Lord, do not grant the desires of the wicked;
do not let them achieve their goals.
Otherwise, they will become proud.Selah

Go to the ant, you slacker!
Observe its ways and become wise.

One person gives freely,
yet gains more;
another withholds what is right,
only to become poor.

The one who walks with the wise will become wise,
but a companion of fools will suffer harm.

Don’t love sleep, or you will become poor;
open your eyes, and you’ll have enough to eat.

The plans of the diligent certainly lead to profit,
but anyone who is reckless certainly becomes poor.

When a mocker is punished,
the inexperienced become wiser;
when one teaches a wise man,
he acquires knowledge.

The one who loves pleasure will become a poor man;
whoever loves wine and oil will not get rich.

For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor,
and grogginess will clothe them in rags.

Answer a fool according to his foolishness
or he’ll become wise in his own eyes.

One who becomes stiff-necked,
after many reprimands
will be shattered instantly—
beyond recovery.

A slave pampered from his youth
will become arrogant later on.

Don’t slander a servant to his master
or he will curse you, and you will become guilty.

a servant when he becomes king,
a fool when he is stuffed with food,

W I am a wall
and my breasts like towers.
So in his eyes I have become
like one who finds peace.

I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals.
They have become a burden to Me;
I am tired of putting up with them.

The faithful city—
what an adulteress she has become!
She was once full of justice.
Righteousness once dwelt in her—
but now, murderers!

Your silver has become dross,
your beer is diluted with water.

For you will become like an oak
whose leaves are withered,
and like a garden without water.

The strong one will become tinder,
and his work a spark;
both will burn together,
with no one to quench the flames.

I heard the Lord of Hosts say:

Indeed, many houses will become desolate,
grand and lovely ones without inhabitants.

Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw
and as dry grass shrivels in the flame,
so their roots will become like something rotten
and their blossoms will blow away like dust,
for they have rejected
the instruction of the Lord of Hosts,
and they have despised
the word of the Holy One of Israel.

And on that day
every place where there were 1,000 vines,
worth 1,000 pieces of silver,
will become thorns and briers.

They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God.

Israel’s Light will become a fire,
and its Holy One, a flame.
In one day it will burn up Assyria’s thorns and thistles.

Indeed, God is my salvation;
I will trust Him and not be afraid,
for Yah, the Lord,
is my strength and my song.
He has become my salvation.”

Therefore everyone’s hands will become weak,
and every man’s heart will melt.

you will sing this song of contempt about the king of Babylon and say:

How the oppressor has quieted down,
and how the raging has become quiet!

They all respond to you, saying:
“You too have become as weak as we are;
you have become like us!

And now the Lord says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, in spite of a very large population. And those who are left will be few and weak.”

An oracle against Damascus:

Look, Damascus is no longer a city.
It has become a ruined heap.

On that day
the splendor of Jacob will fade,
and his healthy body will become emaciated.

For before the harvest, when the blossoming is over
and the blossom becomes a ripening grape,
He will cut off the shoots with a pruning knife,
and tear away and remove the branches.

Therefore a curse has consumed the earth,
and its inhabitants have become guilty;
the earth’s inhabitants have been burned,
and only a few survive.

On that day
the Lord of Hosts will become a crown of beauty
and a diadem of splendor
to the remnant of His people,

So now, do not mock,
or your shackles will become stronger.
Indeed, I have heard from the Lord God of Hosts
a decree of destruction for the whole land.

Isn’t it true that in just a little while
Lebanon will become an orchard,
and the orchard will seem like a forest?

But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame,
and refuge in Egypt’s shadow your disgrace.

For the palace will be forsaken,
the busy city abandoned.
The hill and the watchtower will become
barren places forever,
the joy of wild donkeys,
and a pasture for flocks,

until the Spirit from heaven is poured out on us.
Then the desert will become an orchard,
and the orchard will seem like a forest.

Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
her soil into sulfur;
her land will become burning pitch.

Her palaces will be overgrown with thorns;
her fortified cities, with thistles and briers.
She will become a dwelling for jackals,
an abode for ostriches.

the parched ground will become a pool of water,
and the thirsty land springs of water.
In the haunt of jackals, in their lairs,
there will be grass, reeds, and papyrus.

Their inhabitants have become powerless,
dismayed, and ashamed.
They are plants of the field,
tender grass,
grass on the rooftops,
blasted by the east wind.

Every valley will be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill will be leveled;
the uneven ground will become smooth
and the rough places, a plain.

Be sure that all who are enraged against you
will be ashamed and disgraced;
those who contend with you
will become as nothing and will perish.

You will look for those who contend with you,
but you will not find them.
Those who war against you
will become absolutely nothing.

But this is a people plundered and looted,
all of them trapped in holes
or imprisoned in dungeons.
They have become plunder
with no one to rescue them
and loot, with no one saying, “Give it back!”

“But Jacob, you have not called on Me,
because, Israel, you have become weary of Me.

Their webs cannot become clothing,
and they cannot cover themselves with their works.
Their works are sinful works,
and violent acts are in their hands.

Then you will see and be radiant,
and your heart will tremble and rejoice,
because the riches of the sea will become yours
and the wealth of the nations will come to you.

The least will become a thousand,
the smallest a mighty nation.
I am Yahweh;
I will accomplish it quickly in its time.

We have become like those You never ruled over,
like those not called by Your name.

>

All of us have become like something unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment;
all of us wither like a leaf,
and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.

Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.

Is Israel a slave?
Was he born into slavery?
Why else has he become a prey?

a wild donkey at home in the wilderness.
She sniffs the wind in the heat of her desire.
Who can control her passion?
All who look for her will not become tired;
they will find her in her mating season.

If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him to marry another,
can he ever return to her?
Wouldn’t such a land become totally defiled?
But you!
You have played the prostitute with many partners—
can you return to Me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.

The prophets become only wind,
for the Lord’s word is not in them.
This will in fact happen to them.

Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Hosts says:

Because you have spoken this word,
I am going to make My words
become fire in your mouth.
These people are the wood,
and the fire will consume them.

They have become fat and sleek.
They have also excelled in evil matters.
They have not taken up cases,
such as the case of the fatherless, so they might prosper,
and they have not defended the rights of the needy.

Who can I speak to and give such a warning
that they will listen?
Look, their ear is uncircumcised,
so they cannot pay attention.
See, the word of the Lord has become contemptible to them—
they find no pleasure in it.

Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your view? Yes, I too have seen it.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

“Therefore, take note! Days are coming”—the Lord’s declaration—“when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. Topheth will become a cemetery, because there will be no other burial place.

The corpses of these people will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land, with no one to scare them away.

I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and gladness and the voices of the groom and the bride, for the land will become a desolate waste.

They will be exposed to the sun, the moon, and the whole heavenly host, which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be collected and buried but will become like manure on the surface of the soil.

Why has my pain become unending,
my wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
You truly have become like a mirage to me—
water that is not reliable.

They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like manure on the face of the earth. They will be finished off by sword and famine. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.

Don’t become a terror to me.
You are my refuge in the day of disaster.

Therefore, hand their children over to famine,
and pour the sword’s power on them.
Let their wives become childless and widowed,
their husbands slain by deadly disease,
their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will become impure like that place Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops they have burned incense to the whole heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods.”

“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to bring on this city—and on all its dependent villages—all the disaster that I spoke against it, for they have become obstinate, not obeying My words.’”

For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I proclaim, “Violence and destruction!”
because the word of the Lord has become for me
constant disgrace and derision.

If I say, “I won’t mention Him
or speak any longer in His name,”
His message becomes a fire burning in my heart,
shut up in my bones.
I become tired of holding it in,
and I cannot prevail.

But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by Myself”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“that this house will become a ruin.”

“I will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands where I have banished them, and I will return them to their grazing land. They will become fruitful and numerous.

Concerning the prophets:

My heart is broken within me,
and all my bones tremble.
I have become like a drunkard,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord,
because of His holy words.

For the land is full of adulterers;
the land mourns because of the curse,
and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up.
Their way of life has become evil,
and their power is not rightly used

But no longer refer to the burden of the Lord, for each man’s word becomes his burden and you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of Hosts, our God.

This whole land will become a desolate ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years.

Wail, you shepherds, and cry out.
Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock.
Because the days of your slaughter have come,
you will fall and become shattered like a precious vase.

Peaceful grazing land will become lifeless
because of the Lord’s burning anger.

He has left His den like a lion,
for their land has become a desolation
because of the sword of the oppressor,
because of His burning anger.

How dare you prophesy in the name of Yahweh, ‘This temple will become like Shiloh and this city will become an uninhabited ruin’!” Then all the people assembled against Jeremiah at the Lord’s temple.

“Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and said to all the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord of Hosts says:

Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become ruins,
and the temple mount a forested hill.’

Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live! Why should this city become a ruin?

Nevertheless, all who devoured you will be devoured,
and all your adversaries—all of them—
will go off into exile.
Those who plunder you will be plundered,
and all who raid you will be raided.

Afterward, however, they changed their minds and took back their male and female slaves they had freed and forced them to become slaves again.

will be handed over to their enemies, to those who want to take their life. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.

As they heard all these words, the king and all of his servants did not become terrified or tear their garments.

“For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as My anger and fury were poured out on Jerusalem’s residents, so will My fury pour out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing, scorn, execration, and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.’

You are provoking Me to anger by the work of your hands. You are burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have gone to live for a while. As a result, you will be cut off and become an object of cursing and insult among all the nations of earth.

They have not become humble to this day, and they have not feared or followed My instruction or My statutes that I set before you and your ancestors.

And I will take away the remnant of Judah, those who have resolved to go to the land of Egypt to live there for a while; they will meet their end. All of them in the land of Egypt will fall by the sword; they will meet their end by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by the sword and by famine. Then they will become an object of cursing, scorn, execration, and disgrace.

The Lord can no longer bear your evil deeds and the detestable acts you have committed, so your land has become a waste, a desolation, and an object of cursing, without inhabitant, as you see today.

Get your bags ready for exile,
inhabitant of Daughter Egypt!
For Memphis will become a desolation,
uninhabited ruins.

Baldness is coming to Gaza.
Ashkelon will become silent,
a remnant of their valley.
How long will you gash yourself?

Make Moab a salt marsh,
for she will run away;
her towns will become a desolation,
without inhabitant.

“Make him drunk, because he has exalted himself against the Lord. Moab will wallow in his own vomit, and he will also become a laughingstock.