For disaster from God terrifies me,
and because of His majesty I could not do these things.

So these three men quit answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

Surely you have spoken in my hearing,
and I have heard these very words:

God certainly does all these things
two or three times to a man

For He judges the nations with these;
He gives food in abundance.

who does not lend his money at interest
or take a bribe against the innocent—
the one who does these things will never be moved.

Yet these cannot redeem a person
or pay his ransom to God—

You have done these things, and I kept silent;
you thought I was just like you.
But I will rebuke you
and lay out the case before you.

If I had decided to say these things aloud,
I would have betrayed Your people.

Let whoever is wise pay attention to these things
and consider the Lord’s acts of faithful love.

for destruction from them will come suddenly;
who knows what distress these two can bring?

These sayings also belong to the wise:

It is not good to show partiality in judgment.

These too are proverbs of Solomon,
which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied.

The righteous person knows the rights of the poor,
but the wicked one does not understand these concerns.

Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?”
since it is not wise of you to ask this.

which my soul continually searches for but does not find: among a thousand people I have found one true man, but among all these I have not found a true woman.

Rejoice, young man, while you are young,
and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth.
And walk in the ways of your heart
and in the sight of your eyes;
but know that for all of these things God will bring you to judgment.

But beyond these, my son, be warned: there is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body.

And He replied:

Go! Say to these people:
Keep listening, but do not understand;
keep looking, but do not perceive.

Dull the minds of these people;
deafen their ears and blind their eyes;
otherwise they might see with their eyes
and hear with their ears,
understand with their minds,
turn back, and be healed.

Say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Don’t be afraid or cowardly because of these two smoldering stubs of firebrands, the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram, and the son of Remaliah.

Because these people rejected
the slowly flowing waters of Shiloah
and rejoiced with Rezin
and the son of Remaliah,

Do not call everything an alliance
these people say is an alliance.
Do not fear what they fear;
do not be terrified.

Many will stumble over these;
they will fall and be broken;
they will be snared and captured.

These also stagger because of wine
and stumble under the influence of beer:
priest and prophet stagger because of beer,
they are confused by wine.
They stumble because of beer,
they are muddled in their visions,
they stumble in their judgments.

The Lord said:

Because these people approach Me with their mouths
to honor Me with lip-service—
yet their hearts are far from Me,
and their worship consists of man-made rules
learned by rote—

therefore I will again confound these people
with wonder after wonder.
The wisdom of their wise men will vanish,
and the understanding of the perceptive will be hidden.

But the Rabshakeh replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men who are sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”

Who among all the gods of these lands ever delivered his land from my power? So will the Lord deliver Jerusalem.”

Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have devastated all these countries and their lands.

Lord, because of these promises people live,
and in all of them is the life of my spirit as well;
You have restored me to health
and let me live.

Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “Where did these men come from and what did they say to you?”

Hezekiah replied, “They came to me from a distant country, from Babylon.”

Look up and see:
who created these?
He brings out the starry host by number;
He calls all of them by name.
Because of His great power and strength,
not one of them is missing.

Who, like Me, can announce the future?
Let him say so and make a case before Me,
since I have established an ancient people.
Let these gods declare the coming things,
and what will take place.

Remember these things, Jacob,
and Israel, for you are My servant;
I formed you, you are My servant;
Israel, you will never be forgotten by Me.

I form light and create darkness,
I make success and create disaster;
I, Yahweh, do all these things.

You said, ‘I will be the mistress forever.’
You did not take these things to heart
or think about their outcome.

These two things will happen to you
suddenly, in one day:
loss of children and widowhood.
They will happen to you in their entirety,
in spite of your many sorceries
and the potency of your spells.

All of you, assemble and listen!
Who among the idols has declared these things?
The Lord loves him;
he will accomplish His will against Babylon,
and His arm will be against the Chaldeans.

See, these will come from far away,
from the north and from the west,
and from the land of Sinim.

“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or lack compassion for the child of her womb?
Even if these forget,
yet I will not forget you.

Then you will say within yourself,
‘Who fathered these for me?
I was deprived of my children and unable to conceive,
exiled and wandering—
but who brought them up?
See, I was left by myself—
but these, where did they come from?’”

These two things have happened to you:
devastation and destruction,
famine and sword.
Who will grieve for you?
How can I comfort you?

These dogs have fierce appetites;
they never have enough.
And they are shepherds
who have no discernment;
all of them turn to their own way,
every last one for his own gain.

Your portion is among the smooth stones of the wadi;
indeed, they are your lot.
You have even poured out a drink offering to them;
you have offered a grain offering;
should I be satisfied with these?

Who are these who fly like a cloud,
like doves to their shelters?

These people continually provoke Me
to My face,
sacrificing in gardens,
burning incense on bricks,

They say, ‘Keep to yourself,
don’t come near me, for I am too holy for you!’
These practices are smoke in My nostrils,
a fire that burns all day long.

My hand made all these things,
and so they all came into being.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will look favorably on this kind of person:
one who is humble, submissive in spirit,
and trembles at My word.

One slaughters an ox, one kills a man;
one sacrifices a lamb, one breaks a dog’s neck;
one offers a grain offering, one offers pig’s blood;
one offers incense, one praises an idol—
all these have chosen their ways
and delight in their detestable practices.

Moreover, your skirts are stained
with the blood of the innocent poor.
You did not catch them breaking and entering.
But in spite of all these things

I thought: After she has done all these things, she will return to Me. But she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say:

Return, unfaithful Israel.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will not look on you with anger,
for I am unfailing in My love.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will not be angry forever.

I will go to the powerful
and speak to them.
Surely they know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.
However, these also had broken the yoke
and torn off the chains.

Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself
on such a nation as this?

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.

When people ask, ‘For what offense has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ You will respond to them: Just as you abandoned Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.
They have turned aside and have gone away.

Your guilty acts have diverted these things from you.
Your sins have withheld My bounty from you,

Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself
on such a nation as this?

Listen, earth!
I am about to bring disaster on these people,
the fruit of their own plotting,
for they have paid no attention to My word.
They have rejected My instruction.

Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
I am going to place stumbling blocks before these people;
fathers and sons together will stumble over them;
friends and neighbors will also perish.

“Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord and there call out this word: Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the Lord.

Then do you come and stand before Me in this house called by My name and say, ‘We are delivered, so we can continue doing all these detestable acts’?

Now, because you have done all these things”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and because I have spoken to you time and time again but you wouldn’t listen, and I have called to you, but you wouldn’t answer,

“As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not offer a cry or a prayer on their behalf, and do not beg Me, for I will not listen to you.

“When you speak all these things to them, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer you.

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.

Why have these people turned away?
Why is Jerusalem always turning away?
They take hold of deceit;
they refuse to return.

Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself
on such a nation as this?

But the one who boasts should boast in this,
that he understands and knows Me—
that I am Yahweh, showing faithful love,
justice, and righteousness on the earth,
for I delight in these things.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair on their temples. All these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”

You are to say this to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”

Jacob’s Portion is not like these
because He is the One who formed all things.
Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.

The Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Obey the words of this covenant and carry them out.

“As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to Me at the time of their disaster.

These evil people, who refuse to listen to Me, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who have followed other gods to serve and worship—they will be like this underwear, of no use at all.

And when you ask yourself,
“Why have these things happened to me?”
It is because of your great guilt
that your skirts have been stripped off,
your body exposed.

This is what the Lord says concerning these people:

Truly they love to wander;
they never rest their feet.
So the Lord does not accept them.
Now He will remember their guilt
and punish their sins.

Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of these people.

But the Lord said to me, “These prophets are prophesying a lie in My name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, worthless divination, the deceit of their own minds.

“Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, though I did not send them, and who say, ‘There will never be sword or famine in this land.’ By sword and famine these prophets will meet their end.

Can any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?
Or can the skies alone give showers?
Are You not the Lord our God?
We therefore put our hope in You,
for You have done all these things.

Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My compassions would not reach out to these people. Send them from My presence, and let them go.

“For this is what the Lord says: Don’t enter a house where a mourning feast is taking place. Don’t go to lament or sympathize with them, for I have removed My peace from these people”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“as well as My faithful love and compassion.

“When you tell these people all these things, they will say to you, ‘Why has the Lord declared all this great disaster against us? What is our guilt? What is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’

Announce to them: Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, all Judah, and all the residents of Jerusalem who enter through these gates.

Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

Ask among the nations,
Who has heard things like these?
Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing.

and you are to proclaim to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I will shatter these people and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be mended. They will bury the dead in Topheth because there is no other place for burials.

Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer and chief official in the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.

You are to say: Hear the word of the Lord, king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David—you, your officers, and your people who enter these gates.

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 did not send these prophets,
yet they ran with a message.
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.

I am against those who prophesy false dreams”—the Lord’s declaration—“telling them and leading My people astray with their falsehoods and their boasting. It was not I who sent or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people”—this is the Lord’s declaration.

“Now when these people or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you will respond to them: What is the burden? I will throw you away”—this is the Lord’s declaration.

“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah I sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.

I am going to send for all the families of the north’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘and send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will bring them against this land, against its residents, and against all these surrounding nations, and I will completely destroy them and make them a desolation, a derision, and ruins forever.

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

These included:

Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah, its kings and its officials, to make them a desolate ruin, an object of scorn and cursing—as it is today;

“As for you, you are to prophesy all these things to them, and say to them:

The Lord roars from heaven;
He raises His voice from His holy dwelling.
He roars loudly over His grazing land;
He calls out with a shout, like those who tread grapes,
against all the inhabitants of the earth.