will not listen to it, my inner self will weep in secret places, because of {the presence of} [your] pride. And my eyes will weep bitterly, and they will melt [in] tears, because the flock of Yahweh has been taken captive.

Channels of water run down my eyes because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

On account of this I will lament and wail. I will go about barefoot and naked. I will make a lamentation like the jackals, and a mourning ceremony like the {ostriches}. For her wounds [are] incurable, because it has come to Judah. It has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How many times I wanted to gather your children together {the way} a hen gathers her young together under [her] wings, and you were not willing!

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How many times I wanted to gather your children together {the way} a hen [gathers] her own brood under [her] wings, and you were not willing!

Brothers, the desire of my heart and my prayer to God on behalf of them [is] for [their] salvation.