'Says' in the Bible

“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.

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?

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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,

“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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

“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.

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.

Therefore, this is what the Lord says:If you return, I will restore you;you will stand in My presence.And if you speak noble words,rather than worthless ones,you will be My spokesman.It is they who must return to you;you must not return to them.

For this is what the Lord says concerning sons and daughters born in this place as well as concerning the mothers who bear them and the fathers who father them in this land:

“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.

For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am about to eliminate from this place, before your very eyes and in your time, the sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the groom and the bride.

This is what the Lord says:The man who trusts in mankind,who makes human flesh his strengthand turns his heart from the Lord is cursed.

This is what the Lord says: Watch yourselves; do not pick up a load and bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.

“However, if you listen to Me, says the Lord, and do not bring loads through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day and consecrate the Sabbath day and do no work on it,

So now, say to the men of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem: This is what the Lord says: I am about to bring harm to you and make plans against you. Turn now, each from your evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds.

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.

This is what the Lord says: “Go, buy a potter’s clay jar. Take some of the elders of the people and some of the leading priests

Say: Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will shudder

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.

“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 this is what the Lord says, ‘I am about to make you a terror to both yourself and those you love. They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes. I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will deport them to Babylon and put them to the sword.

‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will repel the weapons of war in your hands, those you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall, and I will bring them into the center of this city.

“But you must say to this people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am presenting to you the way of life and the way of death.

House of David, this is what the Lord says:Administer justice every morning,and rescue the victim of robberyfrom the hand of his oppressor,or My anger will flare up like fireand burn unquenchablybecause of their evil deeds.

This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and announce this word there.

This is what the Lord says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Don’t exploit or brutalize the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Don’t shed innocent blood in this place.

For this is what the Lord says concerning the house of the king of Judah:You are like Gilead to Me,or the summit of Lebanon,but I will certainly turn you into a wilderness,uninhabited cities.

For this is what the Lord says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in place of his father Josiah: “He has left this place—he will never return here again,

who says, “I will build myself a massive palace,with spacious upper rooms.”He will cut windows in it,and it will be paneled with cedarand painted with vermilion.

Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:They will not mourn for him, saying,“Woe, my brother!” or “Woe, my sister!”They will not mourn for him, saying,“Woe, lord! Woe, his majesty!”

“As I live,” says the Lord, “though you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a signet ring on My right hand, I would tear you from it.

This is what the Lord says:Record this man as childless,a man who will not be successful in his lifetime.None of his descendants will succeedin sitting on the throne of Davidor ruling again in Judah.

“Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who shepherd My people: You have scattered My flock, banished them, and have not attended to them. I will attend to you because of your evil acts”—this is the Lord’s declaration.

Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says concerning the prophets:I am about to feed them wormwoodand give them poisoned water to drink,for from the prophets of Jerusalemungodliness has spread throughout the land.

This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are making you worthless. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the Lord’s mouth.

But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ then this is what the Lord says: Because you have said, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ and I specifically told you not to say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’

“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.

“But as for the bad figs, so bad they are inedible, this is what the Lord says: in this way I will deal with king Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt.

“Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘Because you have not obeyed My words,

“Then you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, as a result of the sword I am sending among you.

If they refuse to take the cup from you and drink, you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: You must drink!

“This is what the Lord of Hosts says:Pay attention! Disaster spreadsfrom nation to nation.A great storm is stirred upfrom the ends of the earth.”

“This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all Judah’s cities that are coming to worship there. Do not hold back a word.

You are to say to them: This is what the Lord says: If you do not listen to Me by living according to My instruction that I set before you

“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.’

Command them to go to their masters, saying: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: This is what you must say to your masters:

Then I spoke to the priests and all these people, saying, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not listen to the words of your prophets. They are prophesying to you, claiming, “Look, very soon now the articles of the Lord’s temple will be brought back from Babylon.” They are prophesying a lie to you.

For this is what the Lord of Hosts says about the pillars, the sea, the water carts, and the rest of the articles that still remain in this city,

Yes, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about the articles that remain in the temple of the Lord, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem:

“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

In the presence of all the people Hananiah proclaimed, “This is what the Lord says: ‘In this way, within two years I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’” Jeremiah the prophet then went on his way.

“Go say to Hananiah: This is what the Lord says, ‘You broke a wooden yoke bar, but in its place you will make an iron yoke bar.’

For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says, ‘I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations that they might serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and they will serve him. I have also put the wild animals under him.’”

Therefore, this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to send you off the face of the earth. You will die this year because you have spoken rebellion against the Lord.’”

This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon:

For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Don’t let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you, and don’t listen to the dreams you elicit from them,

For this is what the Lord says: “When 70 years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm My promise concerning you to restore you to this place.

But this is what the Lord says concerning the king sitting on David’s throne and concerning all the people living in this city—that is, concerning your brothers who did not go with you into exile.

This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “I am about to send against them sword, famine, and plague and will make them like rotten figs that are inedible because they are so bad.

This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to Ahab son of Kolaiah and to Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, the ones prophesying a lie to you in My name: “I am about to hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your very eyes.

Based on what happens to them, all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will create a curse that says, ‘May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!’

“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: You in your own name have sent out letters to all the people of Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying:

“Send a message to all the exiles, saying: This is what the Lord says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah prophesied to you, though I did not send him, and made you trust a lie,

this is what the Lord says: I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. There will not be even one of his descendants living among these people, nor will any ever see the good that I will bring to My people”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“for he has preached rebellion against the Lord.”

This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “Write down on a scroll all the words that I have spoken to you,

Yes, this is what the Lord says:We have heard a cry of terror,of dread—there is no peace.

For this is what the Lord says:Your injury is incurable;your wound most severe.

This is what the Lord says:I will certainly restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tentsand show compassion on his dwellings.Every city will be rebuilt on its mound;every citadel will stand on its proper site.

This is what the Lord says:They found favor in the wilderness—the people who survived the sword.When Israel went to find rest,

For this is what the Lord says:Sing with joy for Jacob;shout for the chief of the nations!Proclaim, praise, and say,“Lord, save Your people,the remnant of Israel!”

This is what the Lord says:A voice was heard in Ramah,a lament with bitter weeping—Rachel weeping for her children,refusing to be comforted for her childrenbecause they are no more.

This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “When I restore their fortunes, they will once again speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities, ‘May the Lord bless you, righteous settlement, holy mountain.’

Just as I watched over them to uproot and to tear them down, to demolish and to destroy, and to cause disaster, so will I be attentive to build and to plant them,” says the Lord.