"How do your voluminous sacrifices benefit me?" the LORD is asking. "I've had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts. I don't enjoy the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats.

Come now, and let us have an argument together, says the Lord: how may your sins which are red like blood be white as snow? how may their dark purple seem like wool?

How is the faithful city become a harlot! It was full of judgment; righteousness used to lodge in it, but now murderers.

Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for how is he to be accounted of?

"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!"

"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.

How dare you crush my people as you grind down the face of the poor?" declares the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies.

Well, now I shall tell you how I will do with my vineyard: I will take the hedge from it, that it may perish, and break down the wall, that it may be trodden under foot.

"How terrible it will be for you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you have settled yourselves alone in the middle of the land!"

"How terrible it will be for those who rise at dawn in order to grab a stiff drink, for those who stay up late at night as wine inflames them!

"How terrible it will be for those who parade iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin along as with a cart rope;

"How terrible it will be for those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute what is bitter for what is sweet and what is sweet for what is bitter!"

"How terrible it will be for those who are wise in their own opinion, and clever in their own reckoning!

"How terrible it will be for those who are heroes at drinking wine, and champions in mixing strong drink,

He raises a signal flag for the distant nations
and whistles for them from the ends of the earth.
Look—how quickly and swiftly they come!

"How terrible it will be for me!" I cried, "because I am ruined! I'm a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips! And my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies!"

Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until cities be waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land become utterly waste,

He will eat sour milk and honey, which will help him know how to reject evil and choose what is right.

Here is why this will be so: Before the child knows how to reject evil and choose what is right, the land whose two kings you fear will be desolate.

for before the boy knows how to call out father or mother, the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria.”

"How terrible it will be for the one who enacts unjust decrees, for those who write oppressive laws that they have prescribed

"How terrible it will be for Assyria, the rod of my anger! The club is in their hands!

Howbeit, his meaning is not so, neither thinketh his heart of this fashion. But he imagineth only, how he may overthrow and destroy much people,

Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

Hyenas will howl in the fortresses,
and jackals, in the luxurious palaces.
Babylon’s time is almost up;
her days are almost over.

that thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!

How art thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, that didst lay low the nations!

Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou art melted away, O Philistia, all of thee; for there cometh a smoke out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.

How will they respond to the messengers of this nation? Indeed, the Lord has made Zion secure; the oppressed among his people will find safety in her.

He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard shorn.

In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly.

We have had word of the pride of Moab, how great it is; how he is lifted up in pride and passion: his high words about himself are false.

Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kir-hareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken.

"How terrible it will be for many nations, who rage like the roaring sea! Oh, how the uproar of nations is like the sound of rushing, mighty water How they roar!

They are but fools, the princes of Zoan, the wise counsellors of Pharaoh: their counsel is become senseless. How say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?

And the inhabitants of this coast shall say in that day, Behold, such is our confidence, whither we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and how shall we escape?

The word about Edom. A voice comes to me from Seir, Watchman, how far gone is the night? how far gone is the night?

The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish! for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, none entering in. From the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.

Pass over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the coast!

Howl, ships of Tarshish! for your fortress is laid waste.

They howl in the streets because of what happened to the wine; all joy turns to sorrow; celebrations disappear from the earth.

For this is how it will be on earth
among the nations:
like a harvested olive tree,
like a gleaning after a grape harvest.

From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise: "Glory to the Righteous One!' "But I say, "I am pining away, I'm pining away. How terrible things are for me! For treacherous people betray treacherous people are betraying with treachery!'"

So in this way Jacob's sin will be forgiven, and this is how they will show they are finished sinning: They will make all the stones of the altars like crushed limestone, and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand.

How terrible it will be for that arrogant garland the drunks of Ephraim! How terrible it will be for that fading flower of his glorious beauty, which sits on the heads of people bloated with food, of people overcome with wine!

His God instructs him regarding the correct way, directing him how to plant.

"How terrible it will be for you, Aruel, Aruel, the city where David encamped! Year after year, let your festivals run their cycle.

And [if] the document is given to [one] who does not {know how to read}, saying, "{Read} this now!" he says, "I do not {know how to read}."

"How terrible it will be for you who go to great depths to hide your plans from the LORD, you whose deeds have been done in the dark, and who say, "Who can see us? Who has recognized us?'

You have turned things around,
as if the potter were the same as the clay.
How can what is made say about its maker,
“He didn’t make me”?
How can what is formed
say about the one who formed it,
“He doesn’t understand what he’s doing”?

And, therefore, will Yahweh wait, That he may grant you favour, And, therefore, will he lift himself up, That he may show you compassion, - For A God of justice, is, Yahweh, How happy all they who are waiting for him

Indeed, you people who live in Zion and in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious the LORD will be to you at the sound of your cry! As soon as he hears it, he will answer you.

"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!

How happy are ye who sow beside all waters, - Who send forth the foot of the ox and the ass.

"How terrible it will be for you, destroyer, you who have not been destroyed yourself! And how terrible it will be for you, traitor, one whom people have not betrayed! When you have sunk so low in destroying others, you will be destroyed; and when you have finished betraying, they will betray you."

Now hearken to, ye that are far off, how I do with them; and consider my glory, ye that be at hand.

Look, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will enter and pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. This is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who trust in him.

But how can you drive back {one governor among the least of my master's servants}, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?

And Rabshakeh stood stiff, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' tongue, and said, "Now take heed, how the great king of the Assyrians giveth you warning!

Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?'"

Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands. Do you really think you will be rescued?

Pay attention, Lord, and hear! Open your eyes, Lord, and observe! Listen to this entire message Sennacherib sent and how he taunts the living God!

Hast thou not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? now have I brought it to pass, that it should be thine to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

I know where you live and everything you do and how you rage against me.

and he said, "O Yahweh, please remember how I have walked before your {presence} in faithfulness with a whole heart, and I have done the good in your eyes!" And Hezekiah wept [with] great weeping.

At that same time Merodachbaladan, Baladan's son, king of Babylon, sent letters and presents to Hezekiah. For he understood how that he had been sick, and was recovered again.

"How may then Jacob think, or how may Israel say, 'My ways are hid from the LORD, and my God knoweth not of my judgments.'

"Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen! Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, so we may examine them and see how they were fulfilled. Or decree for us some future events!

Predict how future events will turn out, so we might know you are gods. Yes, do something good or bad, so we might be frightened and in awe.

In fact, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble, let them stand up, let them be terrified, let them together be put to shame.

How absurd is the one who says to his father,
‘What are you fathering?’
or to his mother,
‘What are you giving birth to?’”

This is what the Lord says, the Holy One of Israel, the one who formed him, concerning things to come: "How dare you question me about my children! How dare you tell me what to do with the work of my own hands!

O how profound art thou O God, thou God and Saviour of Israel?

You said, 'I will rule forever as permanent queen!' You did not think about these things; you did not consider how it would turn out.

But disaster will happen to you;
you will not know how to avert it.
And it will fall on you,
but you will be unable to ward it off.
Devastation will happen to you suddenly
and unexpectedly.

I did this because I know how stubborn you are. Your neck muscles are like iron and your forehead like bronze.

"You have heard now look at them all! How can you not admit them? From now on, I'll make you hear new things, hidden things that you have not known.

Truly you had no word of them, no knowledge of them; no news of them in the past had come to your ears; because I saw how false was your behaviour, and that your heart was turned against me from your earliest days.

For mine own sake, for mine own sake, will I do it; for how should my name be profaned? and I will not give my glory unto another.

This is what the Lord, your protector, says, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the Lord your God, who teaches you how to succeed, who leads you in the way you should go.

For kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and Queens shall be thy nursing mothers. They shall fall before thee with their faces flat upon the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet: that thou mayest know, how that I am the LORD. And who so putteth his trust in me, shall not be confounded.

The Lord Yahweh has given me [the] tongue of pupil, to know how to help [the] weary [with] a word. He awakens {morning by morning}, awakens an ear for me to listen as [do] the pupils.

Look unto Abraham your father and unto Sarah that bare you: how I called him only, and blessed him and multiplied him.

These two things are come unto thee; who will bemoan thee? desolation and destruction, and famine and sword: how shall I comfort thee?

And now what do I have here?"{declares} Yahweh, "for my people is taken without cause. Its rulers howl," {declares} Yahweh--"and my name [is] reviled continually, all day.

How delightful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns as a king."

How happy the frail man, who doeth this! Yea the son of the earth-born who firmly graspeth it! Keeping the sabbath lest he profane it, and Keeping his own hand from doing any wrong.

and the dogs are greedy, they know not to be satisfied, and these are shepherds that know not how to discern: they all turn to their own way, every one for his gain, even to the last of them:

Yet remembered he the old time of Moses and his people: How he brought them from the water of the sea, as a shepherd doth with his sheep; how he had given his holy spirit among them;

how he had led Moses by the righthand with his glorious arm; how he had divided the water before them, whereby he gat himself an everlasting name;

how he led them in the deep, as a horse is led in the plain, that they should not stumble.

Look down then from heaven, and behold the dwelling place of thy Sanctuary and thy glory. How is it that thy jealousy, thy strength, the multitude of thy mercies and thy loving-kindness, will not be entreated of us?

You assist those who delight in doing what is right, who observe your commandments. Look, you were angry because we violated them continually. How then can we be saved?

In light of all this, how can you still hold back, Lord? How can you be silent and continue to humiliate us?

Look! My servants shall shout {for joy}, but you, you shall cry out {for pain} and howl {for sadness}.

And it shall be, that before they call, I shall answer them. While they are yet but thinking how to speak, I shall hear them.

My hand made them; that is how they came to be," says the Lord. I show special favor to the humble and contrite, who respect what I have to say.