But he replied, "You're talking like one of the godless women would do! Should we receive what is good from God, and not also receive what is evil?" In all this Job did not sin by what he said.

Job spoke up and said:

"Let the day on which I was born perish, and the night that said, 'A man has been conceived!'

"Have I ever said, 'Give me something, and from your fortune make gifts in my favor'?

Then Bildad the Shuhite spoke up and said:

Then Zophar the Naamathite spoke up and said:

For you have said, 'My teaching is flawless, and I am pure in your sight.'

But you have said, 'What does God know? Does he judge through such deep darkness?

And he said to mankind, 'The fear of the Lord -- that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'"

"If I have put my confidence in gold or said to pure gold, 'You are my security!'

if the members of my household have never said, 'If only there were someone who has not been satisfied from Job's meat!' --

I said to myself, 'Age should speak, and length of years should make wisdom known.'

"Indeed, you have said in my hearing (I heard the sound of the words!):

"Has anyone said to God, 'I have endured chastisement, but I will not act wrongly any more.

Elihu said further:

Who has prescribed his ways for him? Or said to him, 'You have done what is wicked'?

when I said, 'To here you may come and no farther, here your proud waves will be confined'?

You said, 'Pay attention, and I will speak; I will question you, and you will answer me.'

After the Lord had spoken these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My anger is stirred up against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.

The king says, "I will announce the Lord's decree. He said to me: 'You are my son! This very day I have become your father!

For the music director; by the Lord's servant David, who sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord rescued him from the power of all his enemies, including Saul. He said: "I love you, Lord, my source of strength!

In my self-confidence I said, "I will never be upended."

I jumped to conclusions and said, "I am cut off from your presence!" But you heard my plea for mercy when I cried out to you for help.

Then I confessed my sin; I no longer covered up my wrongdoing. I said, "I will confess my rebellious acts to the Lord." And then you forgave my sins. (Selah)

As for me, I said: "O Lord, have mercy on me! Heal me, for I have sinned against you!

I said, "I will remember God while I groan; I will think about him while my strength leaves me." (Selah)

I said, "During the night I will remember the song I once sang; I will think very carefully." I tried to make sense of what was happening.

Then I said, "I am sickened by the thought that the sovereign One might become inactive.

It said: "I removed the burden from his shoulder; his hands were released from holding the basket.

I said, 'Listen, my people! I will warn you! O Israel, if only you would obey me!

who said, "Let's take over the pastures of God!"

I mention Rahab and Babylon to my followers. Here are Philistia and Tyre, along with Ethiopia. It is said of them, "This one was born there."

But it is said of Zion's residents, "Each one of these was born in her, and the sovereign One makes her secure."

The Lord said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant:

Then you spoke through a vision to your faithful followers and said: "I have energized a warrior; I have raised up a young man from the people.

For forty years I was continually disgusted with that generation, and I said, 'These people desire to go astray; they do not obey my commands.'

I had faith when I said, "I am severely oppressed."

I said, "O Lord, rescue me from those who lie with their lips and those who deceive with their tongue.

A song of ascents, by David. I was glad because they said to me, "We will go to the Lord's temple."

At that time we laughed loudly and shouted for joy. At that time the nations said, "The Lord has accomplished great things for these people."

He said, "I will not enter my own home, or get into my bed.

The Lord made a reliable promise to David; he will not go back on his word. He said, "I will place one of your descendants on your throne.

He said, "This will be my resting place forever; I will live here, for I have chosen it.

Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. They said, "Tear it down, tear it down, right to its very foundation!"

he taught me, and he said to me: "Let your heart lay hold of my words; keep my commands so that you will live.

So she grabbed him and kissed him, and with a bold expression she said to him,

I said of partying, "It is folly," and of self-indulgent pleasure, "It accomplishes nothing!"

I have examined all this by wisdom; I said, "I am determined to comprehend this" -- but it was beyond my grasp.

Here is another enigma that occurs on earth: Sometimes there are righteous people who get what the wicked deserve, and sometimes there are wicked people who get what the righteous deserve. I said, "This also is an enigma."

I said, "Too bad for me! I am destroyed, for my lips are contaminated by sin, and I live among people whose lips are contaminated by sin. My eyes have seen the king, the Lord who commands armies."

He touched my mouth with it and said, "Look, this coal has touched your lips. Your evil is removed; your sin is forgiven."

He said, "Go and tell these people: 'Listen continually, but don't understand! Look continually, but don't perceive!'

I replied, "How long, sovereign master?" He said, "Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated, and houses are uninhabited, and the land is ruined and devastated,

All the people were aware of it, the people of Ephraim and those living in Samaria. Yet with pride and an arrogant attitude, they said,

You said to yourself, "I will climb up to the sky. Above the stars of El I will set up my throne. I will rule on the mountain of assembly on the remote slopes of Zaphon.

He said, "You will no longer celebrate, oppressed virgin daughter Sidon! Get up, travel to Cyprus, but you will find no relief there."

In the past he said to them, "This is where security can be found. Provide security for the one who is exhausted! This is where rest can be found." But they refused to listen.

The chief adviser said to them, "Tell Hezekiah: 'This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: "What is your source of confidence?

Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, "Speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don't speak with us in the Judahite dialect in the hearing of the people who are on the wall."

But the chief adviser said, "My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you!"

Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn in grief and reported to him what the chief adviser had said.

Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. So pray for this remnant that remains.'"

Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master this: 'This is what the Lord says: "Don't be afraid because of the things you have heard -- these insults the king of Assyria's servants have hurled against me.

Isaiah replied, "This is your sign from the Lord confirming that the Lord will do what he has said:

Hezekiah said, "What is the confirming sign that I will go up to the Lord's temple?"

Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Listen to the word of the Lord who commands armies:

Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The Lord's word which you have announced is appropriate." Then he thought, "For there will be peace and stability during my lifetime."

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.

He said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, through whom I will reveal my splendor."

"Zion said, 'The Lord has abandoned me, the sovereign master has forgotten me.'

I will put it into the hand of your tormentors who said to you, 'Lie down, so we can walk over you.' You made your back like the ground, and like the street for those who walked over you."

He said, "Certainly they will be my people, children who are not disloyal." He became their deliverer.

"I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; I appeared to those who did not look for me. I said, 'Here I am! Here I am!' to a nation that did not invoke my name.

The Lord said to me,

The Lord said to me, "Do not say, 'I am too young.' But go to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you.

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "I will most assuredly give you the words you are to speak for me.

Then the Lord said, "You have observed correctly. This means I am watching to make sure my threats are carried out."

Then the Lord said, "This means destruction will break out from the north on all who live in the land.

The Lord spoke to me. He said:

"Indeed, long ago you threw off my authority and refused to be subject to me. You said, 'I will not serve you.' Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hill and under every green tree, like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers.

When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, "Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done. You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods.

Then the Lord said to me, "Under the circumstances, wayward Israel could even be considered less guilty than unfaithful Judah.

The Lord said, "Announce this in Judah and proclaim it in Jerusalem: 'Sound the trumpet throughout the land!' Shout out loudly, 'Gather together! Let us flee into the fortified cities!'

In response to all this I said, "Ah, Lord God, you have surely allowed the people of Judah and Jerusalem to be deceived by those who say, 'You will be safe!' But in fact a sword is already at our throats."

I said, "Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach! I writhe in anguish. Oh, the pain in my heart! My heart pounds within me. I cannot keep silent. For I hear the sound of the trumpet; the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul!

All this will happen because the Lord said, "The whole land will be desolate; however, I will not completely destroy it.

The Lord said, "Go up and down through the streets of Jerusalem. Look around and see for yourselves. Search through its public squares. See if any of you can find a single person who deals honestly and tries to be truthful. If you can, then I will not punish this city.

"These people have denied what the Lord says. They have said, 'That is not so! No harm will come to us. We will not experience war and famine.

Because of that, the Lord, the God who rules over all, said to me, "Because these people have spoken like this, I will make the words that I put in your mouth like fire. And I will make this people like wood which the fiery judgments you speak will burn up."

All of this is because the Lord who rules over all has said: 'Cut down the trees around Jerusalem and build up a siege ramp against its walls. This is the city which is to be punished. Nothing but oppression happens in it.

This is what the Lord who rules over all said to me: "Those who remain in Israel will be like the grapes thoroughly gleaned from a vine. So go over them again, as though you were a grape harvester passing your hand over the branches one last time."

The Lord said to his people: "You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. Ask where the old, reliable paths are. Ask where the path is that leads to blessing and follow it. If you do, you will find rest for your souls." But they said, "We will not follow it!"

The Lord said, "I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you, saying: 'Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!'" But they said, "We will not pay attention!"

So the Lord said, "Hear, you nations! Be witnesses and take note of what will happen to these people.

Hear this, you peoples of the earth: 'Take note! I am about to bring disaster on these people. It will come as punishment for their scheming. For they have paid no attention to what I have said, and they have rejected my law.

So I said, "Oh, my dear people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with painful sobs as though you had lost your only child. For any moment now that destructive army will come against us."

The Lord said to me, "I have made you like a metal assayer to test my people like ore. You are to observe them and evaluate how they behave."

The Lord said to Jeremiah:

Then the Lord said, "As for you, Jeremiah, do not pray for these people! Do not cry out to me or petition me on their behalf! Do not plead with me to save them, because I will not listen to you.

The Lord said to the people of Judah, "The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says: 'You might as well go ahead and add the meat of your burnt offerings to that of the other sacrifices and eat it, too!