'Saying' in the Bible

“Send [this message] to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam, “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has made you trust in a lie,”

‘For I will restore health to youAnd I will heal your wounds,’ says the Lord,‘Because they have called you an outcast, saying:“This is Zion; no one seeks her and no one cares for her.”’

The Lord appeared to me (Israel) from ages past, saying,“I have loved you with an everlasting love;Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.

And each man will no longer teach his neighbor and his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me [through personal experience], from the least of them to the greatest,” says the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness, and I will no longer remember their sin.”

For Zedekiah [the last] king of Judah had locked him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy [disaster] and say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;

And Jeremiah [answered King Zedekiah and] said, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying,

“Now when I had delivered the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying,

Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying,

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard, saying,

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

“Have you not noticed what this people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families [Israel the northern kingdom, and Judah the southern kingdom] which the Lord chose, He has rejected’? Thus they despise My [chosen] people, no longer are they [considered] as a nation in their sight.

You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for [the memory and honor of] your fathers, the former kings who reigned before you, so shall a [ceremonial] burning be made for you; and people will lament (grieve) for you, saying, “Alas, lord (master)!”’ For I have spoken the word,” says the Lord.

Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I made a covenant (solemn pledge) with your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,

I have also sent to you all My servants the prophets, sending them repeatedly, saying, ‘Let every one of you turn now from his evil way and alter your behavior, and do not follow other gods to worship and serve them; and then you will live in the land which I have given to you and to your forefathers. But you have not submitted or listened to Me.

Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am [in hiding, virtually] restrained; I cannot go into the house of the Lord.

Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read to the people and come [to us].” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and went to them.

And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off man and beast from it?’”

Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah [along] with Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “Please pray [now] to the Lord our God for us.”

Thus says the Lord, ‘Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will certainly stay away from us,” for they will not stay away.

When he was at the Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah was there; and he seized and arrested Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are deserting to join the Chaldeans [of Babylon]!”

Where then are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land?’

Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal (also called Jehucal) the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying,

Ebed-melech went out of the king’s palace and spoke to the king, saying,

Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying,

Now the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah while he was [still] confined in the court of the guardhouse, saying,

Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans; stay in this land and serve the king of Babylon, that it may go well with you.

Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know [who is responsible]. Why should he kill you and cause all the Jews who are gathered near you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?”

saying, “No, but we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the sound of the [warrior’s] trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there,”

that you have deceived yourselves; for you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, “Pray for us to the Lord our God; and whatever the Lord our God says, declare it to us and we will do it.”

Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who were living in the land of Egypt—at Migdol, at Tahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, saying,

Yet I sent to you all My servants the prophets, again and again, saying, “Oh, do not do this shamefully vile thing which I hate.”

thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, as follows: ‘You and your wives have both declared with your mouth and fulfilled it with your hand, saying, “We will certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn sacrifices to the queen of heaven (Ishtar) and to pour out drink offerings to her.” Surely then confirm your vows and go ahead and perform your vows! [If you intend to defy all My warnings, proceed!]’

Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all [you people of] Judah who are living in the land of Egypt, ‘Behold, I have sworn [an oath] by My great Name,’ says the Lord, ‘that My Name shall never again be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As the Lord God lives.”

The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,

“The glory of Moab is no more;In Heshbon they planned evil against her,Saying, ‘Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!’You also, O [city of] Madmen, shall be silenced;The sword will pursue you.

I have heard a report from the Lord,And a messenger has been sent to the nations, saying,“Gather together and come against her,And rise up for the battle.”

The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:

They will ask the way to Zion, with their faces in that direction, saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.’

The Lord of hosts has sworn [an oath] by Himself, saying,“Surely I will fill you with men, as with [a swarm of] locusts [who strip the land clean],And they will lift up a song and shout of victory over you.”

All who pass along the wayClap their hands in derision at you;They scoff and shake their headsAt the Daughter of Jerusalem, saying,“Is this the city that was called‘The perfection of beauty,The joy of all the earth’?”

Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rushing sound behind me, “Blessed be the glory of the Lord in His place [above the expanse].”

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Then [in my vision] I heard Him cry out with a thunderous voice, saying, “Approach now, executioners of the city, each with his weapon of destruction in his hand.”

Then behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the scribe’s writing case at his side, reported, “I have done just as You have commanded me.”

It came about when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” the man entered and stood beside a wheel.

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

The word of the Lord also came to me, saying,

In the morning the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days are long and every vision fails’?

Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

And the word of the Lord came to me saying,

They have seen falsehood and lying divination, saying, ‘The Lord says,’ but the Lord has not sent them. Yet they hope and make men to hope for the confirmation of their word.

It is definitely because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because when one builds a [flimsy] wall, behold, these [lying] prophets plaster it over with whitewash;

The word of the Lord came [again] to me, saying,

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,

Then came the word of the Lord to me, saying,

and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day when I chose Israel and lifted up My hand and swore to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God,

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not [just] speaking in parables and making allegories?’”

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God’—when the Lord has not spoken.

The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,

Again in the ninth year [of King Jehoiachin’s captivity by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon], in the tenth month, on the tenth [day] of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Then I answered them, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,

Now in the eleventh year, on the first [day] of the month [after the capture of King Jehoiachin], the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,

“In their wailing they will take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) for youAnd sing a dirge for you:‘Who is like Tyre,Like her who is silent [destroyed] in the midst of the sea?

The word of the Lord came again to me, saying,

Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

In the tenth year [of the captivity of King Jehoiachin by the king of Babylon], in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

In the twenty-seventh year [after King Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon], in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

The word of the Lord came again to me, saying,

In the eleventh year [after King Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon], in the first month, on the seventh of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

In the eleventh year [after King Jehoiachin was taken captive to Babylon], in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

In the twelfth year [after King Jehoiachin of Judah was taken into exile by the king of Babylon], in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

In the twelfth year [after King Jehoiachin of Judah was taken into exile], on the fifteenth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

In the twelfth year of our exile [in Babylon], on the fifth of the tenth month, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city has been captured.”

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

“Son of man, those [back in Palestine] who inhabit these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was [only] one man and he took possession of the land, but we are many; the land has [most certainly] been given to us [to possess] as property.’