'Says' in the Bible

Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you, for I will be with you to protect you," says the Lord.

For I will soon summon all the peoples of the kingdoms of the north," says the Lord. "They will come and their kings will set up their thrones near the entrances of the gates of Jerusalem. They will attack all the walls surrounding it, and all the towns in Judah.

They will attack you but they will not be able to overcome you, for I will be with you to rescue you," says the Lord.

“Go and announce directly to Jerusalem that this is what the Lord says:I remember the loyalty of your youth,your love as a bride—how you followed Me in the wilderness,in a land not sown.

Israel was set apart to the Lord; they were like the first fruits of a harvest to him. All who tried to devour them were punished; disaster came upon them," says the Lord.'"

This is what the Lord says:What fault did your fathers find in Methat they went so far from Me,followed worthless idols,and became worthless themselves?

"So, once more I will state my case against you," says the Lord. "I will also state it against your children and grandchildren.

Be amazed at this, O heavens! Be shocked and utterly dumbfounded," says the Lord.

Your own wickedness will bring about your punishment. Your unfaithful acts will bring down discipline on you. Know, then, and realize how utterly harmful it was for you to reject me, the Lord your God, to show no respect for me," says the Lord God who rules over all.

You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent. You can use as much soap as you want. But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see," says the Lord God.

"Why do you try to refute me? All of you have rebelled against me," says the Lord.

You people of this generation, listen to what the Lord says. "Have I been like a wilderness to you, Israel? Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to you? Why then do you say, 'We are free to wander. We will not come to you any more?'

God says, “If a husband divorces his wifeAnd she goes from himAnd belongs to another man,Will he still return to her?Will not that land be completely polluted?But you are a harlot with many lovers;Yet you turn to Me,” declares the Lord.

In spite of all this, Israel's sister, unfaithful Judah, has not turned back to me with any sincerity; she has only pretended to do so," says the Lord.

"Go and shout this message to my people in the countries in the north. Tell them, 'Come back to me, wayward Israel,' says the Lord. 'I will not continue to look on you with displeasure. For I am merciful,' says the Lord. 'I will not be angry with you forever.

However, you must confess that you have done wrong, and that you have rebelled against the Lord your God. You must confess that you have given yourself to foreign gods under every green tree, and have not obeyed my commands,' says the Lord.

"Come back to me, my wayward sons," says the Lord, "for I am your true master. If you do, I will take one of you from each town and two of you from each family group, and I will bring you back to Zion.

In those days, your population will greatly increase in the land. At that time," says the Lord, "people will no longer talk about having the ark that contains the Lord's covenant with us. They will not call it to mind, remember it, or miss it. No, that will not be done any more!

But, you have been unfaithful to me, nation of Israel, like an unfaithful wife who has left her husband," says the Lord.

“Return, O faithless sons,” [says the Lord],“I will heal your unfaithfulness.”[They answer] “Behold, we come to You,For You are the Lord our God.

"If you, Israel, want to come back," says the Lord, "if you want to come back to me you must get those disgusting idols out of my sight and must no longer go astray.

For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:Break up the unplowed ground;do not sow among the thorns.

"When this happens," says the Lord, "the king and his officials will lose their courage. The priests will be struck with horror, and the prophets will be speechless in astonishment."

They will surround Jerusalem like men guarding a field because they have rebelled against me," says the Lord.

“For My people are stupid and foolish,” [says the Lord to Jeremiah];“They do not know Me;They are foolish childrenAnd have no understanding.They are shrewd [enough] to do evil,But they do not know [how] to do good.”

For this is what the Lord says:The whole land will be a desolation,but I will not finish it off.

I will surely punish them for doing such things!" says the Lord. "I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!"

For the nations of Israel and Judah have been very unfaithful to me," says the Lord.

"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.

Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Hosts says:Because you have spoken this word,I am going to make My wordsbecome fire in your mouth.These people are the wood,and the fire will consume them.

The Lord says, "Listen, nation of Israel! I am about to bring a nation from far away to attack you. It will be a nation that was founded long ago and has lasted for a long time. It will be a nation whose language you will not know. Its people will speak words that you will not be able to understand.

Yet even then I will not completely destroy you," says the Lord.

It will come about when your people say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘As you have abandoned (rejected) Me,’ [says the Lord,] ‘and have served strange and foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’

"You should fear me!" says the Lord. "You should tremble in awe before me! I made the sand to be a boundary for the sea, a permanent barrier that it can never cross. Its waves may roll, but they can never prevail. They may roar, but they can never cross beyond that boundary."

I will certainly punish them for doing such things!" says the Lord. "I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!

For this is what the Lord of Hosts says:Cut down the trees;raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem.This city must be punished.There is nothing but oppression within her.

This is what the Lord of Hosts says:Glean the remnant of Israelas thoroughly as a vine.Pass your hand once more like a grape gathererover the branches.

I answered, "Who would listen if I spoke to them and warned them? Their ears are so closed that they cannot hear! Indeed, what the Lord says is offensive to them. They do not like it at all.

Their houses will be turned over to others as will their fields and their wives. For I will unleash my power against those who live in this land," says the Lord.

Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently?They weren’t at all ashamed.They can no longer feel humiliation.Therefore, they will fall among the fallen.When I punish them, they will collapse,says the Lord.

This is what the Lord says:Stand by the roadways and look.Ask about the ancient paths:Which is the way to what is good?Then take itand find rest for yourselves.But they protested, “We won’t!”

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.

This is what the Lord says:Look, an army is coming from a northern land;a great nation will be awakenedfrom the remote regions of the earth.

O daughter of my people [says Jeremiah],Clothe yourself in sackcloth and wallow in ashes;Mourn [aloud] as for an only son,A most bitter cry [of sorrow and regret],For suddenly the destroyer will come upon us [on both prophet and people].

“I [the Lord] have set you as an assayer [O Jeremiah] and as a tester [of the ore] of My people,That you may know and analyze their acts.”

“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Correct your ways and your deeds, and I will allow you to live in this place.

Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says, "We are safe! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!"

Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own is to be a hideout for robbers? You had better take note! I have seen for myself what you have done! says the Lord.

You also have done all these things, says the Lord, and I have spoken to you over and over again. But you have not listened! You have refused to respond when I called you to repent!

But I am not really the one being troubled!" says the Lord. "Rather they are bringing trouble on themselves to their own shame!

Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “Look, My anger—My burning wrath—is about to be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the tree of the field, and on the produce of the land. My wrath will burn and not be quenched.”

This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices, and eat the meat yourselves,

The Lord says, "I have rejected them because the people of Judah have done what I consider evil. They have set up their disgusting idols in the temple which I have claimed for my own and have defiled it.

So, watch out!" says the Lord. "The time will soon come when people will no longer call those places Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom. But they will call that valley the Valley of Slaughter and they will bury so many people in Topheth they will run out of room.

The Lord says, "When that time comes, the bones of the kings of Judah and its leaders, the bones of the priests and prophets and of all the other people who lived in Jerusalem will be dug up from their graves.

However, I will leave some of these wicked people alive and banish them to other places. But wherever these people who survive may go, they will wish they had died rather than lived," says the Lord who rules over all.

“You are to say to them: This is what the Lord says:Do people fall and not get up again?If they turn away, do they not return?

I've listened and I've heard, and what they say is not right. No one repents of his evil and says, "What have I done?' "They all turn to their own course like a horse racing into battle.

Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently?They weren’t at all ashamed.They can no longer feel humiliation.Therefore, they will fall among the fallen.When I punish them, they will collapse,”says the Lord.

I will take away their harvests, says the Lord. There will be no grapes on their vines. There will be no figs on their fig trees. Even the leaves on their trees will wither. The crops that I gave them will be taken away.'"

The Lord says, "Yes indeed, I am sending an enemy against you that will be like poisonous snakes which cannot be charmed away. And they will inflict fatal wounds on you."

Behold, [hear the sound of] the cry of the daughter of my people from the distant land [of Babylon]:“Is not the Lord in Zion? Is not her King within her?”[But the Lord answers] “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images and with foreign idols?”

The Lord says, "These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows. Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. They have become powerful in the land, but they have not done so by honest means. Indeed, they do one evil thing after another and do not pay attention to me.

They do one act of violence after another, and one deceitful thing after another. They refuse to pay attention to me," says the Lord.

Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says:I am about to refine them and test them,for what else can I dobecause of My dear people?

Their tongue is a deadly arrow that speaks deceit. With his mouth a person says, "Peace,' to his friend, but inwardly he sets a trap for him.

I will certainly punish them for doing such things!" says the Lord. "I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!"

The Lord said, “Because they have turned away from My law which I set before them, and have not listened to and obeyed My voice nor walked in accordance with it,

Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to feed this people wormwood and give them poisonous water to drink.

This is what the Lord of Hosts says:Consider, and summon the women who mourn;send for the skillful women.

I said, "So now, you wailing women, hear what the Lord says. Open your ears to the words from his mouth. Teach your daughters this mournful song, and each of you teach your neighbor this lament.

Speak as follows:This is what the Lord says:Human corpses will falllike manure on the surface of the field,like newly cut grain after the reaperwith no one to gather it.

This is what the Lord says:The wise man must not boast in his wisdom;the strong man must not boast in his strength;the wealthy man must not boast in his wealth.

If people want to boast, they should boast about this: They should boast that they understand and know me. They should boast that they know and understand that I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth and that I desire people to do these things," says the Lord.

The Lord says, "Watch out! The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh.

Give ear to the word which the Lord says to you, O people of Israel:

This is what the Lord says:Do not learn the way of the nationsor be terrified by signs in the heavens,although the nations are terrified by them,

For this is what the Lord says:Look, I am slinging outthe land’s residents at this timeand bringing them such distressthat they will feel it.

“Woe to me because of my [spiritual] brokenness!” [says Jeremiah, speaking for the nation.]“My wound is incurable.”But I said, “Surely this sickness and suffering and grief are mine,And I must bear it.”

You must tell them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let a curse be on the man who does not obey the words of this covenant,

“Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to bring on them disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not hear them.

The Lord says to the people of Judah, "What right do you have to be in my temple, my beloved people? Many of you have done wicked things. Can your acts of treachery be so easily canceled by sacred offerings that you take joy in doing evil even while you make them?

Therefore, here is what the Lord says concerning the people of Anathoth who want to take your life. They warn, “You must not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, or you will certainly die at our hand.”

Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: “I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword; their sons and daughters will die by famine.

This is what the Lord says: “Concerning all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people, Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from them.

But I will completely uproot and destroy any of those nations that will not pay heed,'" says the Lord.

Thus says Yahweh to me, Go, and buy yourself a linen belt, and put it on your waist, and don't put it in water.

“This is what the Lord says: Just like this I will ruin the great pride of both Judah and Jerusalem.

For as the waistband clings to the body of a man, so I caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,’ says the Lord, ‘that they might be for Me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory; but they did not listen and obey.’

“Say this to them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every jar should be filled with wine. Then they will respond to you, ‘Don’t we know that every jar should be filled with wine?’

And you will say to them: This is what the Lord says: I am about to fill all who live in this land—the kings who reign for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the residents of Jerusalem—with drunkenness.

And I will smash them like wine bottles against one another, children and parents alike. I will not show any pity, mercy, or compassion. Nothing will keep me from destroying them,' says the Lord."

Listen and pay close attention, do not be haughty and overconfident,For the Lord has spoken [says Jeremiah].

"The Lord says, 'That is why I will scatter your people like chaff that is blown away by a desert wind.

“This is your destiny, the portion [of judgment] measured to youFrom Me,” says the Lord,“Because you have forgotten MeAnd trusted in [pagan] lies [the counterfeit gods, and the pretense of alliance].”

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 guiltand punish their sins.

“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.

If they ask you, ‘Where will we go?’ you must tell them: This is what the Lord says:Those destined for death, to death;those destined for the sword, to the sword.Those destined for famine, to famine;those destined for captivity, to captivity.

I will appoint four kinds of destroyers over them,” says the Lord, “the sword to slay, the dogs to tear and drag away, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and to destroy.

“You have abandoned (rejected) Me,” says the Lord.“You keep going backward.Therefore I shall stretch out My hand against you and destroy you;I am tired of delaying [your punishment]!