“ Even if I die today , I will be happy to be with my Lord in heaven ! ” cafe . naver . com / danielcho 3 / Isaiah 1 : 1 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah , Jotham , Ahaz and Hezekiah , kings of Judah . 1 : 2 Hear , O heavens ! Listen , O earth ! For the LORD has spoken : " I reared children and brought them up , but they have rebelled against me . 1 : 3 The ox knows his master , the donkey his owner ' s manger , but Israel does not know , my people do not understand . " 1 : 4 Ah , sinful nation , a people loaded with guilt , a brood of evildoers , children given to corruption ! They have forsaken the LORD ; they have spurned the Holy one of Israel and turned their backs on him . 1 : 5 Why should you be beaten anymore ? Why do you persist in rebellion ? Your whole head is injured , your whole heart afflicted . 1 : 6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness -- only wounds and welts and open sores , not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil . 1 : 7 Your country is desolate , your cities burned with fire ; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you , laid waste as when overthrown by strangers . 1 : 8 The Daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard , like a hut in a field of melons , like a city under siege . 1 : 9 Unless the LORD Almighty had left us some survivors , we would have become like Sodom , we would have been like Gomorrah . 1 : 10 Hear the word of the LORD , you rulers of Sodom ; listen to the law of our God , you people of Gomorrah ! 1 : 11 " The multitude of your sacrifices -- what are they to me ? " says the LORD . " I have more than enough of burnt offerings , of rams and the fat of fattened animals ; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats . 1 : 12 When you come to appear before me , who has asked this of you , this trampling of my courts ? 1 : 13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings ! Your incense is detestable to me . New Moons , Sabbaths and convocations -- I cannot bear your evil assemblies . 1 : 14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates . They have become a burden to me ; I am weary of bearing them . 1 : 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer , I will hide my eyes from you ; even if you offer many prayers , I will not listen . Your hands are full of blood ; 1 : 16 wash and make yourselves clean . Take your evil deeds out of my sight ! Stop doing wrong , 1 : 17 learn to do right ! Seek justice , encourage the oppressed . Defend the cause of the fatherless , plead the case of the widow . 1 : 18 " Come now , let us reason together , " says the LORD . " Though your sins are like scarlet , they shall be as white as snow ; though they are red as crimson , they shall be like wool . 1 : 19 If you are willing and obedient , you will eat the best from the land ; 1 : 20 but if you resist and rebel , you will be devoured by the sword . " For the mouth of the LORD has spoken . 1 : 21 See how the faithful city has become a harlot ! She once was full of justice ; righteousness used to dwell in her -- but now murderers ! 1 : 22 Your silver has become dross , your choice wine is diluted with water . 1 : 23 Your rulers are rebels , companions of thieves ; they all love bribes and chase after gifts . They do not defend the cause of the fatherless ; the widow ' s case does not come before them . 1 : 24 Therefore the Lord , the LORD Almighty , the Mighty one of Israel , declares : " Ah , I will get relief from my foes and avenge myself on my enemies . 1 : 25 I will turn my hand against you ; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities . 1 : 26 I will restore your judges as in days of old , your counselors as at the beginning . Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness , the Faithful City . " 1 : 27 Zion will be redeemed with justice , her penitent ones with righteousness . 1 : 28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken , and those who forsake the LORD will perish . 1 : 29 " You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted ; you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen . 1 : 30 You will be like an oak with fading leaves , like a garden without water . 1 : 31 The mighty man will become tinder and his work a spark ; both will burn together , with no one to quench the fire . " 2 : 1 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem : 2 : 2 In the last days the mountain of the LORD ' S temple will be established as chief among the mountains ; it will be raised above the hills , and all nations will stream to it . 2 : 3 Many peoples will come and say , " Come , let us go up to the mountain of the LORD , to the house of the God of Jacob . He will teach us his ways , so that we may walk in his paths . " The law will go out from Zion , the word of the LORD from Jerusalem . 2 : 4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples . They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks . Nation will not take up sword against nation , nor will they train for war anymore . 2 : 5 Come , O house of Jacob , let us walk in the light of the LORD . 2 : 6 You have abandoned your people , the house of Jacob . They are full of superstitions from the East ; they practice divination like the Philistines and clasp hands with pagans . 2 : 7 Their land is full of silver and gold ; there is no end to their treasures . Their land is full of horses ; there is no end to their chariots . 2 : 8 Their land is full of idols ; they bow down to the work of their hands , to what their fingers have made . 2 : 9 So man will be brought low and mankind humbled -- do not forgive them . 2 : 10 Go into the rocks , hide in the ground from dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty ! 2 : 11 The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low ; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day . 2 : 12 The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty , for all that is exalted ( and they will be humbled ) , 2 : 13 for all the cedars of Lebanon , tall and lofty , and all the oaks of Bashan , 2 : 14 for all the towering mountains and all the high hills , 2 : 15 for every lofty tower and every fortified wall , 2 : 16 for every trading ship and every stately vessel . 2 : 17 The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled ; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day , 2 : 18 and the idols will totally disappear . 2 : 19 Men will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty , when he rises to shake the earth . 2 : 20 In that day men will throw away to the rodents and bats their idols of silver and idols of gold , which they made to worship . 2 : 21 They will flee to caverns in the rocks and to the overhanging crags from dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty , when he rises to shake the earth . 2 : 22 Stop trusting in man , who has but a breath in his nostrils . Of what account is he ? 3 : 1 See now , the Lord , the LORD Almighty , is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support : all supplies of food and all supplies of water , 3 : 2 the hero and warrior , the judge and prophet , the soothsayer and elder , 3 : 3 the captain of fifty and man of rank , the counselor , skilled craftsman and clever enchanter . 3 : 4 I will make boys their officials ; mere children will govern them . 3 : 5 People will oppress each other -- man against man , neighbor against neighbor . The young will rise up against the old , the base against the honorable . 3 : 6 A man will seize one of his brothers at his father ' s home , and say , " You have a cloak , you be our leader ; take charge of this heap of ruins ! " 3 : 7 But in that day he will cry out , " I have no remedy . I have no food or clothing in my house ; do not make me the leader of the people . " 3 : 8 Jerusalem staggers , Judah is falling ; their words and deeds are against the LORD , defying his glorious presence . 3 : 9 The look on their faces testifies against them ; they parade their sin like Sodom ; they do not hide it . Woe to them ! They have brought disaster upon themselves . 3 : 10 Tell the righteous it will be well with them , for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds . 3 : 11 Woe to the wicked ! Disaster is upon them ! They will be paid back for what their hands have done . 3 : 12 Youths oppress my people , women rule over them . O my people , your guides lead you astray ; they turn you from the path . 3 : 13 The LORD takes his place in court ; he rises to judge the people . 3 : 14 The LORD enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people : " It is you who have ruined my vineyard ; the plunder from the poor is in your houses . 3 : 15 What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor ? " declares the Lord , the LORD Almighty . 3 : 16 The LORD says , " The women of Zion are haughty , walking along with outstretched necks , flirting with their eyes , tripping along with mincing steps , with ornaments jingling on their ankles . 3 : 17 Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion ; the LORD will make their scalps bald . " 3 : 18 In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery : the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces , 3 : 19 the earrings and bracelets and veils , 3 : 20 the headdresses and ankle chains and sashes , the perfume bottles and charms , 3 : 21 the signet rings and nose rings , 3 : 22 the fine robes and the capes and cloaks , the purses 3 : 23 and mirrors , and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls . 3 : 24 Instead of fragrance there will be a stench ; instead of a sash , a rope ; instead of well - dressed hair , baldness ; instead of fine clothing , sackcloth ; instead of beauty , branding . 3 : 25 Your men will fall by the sword , your warriors in battle . 3 : 26 The gates of Zion will lament and mourn ; destitute , she will sit on the ground . 4 : 1 In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say , " We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes ; only let us be called by your name . Take away our disgrace ! " 4 : 2 In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious , and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel . 4 : 3 Those who are left in Zion , who remain in Jerusalem , will be called holy , all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem . 4 : 4 The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion ; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire . 4 : 5 Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night ; over all the glory will be a canopy . 4 : 6 It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day , and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain . 5 : 1 I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard : My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside . 5 : 2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines . He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well . Then he looked for a crop of good grapes , but it yielded only bad fruit . 5 : 3 " Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah , judge between me and my vineyard . 5 : 4 What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it ? When I looked for good grapes , why did it yield only bad ? 5 : 5 Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard : I will take away its hedge , and it will be destroyed ; I will break down its wall , and it will be trampled . 5 : 6 I will make it a wasteland , neither pruned nor cultivated , and briers and thorns will grow there . I will command the clouds not to rain on it . " 5 : 7 The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel , and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight . And he looked for justice , but saw bloodshed ; for righteousness , but heard cries of distress . 5 : 8 Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land . 5 : 9 The LORD Almighty has declared in my hearing : " Surely the great houses will become desolate , the fine mansions left without occupants . 5 : 10 A ten - acre vineyard will produce only a bath of wine , a homer of seed only an ephah of grain . " 5 : 11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks , who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine . 5 : 12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets , tambourines and flutes and wine , but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD , no respect for the work of his hands . 5 : 13 Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding ; their men of rank will die of hunger and their masses will be parched with thirst . 5 : 14 Therefore the grave enlarges its appetite and opens its mouth without limit ; into it will descend their nobles and masses with all their brawlers and revelers . 5 : 15 So man will be brought low and mankind humbled , the eyes of the arrogant humbled . 5 : 16 But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice , and the holy God will show himself holy by his righteousness . 5 : 17 Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture ; lambs will feed among the ruins of the rich . 5 : 18 Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit , and wickedness as with cart ropes , 5 : 19 to those who say , " Let God hurry , let him hasten his work so we may see it . Let it approach , let the plan of the Holy one of Israel come , so we may know it . " 5 : 20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil , who put darkness for light and light for darkness , who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter . 5 : 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight . 5 : 22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks , 5 : 23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe , but deny justice to the innocent . 5 : 24 Therefore , as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames , so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust ; for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy one of Israel . 5 : 25 Therefore the LORD ' S anger burns against his people ; his hand is raised and he strikes them down . The mountains shake , and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets . Yet for all this , his anger is not turned away , his hand is still upraised . 5 : 26 He lifts up a banner for the distant nations , he whistles for those at the ends of the earth . Here they come , swiftly and speedily ! 5 : 27 Not one of them grows tired or stumbles , not one slumbers or sleeps ; not a belt is loosened at the waist , not a sandal thong is broken . 5 : 28 Their arrows are sharp , all their bows are strung ; their horses ' hoofs seem like flint , their chariot wheels like a whirlwind . 5 : 29 Their roar is like that of the lion , they roar like young lions ; they growl as they seize their prey and carry it off with no one to rescue . 5 : 30 In that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea . And if one looks at the land , he will see darkness and distress ; even the light will be darkened by the clouds . 6 : 1 In the year that King Uzziah died , I saw the Lord seated on a throne , high and exalted , and the train of his robe filled the temple . 6 : 2 Above him were seraphs , each with six wings : With two wings they covered their faces , with two they covered their feet , and with two they were flying . 6 : 3 And they were calling to one another : " Holy , holy , holy is the LORD Almighty ; the whole earth is full of his glory . " 6 : 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke . 6 : 5 " Woe to me ! " I cried . " I am ruined ! For I am a man of unclean lips , and I live among a people of unclean lips , and my eyes have seen the King , the LORD Almighty . " 6 : 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand , which he had taken with tongs from the altar . 6 : 7 With it he touched my mouth and said , " See , this has touched your lips ; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for . " 6 : 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying , " Whom shall I send ? And who will go for us ? " And I said , " Here am I . Send me ! " 6 : 9 He said , " Go and tell this people : "' Be ever hearing , but never understanding ; be ever seeing , but never perceiving . ' 6 : 10 Make the heart of this people calloused ; make their ears dull and close their eyes . Otherwise they might see with their eyes , hear with their ears , understand with their hearts , and turn and be healed . " 6 : 11 Then I said , " For how long , O Lord ? " And he answered : " Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant , until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged , 6 : 12 until the LORD has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken . 6 : 13 And though a tenth remains in the land , it will again be laid waste . But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down , so the holy seed will be the stump in the land . " 7 : 1 When Ahaz son of Jotham , the son of Uzziah , was king of Judah , King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem , but they could not overpower it . 7 : 2 Now the house of David was told , " Aram has allied itself with Ephraim "; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken , as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind . 7 : 3 Then the LORD said to Isaiah , " Go out , you and your son Shear - Jashub , to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool , on the road to the Washerman ' s Field . 7 : 4 Say to him , ' Be careful , keep calm and don ' t be afraid . Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood -- because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah . 7 : 5 Aram , Ephraim and Remaliah ' s son have plotted your ruin , saying , 7 : 6 " Let us invade Judah ; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves , and make the son of Tabeel king over it . " 7 : 7 Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says : "' It will not take place , it will not happen , 7 : 8 for the head of Aram is Damascus , and the head of Damascus is only Rezin . Within sixty - five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people . 7 : 9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria , and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah ' s son . If you do not stand firm in your faith , you will not stand at all . '" 7 : 10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz , 7 : 11 " Ask the LORD your God for a sign , whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights . " 7 : 12 But Ahaz said , " I will not ask ; I will not put the LORD to the test . " 7 : 13 Then Isaiah said , " Hear now , you house of David ! Is it not enough to try the patience of men ? Will you try the patience of my God also ? 7 : 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign : The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son , and will call him Immanuel . 7 : 15 He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right . 7 : 16 But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right , the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste . 7 : 17 The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah -- he will bring the king of Assyria . " 7 : 18 In that day the LORD will whistle for flies from the distant streams of Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria . 7 : 19 They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices in the rocks , on all the thornbushes and at all the water holes . 7 : 20 In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the River -- the king of Assyria -- to shave your head and the hair of your legs , and to take off your beards also . 7 : 21 In that day , a man will keep alive a young cow and two goats . 7 : 22 And because of the abundance of the milk they give , he will have curds to eat . All who remain in the land will eat curds and honey . 7 : 23 In that day , in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels , there will be only briers and thorns . 7 : 24 Men will go there with bow and arrow , for the land will be covered with briers and thorns . 7 : 25 As for all the hills once cultivated by the hoe , you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns ; they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run . 8 : 1 The LORD said to me , " Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen : Maher - Shalal - Hash - Baz . 8 : 2 And I will call in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me . " 8 : 3 Then I went to the prophetess , and she conceived and gave birth to a son . And the LORD said to me , " Name him Maher - Shalal - Hash - Baz . 8 : 4 Before the boy knows how to say ' My father ' or ' My mother , ' the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria . " 8 : 5 The LORD spoke to me again : 8 : 6 " Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah , 8 : 7 therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the River -- the king of Assyria with all his pomp . It will overflow all its channels , run over all its banks 8 : 8 and sweep on into Judah , swirling over it , passing through it and reaching up to the neck . Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land , O Immanuel ! " 8 : 9 Raise the war cry , you nations , and be shattered ! Listen , all you distant lands . Prepare for battle , and be shattered ! Prepare for battle , and be shattered ! 8 : 10 Devise your strategy , but it will be thwarted ; propose your plan , but it will not stand , for God is with us . 8 : 11 The LORD spoke to me with his strong hand upon me , warning me not to follow the way of this people . He said : 8 : 12 " Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy ; do not fear what they fear , and do not dread it . 8 : 13 The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy , he is the one you are to fear , he is the one you are to dread , 8 : 14 and he will be a sanctuary ; but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall . And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare . 8 : 15 Many of them will stumble ; they will fall and be broken , they will be snared and captured . " 8 : 16 Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among my disciples . 8 : 17 I will wait for the LORD , who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob . I will put my trust in him . 8 : 18 Here am I , and the children the LORD has given me . We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty , who dwells on Mount Zion . 8 : 19 When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists , who whisper and mutter , should not a people inquire of their God ? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living ? 8 : 20 To the law and to the testimony ! If they do not speak according to this word , they have no light of dawn . 8 : 21 Distressed and hungry , they will roam through the land ; when they are famished , they will become enraged and , looking upward , will curse their king and their God . 8 : 22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom , and they will be thrust into utter darkness . 9 : 1 Nevertheless , there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress . In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali , but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles , by the way of the sea , along the Jordan -- 9 : 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light ; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned . 9 : 3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy ; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest , as men rejoice when dividing the plunder . 9 : 4 For as in the day of Midian ' s defeat , you have shattered the yoke that burdens them , the bar across their shoulders , the rod of their oppressor . 9 : 5 Every warrior ' s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning , will be fuel for the fire . 9 : 6 For to us a child is born , to us a son is given , and the government will be on his shoulders . And he will be called Wonderful Counselor , Mighty God , Everlasting Father , Prince of Peace . 9 : 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end . He will reign on David ' s throne and over his kingdom , establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever . The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this . 9 : 8 The Lord has sent a message against Jacob ; it will fall on Israel . 9 : 9 All the people will know it -- Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria -- who say with pride and arrogance of heart , 9 : 10 " The bricks have fallen down , but we will rebuild with dressed stone ; the fig trees have been felled , but we will replace them with cedars . " 9 : 11 But the LORD has strengthened Rezin ' s foes against them and has spurred their enemies on . 9 : 12 Arameans from the east and Philistines from the west have devoured Israel with open mouth . Yet for all this , his anger is not turned away , his hand is still upraised . 9 : 13 But the people have not returned to him who struck them , nor have they sought the LORD Almighty . 9 : 14 So the LORD will cut off from Israel both head and tail , both palm branch and reed in a single day ; 9 : 15 the elders and prominent men are the head , the prophets who teach lies are the tail . 9 : 16 Those who guide this people mislead them , and those who are guided are led astray . 9 : 17 Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men , nor will he pity the fatherless and widows , for everyone is ungodly and wicked , every mouth speaks vileness . Yet for all this , his anger is not turned away , his hand is still upraised . 9 : 18 Surely wickedness burns like a fire ; it consumes briers and thorns , it sets the forest thickets ablaze , so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke . 9 : 19 By the wrath of the LORD Almighty the land will be scorched and the people will be fuel for the fire ; no one will spare his brother . 9 : 20 on the right they will devour , but still be hungry ; on the left they will eat , but not be satisfied . Each will feed on the flesh of his own offspring : 9 : 21 Manasseh will feed on Ephraim , and Ephraim on Manasseh ; together they will turn against Judah . Yet for all this , his anger is not turned away , his hand is still upraised . 10 : 1 Woe to those who make unjust laws , to those who issue oppressive decrees , 10 : 2 to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people , making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless . 10 : 3 What will you do on the day of reckoning , when disaster comes from afar ? To whom will you run for help ? Where will you leave your riches ? 10 : 4 Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain . Yet for all this , his anger is not turned away , his hand is still upraised . 10 : 5 " Woe to the Assyrian , the rod of my anger , in whose hand is the club of my wrath ! 10 : 6 I send him against a godless nation , I dispatch him against a people who anger me , to seize loot and snatch plunder , and to trample them down like mud in the streets . 10 : 7 But this is not what he intends , this is not what he has in mind ; his purpose is to destroy , to put an end to many nations . 10 : 8 ' Are not my commanders all kings ? ' he says . 10 : 9 ' Has not Calno fared like Carchemish ? Is not Hamath like Arpad , and Samaria like Damascus ? 10 : 10 As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols , kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria -- 10 : 11 shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols ? '" 10 : 12 When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem , he will say , " I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes . 10 : 13 For he says : "' By the strength of my hand I have done this , and by my wisdom , because I have understanding . I removed the boundaries of nations , I plundered their treasures ; like a mighty one I subdued their kings . 10 : 14 As one reaches into a nest , so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations ; as men gather abandoned eggs , so I gathered all the countries ; not one flapped a wing , or opened its mouth to chirp . '" 10 : 15 Does the ax raise itself above him who swings it , or the saw boast against him who uses it ? As if a rod were to wield him who lifts it up , or a club brandish him who is not wood ! 10 : 16 Therefore , the Lord , the LORD Almighty , will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors ; under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame . 10 : 17 The Light of Israel will become a fire , their Holy one a flame ; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers . 10 : 18 The splendor of his forests and fertile fields it will completely destroy , as when a sick man wastes away . 10 : 19 And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down . 10 : 20 In that day the remnant of Israel , the survivors of the house of Jacob , will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the LORD , the Holy one of Israel . 10 : 21 A remnant will return , a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God . 10 : 22 Though your people , O Israel , be like the sand by the sea , only a remnant will return . Destruction has been decreed , overwhelming and righteous . 10 : 23 The Lord , the LORD Almighty , will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land . 10 : 24 Therefore , this is what the Lord , the LORD Almighty , says : " O my people who live in Zion , do not be afraid of the Assyrians , who beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you , as Egypt did . 10 : 25 Very soon my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their destruction . " 10 : 26 The LORD Almighty will lash them with a whip , as when he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb ; and he will raise his staff over the waters , as he did in Egypt . 10 : 27 In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders , their yoke from your neck ; the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat . 10 : 28 They enter Aiath ; they pass through Migron ; they store supplies at Micmash . 10 : 29 They go over the pass , and say , " We will camp overnight at Geba . " Ramah trembles ; Gibeah of Saul flees . 10 : 30 Cry out , O Daughter of Gallim ! Listen , O Laishah ! Poor Anathoth ! 10 : 31 Madmenah is in flight ; the people of Gebim take cover . 10 : 32 This day they will halt at Nob ; they will shake their fist at the mount of the Daughter of Zion , at the hill of Jerusalem . 10 : 33 See , the Lord , the LORD Almighty , will lop off the boughs with great power . The lofty trees will be felled , the tall ones will be brought low . 10 : 34 He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax ; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty one . ISA 11 : 1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse ; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit . 11 : 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him -- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding , the Spirit of counsel and of power , the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -- 11 : 3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD . He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes , or decide by what he hears with his ears ; 11 : 4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy , with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth . He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth ; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked . 11 : 5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist . 11 : 6 The wolf will live with the lamb , the leopard will lie down with the goat , the calf and the lion and the yearling together ; and a little child will lead them . 11 : 7 The cow will feed with the bear , their young will lie down together , and the lion will eat straw like the ox . 11 : 8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra , and the young child put his hand into the viper ' s nest . 11 : 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain , for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea . 11 : 10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples ; the nations will rally to him , and his place of rest will be glorious . 11 : 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria , from Lower Egypt , from Upper Egypt , from Cush , from Elam , from Babylonia , from Hamath and from the islands of the sea . 11 : 12 He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel ; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth . 11 : 13 Ephraim ' s jealousy will vanish , and Judah ' s enemies will be cut off ; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah , nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim . 11 : 14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west ; together they will plunder the people to the east . They will lay hands on Edom and Moab , and the Ammonites will be subject to them . 11 : 15 The LORD will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea ; with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River . He will break it up into seven streams so that men can cross over in sandals . 11 : 16 There will be a highway for the remnant of his people that is left from Assyria , as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt . 12 : 1 In that day you will say : " I will praise you , O LORD . Although you were angry with me , your anger has turned away and you have comforted me . 12 : 2 Surely God is my salvation ; I will trust and not be afraid . The LORD , the LORD , is my strength and my song ; he has become my salvation . " 12 : 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation . 12 : 4 In that day you will say : " Give thanks to the LORD , call on his name ; make known among the nations what he has done , and proclaim that his name is exalted . 12 : 5 Sing to the LORD , for he has done glorious things ; let this be known to all the world . 12 : 6 Shout aloud and sing for joy , people of Zion , for great is the Holy one of Israel among you . " 13 : 1 An oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw : 13 : 2 Raise a banner on a bare hilltop , shout to them ; beckon to them to enter the gates of the nobles . 13 : 3 I have commanded my holy ones ; I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath -- those who rejoice in my triumph . 13 : 4 Listen , a noise on the mountains , like that of a great multitude ! Listen , an uproar among the kingdoms , like nations massing together ! The LORD Almighty is mustering an army for war . 13 : 5 They come from faraway lands , from the ends of the heavens -- the LORD and the weapons of his wrath -- to destroy the whole country . 13 : 6 Wail , for the day of the LORD is near ; it will come like destruction from the Almighty . 13 : 7 Because of this , all hands will go limp , every man ' s heart will melt . 13 : 8 Terror will seize them , pain and anguish will grip them ; they will writhe like a woman in labor . They will look aghast at each other , their faces aflame . 13 : 9 See , the day of the LORD is coming -- a cruel day , with wrath and fierce anger -- to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it . 13 : 10 The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light . The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light . 13 : 11 I will punish the world for its evil , the wicked for their sins . I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless . 13 : 12 I will make man scarcer than pure gold , more rare than the gold of Ophir . 13 : 13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble ; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty , in the day of his burning anger . 13 : 14 Like a hunted gazelle , like sheep without a shepherd , each will return to his own people , each will flee to his native land . 13 : 15 Whoever is captured will be thrust through ; all who are caught will fall by the sword . 13 : 16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes ; their houses will be looted and their wives ravished . 13 : 17 See , I will stir up against them the Medes , who do not care for silver and have no delight in gold . 13 : 18 Their bows will strike down the young men ; they will have no mercy on infants nor will they look with compassion on children . 13 : 19 Babylon , the jewel of kingdoms , the glory of the Babylonians ' pride , will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah . 13 : 20 She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations ; no Arab will pitch his tent there , no shepherd will rest his flocks there . 13 : 21 But desert creatures will lie there , jackals will fill her houses ; there the owls will dwell , and there the wild goats will leap about . 13 : 22 Hyenas will howl in her strongholds , jackals in her luxurious palaces . Her time is at hand , and her days will not be prolonged . 14 : 1 The LORD will have compassion on Jacob ; once again he will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land . Aliens will join them and unite with the house of Jacob . 14 : 2 Nations will take them and bring them to their own place . And the house of Israel will possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in the LORD ' S land . They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors . 14 : 3 on the day the LORD gives you relief from suffering and turmoil and cruel bondage , 14 : 4 you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon : How the oppressor has come to an end ! How his fury has ended ! 14 : 5 The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked , the scepter of the rulers , 14 : 6 which in anger struck down peoples with unceasing blows , and in fury subdued nations with relentless aggression . 14 : 7 All the lands are at rest and at peace ; they break into singing . 14 : 8 Even the pine trees and the cedars of Lebanon exult over you and say , " Now that you have been laid low , no woodsman comes to cut us down . " 14 : 9 The grave below is all astir to meet you at your coming ; it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you -- all those who were leaders in the world ; it makes them rise from their thrones -- all those who were kings over the nations . 14 : 10 They will all respond , they will say to you , " You also have become weak , as we are ; you have become like us . " 14 : 11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave , along with the noise of your harps ; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you . 14 : 12 How you have fallen from heaven , O morning star , son of the dawn ! You have been cast down to the earth , you who once laid low the nations ! 14 : 13 You said in your heart , " I will ascend to heaven ; I will raise my throne above the stars of God ; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly , on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain . 14 : 14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds ; I will make myself like the Most High . " 14 : 15 But you are brought down to the grave , to the depths of the pit . 14 : 16 Those who see you stare at you , they ponder your fate : " Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble , 14 : 17 the man who made the world a desert , who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home ? " 14 : 18 All the kings of the nations lie in state , each in his own tomb . 14 : 19 But you are cast out of your tomb like a rejected branch ; you are covered with the slain , with those pierced by the sword , those who descend to the stones of the pit . Like a corpse trampled underfoot , 14 : 20 you will not join them in burial , for you have destroyed your land and killed your people . The offspring of the wicked will never be mentioned again . 14 : 21 Prepare a place to slaughter his sons for the sins of their forefathers ; they are not to rise to inherit the land and cover the earth with their cities . 14 : 22 " I will rise up against them , " declares the LORD Almighty . " I will cut off from Babylon her name and survivors , her offspring and descendants , " declares the LORD . 14 : 23 " I will turn her into a place for owls and into swampland ; I will sweep her with the broom of destruction , " declares the LORD Almighty . 14 : 24 The LORD Almighty has sworn , " Surely , as I have planned , so it will be , and as I have purposed , so it will stand . 14 : 25 I will crush the Assyrian in my land ; on my mountains I will trample him down . His yoke will be taken from my people , and his burden removed from their shoulders . " 14 : 26 This is the plan determined for the whole world ; this is the hand stretched out over all nations . 14 : 27 For the LORD Almighty has purposed , and who can thwart him ? His hand is stretched out , and who can turn it back ? 14 : 28 This oracle came in the year King Ahaz died : 14 : 29 Do not rejoice , all you Philistines , that the rod that struck you is broken ; from the root of that snake will spring up a viper , its fruit will be a darting , venomous serpent . 14 : 30 The poorest of the poor will find pasture , and the needy will lie down in safety . But your root I will destroy by famine ; it will slay your survivors . 14 : 31 Wail , O gate ! Howl , O city ! Melt away , all you Philistines ! A cloud of smoke comes from the north , and there is not a straggler in its ranks . 14 : 32 What answer shall be given to the envoys of that nation ? " The LORD has established Zion , and in her his afflicted people will find refuge . " 15 : 1 An oracle concerning Moab : Ar in Moab is ruined , destroyed in a night ! Kir in Moab is ruined , destroyed in a night ! 15 : 2 Dibon goes up to its temple , to its high places to weep ; Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba . Every head is shaved and every beard cut off . 15 : 3 In the streets they wear sackcloth ; on the roofs and in the public squares they all wail , prostrate with weeping . 15 : 4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out , their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz . Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out , and their hearts are faint . 15 : 5 My heart cries out over Moab ; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar , as far as Eglath Shelishiyah . They go up the way to Luhith , weeping as they go ; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction . 15 : 6 The waters of Nimrim are dried up and the grass is withered ; the vegetation is gone and nothing green is left . 15 : 7 So the wealth they have acquired and stored up they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars . 15 : 8 Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab ; their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim , their lamentation as far as Beer Elim . 15 : 9 Dimon ' s waters are full of blood , but I will bring still more upon Dimon -- a lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon those who remain in the land . 16 : 1 Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land , from Sela , across the desert , to the mount of the Daughter of Zion . 16 : 2 Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest , so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon . 16 : 3 " Give us counsel , render a decision . Make your shadow like night -- at high noon . Hide the fugitives , do not betray the refugees . 16 : 4 Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you ; be their shelter from the destroyer . " The oppressor will come to an end , and destruction will cease ; the aggressor will vanish from the land . 16 : 5 In love a throne will be established ; in faithfulness a man will sit on it -- one from the house of David -- one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness . 16 : 6 We have heard of Moab ' s pride -- her overweening pride and conceit , her pride and her insolence -- but her boasts are empty . 16 : 7 Therefore the Moabites wail , they wail together for Moab . Lament and grieve for the men of Kir Hareseth . 16 : 8 The fields of Heshbon wither , the vines of Sibmah also . The rulers of the nations have trampled down the choicest vines , which once reached Jazer and spread toward the desert . Their shoots spread out and went as far as the sea . 16 : 9 So I weep , as Jazer weeps , for the vines of Sibmah . O Heshbon , O Elealeh , I drench you with tears ! The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit and over your harvests have been stilled . 16 : 10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards ; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards ; no one treads out wine at the presses , for I have put an end to the shouting . 16 : 11 My heart laments for Moab like a harp , my inmost being for Kir Hareseth . 16 : 12 When Moab appears at her high place , she only wears herself out ; when she goes to her shrine to pray , it is to no avail . 16 : 13 This is the word the LORD has already spoken concerning Moab . 16 : 14 But now the LORD says : " Within three years , as a servant bound by contract would count them , Moab ' s splendor and all her many people will be despised , and her survivors will be very few and feeble . " 17 : 1 An oracle concerning Damascus : " See , Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins . 17 : 2 The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks , which will lie down , with no one to make them afraid . 17 : 3 The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim , and royal power from Damascus ; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites , " declares the LORD Almighty . 17 : 4 " In that day the glory of Jacob will fade ; the fat of his body will waste away . 17 : 5 It will be as when a reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the grain with his arm -- as when a man gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim . 17 : 6 Yet some gleanings will remain , as when an olive tree is beaten , leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches , four or five on the fruitful boughs , " declares the LORD , the God of Israel . 17 : 7 In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy one of Israel . 17 : 8 They will not look to the altars , the work of their hands , and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made . 17 : 9 In that day their strong cities , which they left because of the Israelites , will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth . And all will be desolation . 17 : 10 You have forgotten God your Savior ; you have not remembered the Rock , your fortress . Therefore , though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines , 17 : 11 though on the day you set them out , you make them grow , and on the morning when you plant them , you bring them to bud , yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain . 17 : 12 Oh , the raging of many nations -- they rage like the raging sea ! Oh , the uproar of the peoples -- they roar like the roaring of great waters ! 17 : 13 Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters , when he rebukes them they flee far away , driven before the wind like chaff on the hills , like tumbleweed before a gale . 17 : 14 In the evening , sudden terror ! Before the morning , they are gone ! This is the portion of those who loot us , the lot of those who plunder us . 18 : 1 Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush , 18 : 2 which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water . Go , swift messengers , to a people tall and smooth - skinned , to a people feared far and wide , an aggressive nation of strange speech , whose land is divided by rivers . 18 : 3 All you people of the world , you who live on the earth , when a banner is raised on the mountains , you will see it , and when a trumpet sounds , you will hear it . 18 : 4 This is what the LORD says to me : " I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place , like shimmering heat in the sunshine , like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest . " 18 : 5 For , before the harvest , when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape , he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives , and cut down and take away the spreading branches . 18 : 6 They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey and to the wild animals ; the birds will feed on them all summer , the wild animals all winter . 18 : 7 At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD Almighty from a people tall and smooth - skinned , from a people feared far and wide , an aggressive nation of strange speech , whose land is divided by rivers -- the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion , the place of the Name of the LORD Almighty . 19 : 1 An oracle concerning Egypt : See , the LORD rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt . The idols of Egypt tremble before him , and the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them . 19 : 2 " I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian -- brother will fight against brother , neighbor against neighbor , city against city , kingdom against kingdom . 19 : 3 The Egyptians will lose heart , and I will bring their plans to nothing ; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead , the mediums and the spiritists . 19 : 4 I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master , and a fierce king will rule over them , " declares the Lord , the LORD Almighty . 19 : 5 The waters of the river will dry up , and the riverbed will be parched and dry . 19 : 6 The canals will stink ; the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up . The reeds and rushes will wither , 19 : 7 also the plants along the Nile , at the mouth of the river . Every sown field along the Nile will become parched , will blow away and be no more . 19 : 8 The fishermen will groan and lament , all who cast hooks into the Nile ; those who throw nets on the water will pine away . 19 : 9 Those who work with combed flax will despair , the weavers of fine linen will lose hope . 19 : 10 The workers in cloth will be dejected , and all the wage earners will be sick at heart . 19 : 11 The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools ; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give senseless advice . How can you say to Pharaoh , " I am one of the wise men , a disciple of the ancient kings "? 19 : 12 Where are your wise men now ? Let them show you and make known what the LORD Almighty has planned against Egypt . 19 : 13 The officials of Zoan have become fools , the leaders of Memphis are deceived ; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray . 19 : 14 The LORD has poured into them a spirit of dizziness ; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does , as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit . 19 : 15 There is nothing Egypt can do -- head or tail , palm branch or reed . 19 : 16 In that day the Egyptians will be like women . They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the LORD Almighty raises against them . 19 : 17 And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians ; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified , because of what the LORD Almighty is planning against them . 19 : 18 In that day five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD Almighty . one of them will be called the City of Destruction . 19 : 19 In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt , and a monument to the LORD at its border . 19 : 20 It will be a sign and witness to the LORD Almighty in the land of Egypt . When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors , he will send them a savior and defender , and he will rescue them . 19 : 21 So the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians , and in that day they will acknowledge the LORD . They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings ; they will make vows to the LORD and keep them . 19 : 22 The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague ; he will strike them and heal them . They will turn to the LORD , and he will respond to their pleas and heal them . 19 : 23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria . The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria . The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together . 19 : 24 In that day Israel will be the third , along with Egypt and Assyria , a blessing on the earth . 19 : 25 The LORD Almighty will bless them , saying , " Blessed be Egypt my people , Assyria my handiwork , and Israel my inheritance . " 20 : 1 In the year that the supreme commander , sent by Sargon king of Assyria , came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it -- 20 : 2 at that time the LORD spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz . He said to him , " Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet . " And he did so , going around stripped and barefoot . 20 : 3 Then the LORD said , " Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years , as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush , 20 : 4 so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles , young and old , with buttocks bared -- to Egypt ' s shame . 20 : 5 Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be afraid and put to shame . 20 : 6 In that day the people who live on this coast will say , ' See what has happened to those we relied on , those we fled to for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria ! How then can we escape ? '" ISA 21 : 1 An oracle concerning the Desert by the Sea : Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland , an invader comes from the desert , from a land of terror . 21 : 2 A dire vision has been shown to me : The traitor betrays , the looter takes loot . Elam , attack ! Media , lay siege ! I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused . 21 : 3 At this my body is racked with pain , pangs seize me , like those of a woman in labor ; I am staggered by what I hear , I am bewildered by what I see . 21 : 4 My heart falters , fear makes me tremble ; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me . 21 : 5 They set the tables , they spread the rugs , they eat , they drink ! Get up , you officers , oil the shields ! 21 : 6 This is what the Lord says to me : " Go , post a lookout and have him report what he sees . 21 : 7 When he sees chariots with teams of horses , riders on donkeys or riders on camels , let him be alert , fully alert . " 21 : 8 And the lookout shouted , " Day after day , my lord , I stand on the watchtower ; every night I stay at my post . 21 : 9 Look , here comes a man in a chariot with a team of horses . And he gives back the answer : ' Babylon has fallen , has fallen ! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground ! '" 21 : 10 O my people , crushed on the threshing floor , I tell you what I have heard from the LORD Almighty , from the God of Israel . 21 : 11 An oracle concerning Dumah : Someone calls to me from Seir , " Watchman , what is left of the night ? Watchman , what is left of the night ? " 21 : 12 The watchman replies , " Morning is coming , but also the night . If you would ask , then ask ; and come back yet again . " 21 : 13 An oracle concerning Arabia : You caravans of Dedanites , who camp in the thickets of Arabia , 21 : 14 bring water for the thirsty ; you who live in Tema , bring food for the fugitives . 21 : 15 They flee from the sword , from the drawn sword , from the bent bow and from the heat of battle . 21 : 16 This is what the Lord says to me : " Within one year , as a servant bound by contract would count it , all the pomp of Kedar will come to an end . 21 : 17 The survivors of the bowmen , the warriors of Kedar , will be few . " The LORD , the God of Israel , has spoken . 22 : 1 An oracle concerning the Valley of Vision : What troubles you now , that you have all gone up on the roofs , 22 : 2 O town full of commotion , O city of tumult and revelry ? Your slain were not killed by the sword , nor did they die in battle . 22 : 3 All your leaders have fled together ; they have been captured without using the bow . All you who were caught were taken prisoner together , having fled while the enemy was still far away . 22 : 4 Therefore I said , " Turn away from me ; let me weep bitterly . Do not try to console me over the destruction of my people . " 22 : 5 The Lord , the LORD Almighty , has a day of tumult and trampling and terror in the Valley of Vision , a day of battering down walls and of crying out to the mountains . 22 : 6 Elam takes up the quiver , with her charioteers and horses ; Kir uncovers the shield . 22 : 7 Your choicest valleys are full of chariots , and horsemen are posted at the city gates ; 22 : 8 the defenses of Judah are stripped away . And you looked in that day to the weapons in the Palace of the Forest ; 22 : 9 you saw that the City of David had many breaches in its defenses ; you stored up water in the Lower Pool . 22 : 10 You counted the buildings in Jerusalem and tore down houses to strengthen the wall . 22 : 11 You built a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the Old Pool , but you did not look to the one who made it , or have regard for the one who planned it long ago . 22 : 12 The Lord , the LORD Almighty , called you on that day to weep and to wail , to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth . 22 : 13 But see , there is joy and revelry , slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep , eating of meat and drinking of wine ! " Let us eat and drink , " you say , " for tomorrow we die ! " 22 : 14 The LORD Almighty has revealed this in my hearing : " Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for , " says the Lord , the LORD Almighty . 22 : 15 This is what the Lord , the LORD Almighty , says : " Go , say to this steward , to Shebna , who is in charge of the palace : 22 : 16 What are you doing here and who gave you permission to cut out a grave for yourself here , hewing your grave on the height and chiseling your resting place in the rock ? 22 : 17 " Beware , the LORD is about to take firm hold of you and hurl you away , O you mighty man . 22 : 18 He will roll you up tightly like a ball and throw you into a large country . There you will die and there your splendid chariots will remain -- you disgrace to your master ' s house ! 22 : 19 I will depose you from your office , and you will be ousted from your position . 22 : 20 " In that day I will summon my servant , Eliakim son of Hilkiah . 22 : 21 I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him . He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah . 22 : 22 I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David ; what he opens no one can shut , and what he shuts no one can open . 22 : 23 I will drive him like a peg into a firm place ; he will be a seat of honor for the house of his father . 22 : 24 All the glory of his family will hang on him : its offspring and offshoots -- all its lesser vessels , from the bowls to all the jars . 22 : 25 " In that day , " declares the LORD Almighty , " the peg driven into the firm place will give way ; it will be sheared off and will fall , and the load hanging on it will be cut down . " The LORD has spoken . 23 : 1 An oracle concerning Tyre : Wail , O ships of Tarshish ! For Tyre is destroyed and left without house or harbor . From the land of Cyprus word has come to them . 23 : 2 Be silent , you people of the island and you merchants of Sidon , whom the seafarers have enriched . 23 : 3 on the great waters came the grain of the Shihor ; the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre , and she became the marketplace of the nations . 23 : 4 Be ashamed , O Sidon , and you , O fortress of the sea , for the sea has spoken : " I have neither been in labor nor given birth ; I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters . " 23 : 5 When word comes to Egypt , they will be in anguish at the report from Tyre . 23 : 6 Cross over to Tarshish ; wail , you people of the island . 23 : 7 Is this your city of revelry , the old , old city , whose feet have taken her to settle in far - off lands ? 23 : 8 Who planned this against Tyre , the bestower of crowns , whose merchants are princes , whose traders are renowned in the earth ? 23 : 9 The LORD Almighty planned it , to bring low the pride of all glory and to humble all who are renowned on the earth . 23 : 10 Till your land as along the Nile , O Daughter of Tarshish , for you no longer have a harbor . 23 : 11 The LORD has stretched out his hand over the sea and made its kingdoms tremble . He has given an order concerning Phoenicia that her fortresses be destroyed . 23 : 12 He said , " No more of your reveling , O Virgin Daughter of Sidon , now crushed ! " Up , cross over to Cyprus ; even there you will find no rest . " 23 : 13 Look at the land of the Babylonians , this people that is now of no account ! The Assyrians have made it a place for desert creatures ; they raised up their siege towers , they stripped its fortresses bare and turned it into a ruin . 23 : 14 Wail , you ships of Tarshish ; your fortress is destroyed ! 23 : 15 At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years , the span of a king ' s life . But at the end of these seventy years , it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute : 23 : 16 " Take up a harp , walk through the city , O prostitute forgotten ; play the harp well , sing many a song , so that you will be remembered . " 23 : 17 At the end of seventy years , the LORD will deal with Tyre . She will return to her hire as a prostitute and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth . 23 : 18 Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the LORD ; they will not be stored up or hoarded . Her profits will go to those who live before the LORD , for abundant food and fine clothes . 24 : 1 See , the LORD is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it ; he will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants -- 24 : 2 it will be the same for priest as for people , for master as for servant , for mistress as for maid , for seller as for buyer , for borrower as for lender , for debtor as for creditor . 24 : 3 The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered . The LORD has spoken this word . 24 : 4 The earth dries up and withers , the world languishes and withers , the exalted of the earth languish . 24 : 5 The earth is defiled by its people ; they have disobeyed the laws , violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant . 24 : 6 Therefore a curse consumes the earth ; its people must bear their guilt . Therefore earth ' s inhabitants are burned up , and very few are left . 24 : 7 The new wine dries up and the vine withers ; all the merrymakers groan . 24 : 8 The gaiety of the tambourines is stilled , the noise of the revelers has stopped , the joyful harp is silent . 24 : 9 No longer do they drink wine with a song ; the beer is bitter to its drinkers . 24 : 10 The ruined city lies desolate ; the entrance to every house is barred . 24 : 11 In the streets they cry out for wine ; all joy turns to gloom , all gaiety is banished from the earth . 24 : 12 The city is left in ruins , its gate is battered to pieces . 24 : 13 So will it be on the earth and among the nations , as when an olive tree is beaten , or as when gleanings are left after the grape harvest . 24 : 14 They raise their voices , they shout for joy ; from the west they acclaim the LORD ' S majesty . 24 : 15 Therefore in the east give glory to the LORD ; exalt the name of the LORD , the God of Israel , in the islands of the sea . 24 : 16 From the ends of the earth we hear singing : " Glory to the Righteous one . " But I said , " I waste away , I waste away ! Woe to me ! The treacherous betray ! With treachery the treacherous betray ! " 24 : 17 Terror and pit and snare await you , O people of the earth . 24 : 18 Whoever flees at the sound of terror will fall into a pit ; whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare . The floodgates of the heavens are opened , the foundations of the earth shake . 24 : 19 The earth is broken up , the earth is split asunder , the earth is thoroughly shaken . 24 : 20 The earth reels like a drunkard , it sways like a hut in the wind ; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls -- never to rise again . 24 : 21 In that day the LORD will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below . 24 : 22 They will be herded together like prisoners bound in a dungeon ; they will be shut up in prison and be punished after many days . 24 : 23 The moon will be abashed , the sun ashamed ; for the LORD Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem , and before its elders , gloriously . 25 : 1 O LORD , you are my God ; I will exalt you and praise your name , for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things , things planned long ago . 25 : 2 You have made the city a heap of rubble , the fortified town a ruin , the foreigners ' stronghold a city no more ; it will never be rebuilt . 25 : 3 Therefore strong peoples will honor you ; cities of ruthless nations will revere you . 25 : 4 You have been a refuge for the poor , a refuge for the needy in his distress , a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat . For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall 25 : 5 and like the heat of the desert . You silence the uproar of foreigners ; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud , so the song of the ruthless is stilled . 25 : 6 on this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples , a banquet of aged wine -- the best of meats and the finest of wines . 25 : 7 on this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples , the sheet that covers all nations ; 25 : 8 he will swallow up death forever . The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces ; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth . The LORD has spoken . 25 : 9 In that day they will say , " Surely this is our God ; we trusted in him , and he saved us . This is the LORD , we trusted in him ; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation . " 25 : 10 The hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain ; but Moab will be trampled under him as straw is trampled down in the manure . 25 : 11 They will spread out their hands in it , as a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim . God will bring down their pride despite the cleverness of their hands . 25 : 12 He will bring down your high fortified walls and lay them low ; he will bring them down to the ground , to the very dust . 26 : 1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah : We have a strong city ; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts . 26 : 2 Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter , the nation that keeps faith . 26 : 3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast , because he trusts in you . 26 : 4 Trust in the LORD forever , for the LORD , the LORD , is the Rock eternal . 26 : 5 He humbles those who dwell on high , he lays the lofty city low ; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust . 26 : 6 Feet trample it down -- the feet of the oppressed , the footsteps of the poor . 26 : 7 The path of the righteous is level ; O upright one , you make the way of the righteous smooth . 26 : 8 Yes , LORD , walking in the way of your laws , we wait for you ; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts . 26 : 9 My soul yearns for you in the night ; in the morning my spirit longs for you . When your judgments come upon the earth , the people of the world learn righteousness . 26 : 10 Though grace is shown to the wicked , they do not learn righteousness ; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the LORD . 26 : 11 O LORD , your hand is lifted high , but they do not see it . Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame ; let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them . 26 : 12 LORD , you establish peace for us ; all that we have accomplished you have done for us . 26 : 13 O LORD , our God , other lords besides you have ruled over us , but your name alone do we honor . 26 : 14 They are now dead , they live no more ; those departed spirits do not rise . You punished them and brought them to ruin ; you wiped out all memory of them . 26 : 15 You have enlarged the nation , O LORD ; you have enlarged the nation . You have gained glory for yourself ; you have extended all the borders of the land . 26 : 16 LORD , they came to you in their distress ; when you disciplined them , they could barely whisper a prayer . 26 : 17 As a woman with child and about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain , so were we in your presence , O LORD . 26 : 18 We were with child , we writhed in pain , but we gave birth to wind . We have not brought salvation to the earth ; we have not given birth to people of the world . 26 : 19 But your dead will live ; their bodies will rise . You who dwell in the dust , wake up and shout for joy . Your dew is like the dew of the morning ; the earth will give birth to her dead . 26 : 20 Go , my people , enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you ; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by . 26 : 21 See , the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins . The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her ; she will conceal her slain no longer . 27 : 1 In that day , the LORD will punish with his sword , his fierce , great and powerful sword , Leviathan the gliding serpent , Leviathan the coiling serpent ; he will slay the monster of the sea . 27 : 2 In that day -- " Sing about a fruitful vineyard : 27 : 3 I , the LORD , watch over it ; I water it continually . I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it . 27 : 4 I am not angry . If only there were briers and thorns confronting me ! I would march against them in battle ; I would set them all on fire . 27 : 5 Or else let them come to me for refuge ; let them make peace with me , yes , let them make peace with me . " 27 : 6 In days to come Jacob will take root , Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit . 27 : 7 Has the LORD struck her as he struck down those who struck her ? Has she been killed as those were killed who killed her ? 27 : 8 By warfare and exile you contend with her -- with his fierce blast he drives her out , as on a day the east wind blows . 27 : 9 By this , then , will Jacob ' s guilt be atoned for , and this will be the full fruitage of the removal of his sin : When he makes all the altar stones to be like chalk stones crushed to pieces , no Asherah poles or incense altars will be left standing . 27 : 10 The fortified city stands desolate , an abandoned settlement , forsaken like the desert ; there the calves graze , there they lie down ; they strip its branches bare . 27 : 11 When its twigs are dry , they are broken off and women come and make fires with them . For this is a people without understanding ; so their Maker has no compassion on them , and their Creator shows them no favor . 27 : 12 In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt , and you , O Israelites , will be gathered up one by one . 27 : 13 And in that day a great trumpet will sound . Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem . 28 : 1 Woe to that wreath , the pride of Ephraim ' s drunkards , to the fading flower , his glorious beauty , set on the head of a fertile valley -- to that city , the pride of those laid low by wine ! 28 : 2 See , the Lord has one who is powerful and strong . Like a hailstorm and a destructive wind , like a driving rain and a flooding downpour , he will throw it forcefully to the ground . 28 : 3 That wreath , the pride of Ephraim ' s drunkards , will be trampled underfoot . 28 : 4 That fading flower , his glorious beauty , set on the head of a fertile valley , will be like a fig ripe before harvest -- as soon as someone sees it and takes it in his hand , he swallows it . 28 : 5 In that day the LORD Almighty will be a glorious crown , a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people . 28 : 6 He will be a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment , a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate . 28 : 7 And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer : Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine ; they reel from beer , they stagger when seeing visions , they stumble when rendering decisions . 28 : 8 All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth . 28 : 9 " Who is it he is trying to teach ? To whom is he explaining his message ? To children weaned from their milk , to those just taken from the breast ? 28 : 10 For it is : Do and do , do and do , rule on rule , rule on rule ; a little here , a little there . " 28 : 11 Very well then , with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people , 28 : 12 to whom he said , " This is the resting place , let the weary rest "; and , " This is the place of repose "-- but they would not listen . 28 : 13 So then , the word of the LORD to them will become : Do and do , do and do , rule on rule , rule on rule ; a little here , a little there -- so that they will go and fall backward , be injured and snared and captured . 28 : 14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD , you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem . 28 : 15 You boast , " We have entered into a covenant with death , with the grave we have made an agreement . When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by , it cannot touch us , for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place . " 28 : 16 So this is what the Sovereign LORD says : " See , I lay a stone in Zion , a tested stone , a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation ; the one who trusts will never be dismayed . 28 : 17 I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line ; hail will sweep away your refuge , the lie , and water will overflow your hiding place . 28 : 18 Your covenant with death will be annulled ; your agreement with the grave will not stand . When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by , you will be beaten down by it . 28 : 19 As often as it comes it will carry you away ; morning after morning , by day and by night , it will sweep through . " The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror . 28 : 20 The bed is too short to stretch out on , the blanket too narrow to wrap around you . 28 : 21 The LORD will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim , he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon -- to do his work , his strange work , and perform his task , his alien task . 28 : 22 Now stop your mocking , or your chains will become heavier ; the Lord , the LORD Almighty , has told me of the destruction decreed against the whole land . 28 : 23 Listen and hear my voice ; pay attention and hear what I say . 28 : 24 When a farmer plows for planting , does he plow continually ? Does he keep on breaking up and harrowing the soil ? 28 : 25 When he has leveled the surface , does he not sow caraway and scatter cummin ? Does he not plant wheat in its place , barley in its plot , and spelt in its field ? 28 : 26 His God instructs him and teaches him the right way . 28 : 27 Caraway is not threshed with a sledge , nor is a cartwheel rolled over cummin ; caraway is beaten out with a rod , and cummin with a stick . 28 : 28 Grain must be ground to make bread ; so one does not go on threshing it forever . Though he drives the wheels of his threshing cart over it , his horses do not grind it . 28 : 29 All this also comes from the LORD Almighty , wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom . 29 : 1 Woe to you , Ariel , Ariel , the city where David settled ! Add year to year and let your cycle of festivals go on . 29 : 2 Yet I will besiege Ariel ; she will mourn and lament , she will be to me like an altar hearth . 29 : 3 I will encamp against you all around ; I will encircle you with towers and set up my siege works against you . 29 : 4 Brought low , you will speak from the ground ; your speech will mumble out of the dust . Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth ; out of the dust your speech will whisper . 29 : 5 But your many enemies will become like fine dust , the ruthless hordes like blown chaff . Suddenly , in an instant , 29 : 6 the LORD Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise , with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire . 29 : 7 Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel , that attack her and her fortress and besiege her , will be as it is with a dream , with a vision in the night -- 29 : 8 as when a hungry man dreams that he is eating , but he awakens , and his hunger remains ; as when a thirsty man dreams that he is drinking , but he awakens faint , with his thirst unquenched . So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion . 29 : 9 Be stunned and amazed , blind yourselves and be sightless ; be drunk , but not from wine , stagger , but not from beer . 29 : 10 The LORD has brought over you a deep sleep : He has sealed your eyes ( the prophets ) ; he has covered your heads ( the seers ) . 29 : 11 For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll . And if you give the scroll to someone who can read , and say to him , " Read this , please , " he will answer , " I can ' t ; it is sealed . " 29 : 12 Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read , and say , " Read this , please , " he will answer , " I don ' t know how to read . " 29 : 13 The Lord says : " These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips , but their hearts are far from me . Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men . 29 : 14 Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder ; the wisdom of the wise will perish , the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish . " 29 : 15 Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD , who do their work in darkness and think , " Who sees us ? Who will know ? " 29 : 16 You turn things upside down , as if the potter were thought to be like the clay ! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it , " He did not make me "? Can the pot say of the potter , " He knows nothing "? 29 : 17 In a very short time , will not Lebanon be turned into a fertile field and the fertile field seem like a forest ? 29 : 18 In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll , and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see . 29 : 19 once more the humble will rejoice in the LORD ; the needy will rejoice in the Holy one of Israel . 29 : 20 The ruthless will vanish , the mockers will disappear , and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down -- 29 : 21 those who with a word make a man out to be guilty , who ensnare the defender in court and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice . 29 : 22 Therefore this is what the LORD , who redeemed Abraham , says to the house of Jacob : " No longer will Jacob be ashamed ; no longer will their faces grow pale . 29 : 23 When they see among them their children , the work of my hands , they will keep my name holy ; they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy one of Jacob , and will stand in awe of the God of Israel . 29 : 24 Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding ; those who complain will accept instruction . " 30 : 1 " Woe to the obstinate children , " declares the LORD , " to those who carry out plans that are not mine , forming an alliance , but not by my Spirit , heaping sin upon sin ; 30 : 2 who go down to Egypt without consulting me ; who look for help to Pharaoh ' s protection , to Egypt ' s shade for refuge . 30 : 3 But Pharaoh ' s protection will be to your shame , Egypt ' s shade will bring you disgrace . 30 : 4 Though they have officials in Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes , 30 : 5 everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them , who bring neither help nor advantage , but only shame and disgrace . " 30 : 6 An oracle concerning the animals of the Negev : Through a land of hardship and distress , of lions and lionesses , of adders and darting snakes , the envoys carry their riches on donkeys ' backs , their treasures on the humps of camels , to that unprofitable natioj , 30 : 7 to Egypt , whose help is utterly useless . Therefore I call her Rahab the Do - Nothing . 30 : 8 Go now , write it on a tablet for them , inscribe it on a scroll , that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness . 30 : 9 These are rebellious people , deceitful children , children unwilling to listen to the LORD ' S instruction . 30 : 10 They say to the seers , " See no more visions ! " and to the prophets , " Give us no more visions of what is right ! Tell us pleasant things , prophesy illusions . 30 : 11 Leave this way , get off this path , and stop confronting us with the Holy one of Israel ! " 30 : 12 Therefore , this is what the Holy one of Israel says : " Because you have rejected this message , relied on oppression and depended on deceit , 30 : 13 this sin will become for you like a high wall , cracked and bulging , that collapses suddenly , in an instant . 30 : 14 It will break in pieces like pottery , shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern . " 30 : 15 This is what the Sovereign LORD , the Holy one of Israel , says : " In repentance and rest is your salvation , in quietness and trust is your strength , but you would have none of it . 30 : 16 You said , ' No , we will flee on horses . ' Therefore you will flee ! You said , ' We will ride off on swift horses . ' Therefore your pursuers will be swift ! 30 : 17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one ; at the threat of five you will all flee away , till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop , like a banner on a hill . " 30 : 18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you ; he rises to show you compassion . For the LORD is a God of justice . Blessed are all who wait for him ! 30 : 19 K people of Zion , who live in Jerusalem , you will weep no more . How gracious he will be when you cry for help ! As soon as he hears , he will answer you . 30 : 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction , your teachers will be hidden no more ; with your own eyes you will see them . 30 : 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left , your ears will hear a voice behind you , saying , " This is the way ; walk in it . " 30 : 22 Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold ; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them , " Away with you ! " 30 : 23 He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground , and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful . In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows . 30 : 24 The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash , spread out with fork and shovel . 30 : 25 In the day of great slaughter , when the towers fall , streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill . 30 : 26 The moon will shine like the sun , and the sunlight will be seven times brighter , like the light of seven full days , when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted . 30 : 27 See , the Name of the LORD comes from afar , with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke ; his lips are full of wrath , and his tongue is a consuming fire . 30 : 28 His breath is like a rushing torrent , rising up to the neck . He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction ; he places in the jaws of the peoples a bit that leads them astray . 30 : 29 And you will sing as on the night you celebrate a holy festival ; your hearts will rejoice as when people go up with flutes to the mountain of the LORD , to the Rock of Israel . 30 : 30 The LORD will cause men to hear his majestic voice and will make them see his arm coming down with raging anger and consuming fire , with cloudburst , thunderstorm and hail . 30 : 31 The voice of the LORD will shatter Assyria ; with his scepter he will strike them down . 30 : 32 Every stroke the LORD lays on them with his punishing rod will be to the music of tambourines and harps , as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm . 30 : 33 Topheth has long been prepared ; it has been made ready for the king . Its fire pit has been made deep and wide , with an abundance of fire and wood ; the breath of the LORD , like a stream of burning sulfur , sets it ablaze . ISA 31 : 1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help , who rely on horses , who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen , but do not look to the Holy one of Israel , or seek help from the LORD . 31 : 2 Yet he too is wise and can bring disaster ; he does not take back his words . He will rise up against the house of the wicked , against those who help evildoers . 31 : 3 But the Egyptians are men and not God ; their horses are flesh and not spirit . When the LORD stretches out his hand , he who helps will stumble , he who is helped will fall ; both will perish together . 31 : 4 This is what the LORD says to me : " As a lion growls , a great lion over his prey -- and though a whole band of shepherds is called together against him , he is not frightened by their shouts or disturbed by their clamor -- so the LORD Almighty will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights . 31 : 5 Like birds hovering overhead , the LORD Almighty will shield Jerusalem ; he will shield it and deliver it , he will ' pass over ' it and will rescue it . " 31 : 6 Return to him you have so greatly revolted against , O Israelites . 31 : 7 For in that day every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands have made . 31 : 8 " Assyria will fall by a sword that is not of man ; a sword , not of mortals , will devour them . They will flee before the sword and their young men will be put to forced labor . 31 : 9 Their stronghold will fall because of terror ; at sight of the battle standard their commanders will panic , " declares the LORD , whose fire is in Zion , whose furnace is in Jerusalem . 32 : 1 See , a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice . 32 : 2 Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm , like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land . 32 : 3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed , and the ears of those who hear will listen . 32 : 4 The mind of the rash will know and understand , and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear . 32 : 5 No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected . 32 : 6 For the fool speaks folly , his mind is busy with evil : He practices ungodliness and spreads error concerning the LORD ; the hungry he leaves empty and from the thirsty he withholds water . 32 : 7 The scoundrel ' s methods are wicked , he makes up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies , even when the plea of the needy is just . 32 : 8 But the noble man makes noble plans , and by noble deeds he stands . 32 : 9 You women who are so complacent , rise up and listen to me ; you daughters who feel secure , hear what I have to say ! 32 : 10 In little more than a year you who feel secure will tremble ; the grape harvest will fail , and the harvest of fruit will not come . 32 : 11 Tremble , you complacent women ; shudder , you daughters who feel secure ! Strip off your clothes , put sackcloth around your waists . 32 : 12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields , for the fruitful vines 32 : 13 and for the land of my people , a land overgrown with thorns and briers -- yes , mourn for all houses of merriment and for this city of revelry . 32 : 14 The fortress will be abandoned , the noisy city deserted ; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever , the delight of donkeys , a pasture for flocks , 32 : 15 till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high , and the desert becomes a fertile field , and the fertile field seems like a forest . 32 : 16 Justice will dwell in the desert and righteousness live in the fertile field . 32 : 17 The fruit of righteousness will be peace ; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever . 32 : 18 My people will live in peaceful dwelling places , in secure homes , in undisturbed places of rest . 32 : 19 Though hail flattens the forest and the city is leveled completely , 32 : 20 how blessed you will be , sowing your seed by every stream , and letting your cattle and donkeys range free . 33 : 1 Woe to you , O destroyer , you who have not been destroyed ! Woe to you , O traitor , you who have not been betrayed ! When you stop destroying , you will be destroyed ; when you stop betraying , you will be betrayed . 33 : 2 O LORD , be gracious to us ; we long for you . Be our strength every morning , our salvation in time of distress . 33 : 3 At the thunder of your voice , the peoples flee ; when you rise up , the nations scatter . 33 : 4 Your plunder , O nations , is harvested as by young locusts ; like a swarm of locusts men pounce on it . 33 : 5 The LORD is exalted , for he dwells on high ; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness . 33 : 6 He will be the sure foundation for your times , a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge ; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure . 33 : 7 Look , their brave men cry aloud in the streets ; the envoys of peace weep bitterly . 33 : 8 The highways are deserted , no travelers are on the roads . The treaty is broken , its witnesses are despised , no one is respected . 33 : 9 The land mourns and wastes away , Lebanon is ashamed and withers ; Sharon is like the Arabah , and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves . 33 : 10 " Now will I arise , " says the LORD . " Now will I be exalted ; now will I be lifted up . 33 : 11 You conceive chaff , you give birth to straw ; your breath is a fire that consumes you . 33 : 12 The peoples will be burned as if to lime ; like cut thornbushes they will be set ablaze . " 33 : 13 You who are far away , hear what I have done ; you who are near , acknowledge my power ! 33 : 14 The sinners in Zion are terrified ; trembling grips the godless : " Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire ? Who of us can dwell with everlastijg burning ? " 33 : 15 He who walks righteously and speaks what is right , who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from accepting bribes , who stops his ears against plots of murder and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil -- 33 : 16 this is the man who will dwell on the heights , whose refuge will be the mountain fortress . His bread will be supplied , and water will not fail him . 33 : 17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar . 33 : 18 In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror : " Where is that chief officer ? Where is the one who took the revenue ? Where is the officer in charge of the towers ? " 33 : 19 You will see those arrogant people no more , those people of an obscure speech , with their strange , incomprehensible tongue . 33 : 20 Look upon Zion , the city of our festivals ; your eyes will see Jerusalem , a peaceful abode , a tent that will not be moved ; its stakes will never be pulled up , nor any of its ropes broken . 33 : 21 There the LORD will be our Mighty one . It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams . No galley with oars will ride them , no mighty ship will sail them . 33 : 22 For the LORD is our judge , the LORD is our lawgiver , the LORD is our king ; it is he who will save us . 33 : 23 Your rigging hangs loose : The mast is not held secure , the sail is not spread . Then an abundance of spoils will be divided and even the lame will carry off plunder . 33 : 24 No one living in Zion will say , " I am ill "; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven . 34 : 1 Come near , you nations , and listen ; pay attention , you peoples ! Let the earth hear , and all that is in it , the world , and all that comes out of it ! 34 : 2 The LORD is angry with all nations ; his wrath is upon all their armies . He will totally destroy them , he will give them over to slaughter . 34 : 3 Their slain will be thrown out , their dead bodies will send up a stench ; the mountains will be soaked with their blood . 34 : 4 All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll ; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine , like shriveled figs from the fig tree . 34 : 5 My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens ; see , it descends in judgment on Edom , the people I have totally destroyed . 34 : 6 The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood , it is covered with fat -- the blood of lambs and goats , fat from the kidneys of rams . For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in Edom . 34 : 7 And the wild oxen will fall with them , the bull calves and the great bulls . Their land will be drenched with blood , and the dust will be soaked with fat . 34 : 8 For the LORD has a day of vengeance , a year of retribution , to uphold Zion ' s cause . 34 : 9 Edom ' s streams will be turned into pitch , her dust into burning sulfur ; her land will become blazing pitch ! 34 : 10 It will not be quenched night and day ; its smoke will rise forever . From generation to generation it will lie desolate ; no one will ever pass through it again . 34 : 11 The desert owl and screech owl will possess it ; the great owl and the raven will nest there . God will stretch out over Edom the measuring line of chaos and the plumb line of desolation . 34 : 12 Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom , all her princes will vanish away . 34 : 13 Thorns will overrun her citadels , nettles and brambles her strongholds . She will become a haunt for jackals , a home for owls . 34 : 14 Desert creatures will meet with hyenas , and wild goats will bleat to each other ; there the night creatures will also repose and find for themselves places of rest . 34 : 15 The owl will nest there and lay eggs , she will hatch them , and care for her young under the shadow of her wings ; there also the falcons will gather , each with its mate . 34 : 16 Look in the scroll of the LORD and read : None of these will be missing , not one will lack her mate . For it is his mouth that has given the order , and his Spirit will gather them together . 34 : 17 He allots their portions ; his hand distributes them by measure . They will possess it forever and dwell there from generation to generation . 35 : 1 The desert and the parched land will be glad ; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom . Like the crocus , 35 : 2 it will burst into bloom ; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy . The glory of Lebanon will be given to it , the splendor of Carmel and Sharon ; they will see the glory of the LORD , the splendor of our God . 35 : 3 Strengthen the feeble hands , steady the knees that give way ; 35 : 4 say to those with fearful hearts , " Be strong , do not fear ; your God will come , he will come with vengeance ; with divine retribution he will come to save you . " 35 : 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped . 35 : 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer , and the mute tongue shout for joy . Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert . 35 : 7 The burning sand will become a pool , the thirsty ground bubbling springs . In the haunts where jackals once lay , grass and reeds and papyrus will grow . 35 : 8 And a highway will be there ; it will be called the Way of Holiness . The unclean will not journey on it ; it will be for those who walk in that Way ; wicked fools will not go about on it . 35 : 9 No lion will be there , nor will any ferocious beast get up on it ; they will not be found there . But only the redeemed will walk there , 35 : 10 and the ransomed of the LORD will return . They will enter Zion with singing ; everlasting joy will crown their heads . Gladness and joy will overtake them , and sorrow and sighing will flee away . 36 : 1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah ' s reign , Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them . 36 : 2 Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem . When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool , on the road to the Washerman ' s Field , 36 : 3 Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator , Shebna the secretary , and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to him . 36 : 4 The field commander said to them , " Tell Hezekiah , "' This is what the great king , the king of Assyria , says : on what are you basing this confidence of yours ? 36 : 5 You say you have strategy and military strength -- but you speak only empty words . on whom are you depending , that you rebel against me ? 36 : 6 Look now , you are depending on Egypt , that splintered reed of a staff , which pierces a man ' s hand and wounds him if he leans on it ! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him . 36 : 7 And if you say to me , " We are depending on the LORD our God "-- isn ' t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed , saying to Judah and Jerusalem , " You must worship before this altar "? 36 : 8 "' Come now , make a bargain with my master , the king of Assyria : I will give you two thousand horses -- if you can put riders on them ! 36 : 9 How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master ' s officials , even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen ? 36 : 10 Furthermore , have I come to attack and destroy this land without the LORD ? The LORD himself told me to march against this country and destroy it . '" 36 : 11 Then Eliakim , Shebna and Joah said to the field commander , " Please speak to your servants in Aramaic , since we understand it . Don ' t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall . " 36 : 12 But the commander replied , " Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things , and not to the men sitting on the wall -- who , like you , will have to eat their own filth and drink their own urine ? " 36 : 13 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew , " Hear the words of the great king , the king of Assyria ! 36 : 14 This is what the king says : Do not let Hezekiah deceive you . He cannot deliver you ! 36 : 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says , ' The LORD will surely deliver us ; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria . ' 36 : 16 " Do not listen to Hezekiah . This is what the king of Assyria says : Make peace with me and come out to me . Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern , 36 : 17 until I come and take you to a land like your own -- a land of grain and new wine , a land of bread and vineyards . 36 : 18 " Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says , ' The LORD will deliver us . ' Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria ? 36 : 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad ? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim ? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand ? 36 : 20 Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me ? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand ? " 36 : 21 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply , because the king had commanded , " Do not answer him . " 36 : 22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator , Shebna the secretary , and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah , with their clothes torn , and told him what the field commander had said . 37 : 1 When King Hezekiah heard this , he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the LORD . 37 : 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator , Shebna the secretary , and the leading priests , all wearing sackcloth , to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz . 37 : 3 They told him , " This is what Hezekiah says : This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace , as when children come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver them . 37 : 4 It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the field commander , whom his master , the king of Assyria , has sent to ridicule the living God , and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard . Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives . " 37 : 5 When King Hezekiah ' s officials came to Isaiah , 37 : 6 Isaiah said to them , " Tell your master , ' This is what the LORD says : Do not be afraid of what you have heard -- those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me . 37 : 7 Listen ! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report , he will return to his own country , and there I will have him cut down with the sword . '" 37 : 8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish , he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah . 37 : 9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah , the Cushite king of Egypt , was marching out to fight against him . When he heard it , he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word : 37 : 10 " Say to Hezekiah king of Judah : Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says , ' Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria . ' 37 : 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries , destroying them completely . And will you be delivered ? 37 : 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them -- the gods of Gozan , Haran , Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar ? 37 : 13 Where is the king of Hamath , the king of Arpad , the king of the city of Sepharvaim , or of Hena or Ivvah ? " 37 : 14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it . Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD . 37 : 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD : 37 : 16 " O LORD Almighty , God of Israel , enthroned between the cherubim , you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth . You have made heaven and earth . 37 : 17 Give ear , O LORD , and hear ; open your eyes , O LORD , and see ; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God . 37 : 18 " It is true , O LORD , that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands . 37 : 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them , for they were not gods but only wood and stone , fashioned by human hands . 37 : 20 Now , O LORD our God , deliver us from his hand , so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone , O LORD , are God . " 37 : 21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah : " This is what the LORD , the God of Israel , says : Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria , 37 : 22 this is the word the LORD has spoken against him : " The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises and mocks you . The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee . 37 : 23 Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed ? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride ? Against the Holy one of Israel ! 37 : 24 By your messengers you have heaped insults on the Lord . And you have said , ' With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains , the utmost heights of Lebanon . I have cut down its tallest cedars , the choicest of its pines . I have reached its remotest heights , the finest of its forests . 37 : 25 I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk the water there . With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt . ' 37 : 26 " Have you not heard ? Long ago I ordained it . In days of old I planned it ; now I have brought it to pass , that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone . 37 : 27 Their people , drained of power , are dismayed and put to shame . They are like plants in the field , like tender green shoots , like grass sprouting on the roof , scorched before it grows up . 37 : 28 " But I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against me . 37 : 29 Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears , I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth , and I will make you return by the way you came . 37 : 30 " This will be the sign for you , O Hezekiah : " This year you will eat what grows by itself , and the second year what springs from that . But in the third year sow and reap , plant vineyards and eat their fruit . 37 : 31 once more a remnant of the house of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above . 37 : 32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant , and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors . The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this . 37 : 33 " Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria : " He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here . He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it . 37 : 34 By the way that he came he will return ; he will not enter this city , " declares the LORD . 37 : 35 " I will defend this city and save it , for my sake and for the sake of David my servant ! " 37 : 36 Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty - five thousand men in the Assyrian camp . When the people got up the next morning -- there were all the dead bodies ! 37 : 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew . He returned to Nineveh and stayed there . 37 : 38 one day , while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch , his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword , and they escaped to the land of Ararat . And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king . 38 : 1 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death . The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said , " This is what the LORD says : Put your house in order , because you are going to die ; you will not recover . " 38 : 2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD , 38 : 3 " Remember , O LORD , how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes . " And Hezekiah wept bitterly . 38 : 4 Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah : 38 : 5 " Go and tell Hezekiah , ' This is what the LORD , the God of your father David , says : I have heard your prayer and seen your tears ; I will add fifteen years to your life . 38 : 6 And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria . I will defend this city . 38 : 7 "' This is the LORD ' S sign to you that the LORD will do what he has promised : 38 : 8 I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz . '" So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down . 38 : 9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery : 38 : 10 I said , " In the prime of my life must I go through the gates of death and be robbed of the rest of my years ? " 38 : 11 I said , " I will not again see the LORD , the LORD , in the land of the living ; no longer will I look on mankind , or be with those who now dwell in this world . 38 : 12 Like a shepherd ' s tent my house has been pulled down and taken from me . Like a weaver I have rolled up my life , and he has cut me off from the loom ; day and night you made an end of me . 38 : 13 I waited patiently till dawn , but like a lion he broke all my bones ; day and night you made an end of me . 38 : 14 I cried like a swift or thrush , I moaned like a mourning dove . My eyes grew weak as I looked to the heavens . I am troubled ; O Lord , come to my aid ! " 38 : 15 But what can I say ? He has spoken to me , and he himself has done this . I will walk humbly all my years because of this anguish of my soul . 38 : 16 Lord , by such things men live ; and my spirit finds life in them too . You restored me to health and let me live . 38 : 17 Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish . In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction ; you have put all my sins behind your back . 38 : 18 For the grave cannot praise you , death cannot sing your praise ; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness . 38 : 19 The living , the living -- they praise you , as I am doing today ; fathers tell their children about your faithfulness . 38 : 20 The LORD will save me , and we will sing with stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the temple of the LORD . 38 : 21 Isaiah had said , " Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil , and he will recover . " 38 : 22 Hezekiah had asked , " What will be the sign that I will go up to the temple of the LORD ? " 39 : 1 At that time Merodach - Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift , because he had heard of his illness and recovery . 39 : 2 Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses -- the silver , the gold , the spices , the fine oil , his entire armory and everything found among his treasures . There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them . 39 : 3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked , " What did those men say , and where did they come from ? " " From a distant land , " Hezekiah replied . " They came to me from Babylon . " 39 : 4 The prophet asked , " What did they see in your palace ? " " They saw everything in my palace , " Hezekiah said . " There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them . " 39 : 5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah , " Hear the word of the LORD Almighty : 39 : 6 The time will surely come when everything in your palace , and all that your fathers have stored up until this day , will be carried off to Babylon . Nothing will be left , says the LORD . 39 : 7 And some of your descendants , your own flesh and blood who will be born to you , will be taken away , and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon . " 39 : 8 " The word of the LORD you have spoken is good , " Hezekiah replied . For he thought , " There will be peace and security in my lifetime . " 40 : 1 Comfort , comfort my people , says your God . 40 : 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem , and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed , that her sin has been paid for , that she has received from the LORD ' S hand double for all her sins . 40 : 3 A voice of one calling : " In the desert prepare the way for the LORD ; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God . 40 : 4 Every valley shall be raised up , every mountain and hill made low ; the rough ground shall become level , the rugged places a plain . 40 : 5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed , and all mankind together will see it . For the mouth of the LORD has spoken . " 40 : 6 A voice says , " Cry out . " And I said , " What shall I cry ? " " All men are like grass , and all their glory is like the flowers of the field . 40 : 7 The grass withers and the flowers fall , because the breath of the LORD blows on them . Surely the people are grass . 40 : 8 The grass withers and the flowers fall , but the word of our God stands forever . " 40 : 9 You who bring good tidings to Zion , go up on a high mountain . You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem , lift up your voice with a shout , lift it up , do not be afraid ; say to the towns of Judah , " Here is your God ! " 40 : 10 See , the Sovereign LORD comes with power , and his arm rules for him . See , his reward is with him , and his recompense accompanies him . 40 : 11 He tends his flock like a shepherd : He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart ; he gently leads those that have young . 40 : 12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand , or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens ? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket , or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance ? 40 : 13 Who has understood the mind of the LORD , or instructed him as his counselor ? 40 : 14 Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him , and who taught him the right way ? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding ? 40 : 15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket ; they are regarded as dust on the scales ; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust . 40 : 16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires , nor its animals enough for burnt offerings . 40 : 17 Before him all the nations are as nothing ; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing . 40 : 18 To whom , then , will you compare God ? What image will you compare him to ? 40 : 19 As for an idol , a craftsman casts it , and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it . 40 : 20 A man too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot . He looks for a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple . 40 : 21 Do you not know ? Have you not heard ? Has it not been told you from the beginning ? Have you not understood since the earth was founded ? 40 : 22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth , and its people are like grasshoppers . He stretches out the heavens like a canopy , and spreads them out like a tent to live in . 40 : 23 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing . 40 : 24 No sooner are they planted , no sooner are they sown , no sooner do they take root in the ground , than he blows on them and they wither , and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff . 40 : 25 " To whom will you compare me ? Or who is my equal ? " says the Holy one . 40 : 26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens : Who created all these ? He who brings out the starry host one by one , and calls them each by name . Because of his great power and mighty strength , not one of them is missing . 40 : 27 Why do you say , O Jacob , and complain , O Israel , " My way is hidden from the LORD ; my cause is disregarded by my God "? 40 : 28 Do you not know ? Have you not heard ? The LORD is the everlasting God , the Creator of the ends of the earth . He will not grow tired or weary , and his understanding no one can fathom . 40 : 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak . 40 : 30 Even youths grow tired and weary , and young men stumble and fall ; 40 : 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength . They will soar on wings like eagles ; they will run and not grow weary , they will walk and not be faint . ISA 41 : 1 " Be silent before me , you islands ! Let the nations renew their strength ! Let them come forward and speak ; let us meet together at the place of judgment . 41 : 2 " Who has stirred up one from the east , calling him in righteousness to his service ? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him . He turns them to dust with his sword , to windblown chaff with his bow . 41 : 3 He pursues them and moves on unscathed , by a path his feet have not traveled before . 41 : 4 Who has done this and carried it through , calling forth the generations from the beginning ? I , the LORD -- with the first of them and with the last -- I am he . " 41 : 5 The islands have seen it and fear ; the ends of the earth tremble . They approach and come forward ; 41 : 6 each helps the other and says to his brother , " Be strong ! " 41 : 7 The craftsman encourages the goldsmith , and he who smooths with the hammer spurs on him who strikes the anvil . He says of the welding , " It is good . " He nails down the idol so it will not topple . 41 : 8 " But you , O Israel , my servant , Jacob , whom I have chosen , you descendants of Abraham my friend , 41 : 9 I took you from the ends of the earth , from its farthest corners I called you . I said , ' You are my servant '; I have chosen you and have not rejected you . 41 : 10 So do not fear , for I am with you ; do not be dismayed , for I am your God . I will strengthen you and help you ; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand . 41 : 11 " All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced ; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish . 41 : 12 Though you search for your enemies , you will not find them . Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all . 41 : 13 For I am the LORD , your God , who takes hold of your right hand and says to you , Do not fear ; I will help you . 41 : 14 Do not be afraid , O worm Jacob , O little Israel , for I myself will help you , " declares the LORD , your Redeemer , the Holy one of Israel . 41 : 15 " See , I will make you into a threshing sledge , new and sharp , with many teeth . You will thresh the mountains and crush them , and reduce the hills to chaff . 41 : 16 You will winnow them , the wind will pick them up , and a gale will blow them away . But you will rejoice in the LORD and glory in the Holy one of Israel . 41 : 17 " The poor and needy search for water , but there is none ; their tongues are parched with thirst . But I the LORD will answer them ; I , the God of Israel , will not forsake them . 41 : 18 I will make rivers flow on barren heights , and springs within the valleys . I will turn the desert into pools of water , and the parched ground into springs . 41 : 19 I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia , the myrtle and the olive . I will set pines in the wasteland , the fir and the cypress together , 41 : 20 so that people may see and know , may consider and understand , that the hand of the LORD has done this , that the Holy one of Israel has created it . 41 : 21 " Present your case , " says the LORD . " Set forth your arguments , " says Jacob ' s King . 41 : 22 " Bring in your idols to tell us what is going to happen . Tell us what the former things were , so that we may consider them and know their final outcome . Or declare to us the things to come , 41 : 23 tell us what the future holds , so we may know that you are gods . Do something , whether good or bad , so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear . 41 : 24 But you are less than nothing and your works are utterly worthless ; he who chooses you is detestable . 41 : 25 " I have stirred up one from the north , and he comes -- one from the rising sun who calls on my name . He treads on rulers as if they were mortar , as if he were a potter treading the clay . 41 : 26 Who told of this from the beginning , so we could know , or beforehand , so we could say , ' He was right '? No one told of this , no one foretold it , no one heard any words from you . 41 : 27 I was the first to tell Zion , ' Look , here they are ! ' I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good tidings . 41 : 28 I look but there is no one -- no one among them to give counsel , no one to give answer when I ask them . 41 : 29 See , they are all false ! Their deeds amount to nothing ; their images are but wind and confusion . 42 : 1 " Here is my servant , whom I uphold , my chosen one in whom I delight ; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations . 42 : 2 He will not shout or cry out , or raise his voice in the streets . 42 : 3 A bruised reed he will not break , and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out . In faithfulness he will bring forth justice ; 42 : 4 he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth . In his law the islands will put their hope . " 42 : 5 This is what God the LORD says -- he who created the heavens and stretched them out , who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it , who gives breath to its people , and life to those who walk on it : 42 : 6 " I , the LORD , have called you in righteousness ; I will take hold of your hand . I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles , 42 : 7 to open eyes that are blind , to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness . 42 : 8 " I am the LORD ; that is my name ! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols . 42 : 9 See , the former things have taken place , and new things I declare ; before they spring into being I announce them to you . " 42 : 10 Sing to the LORD a new song , his praise from the ends of the earth , you who go down to the sea , and all that is in it , you islands , and all who live in them . 42 : 11 Let the desert and its towns raise their voices ; let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice . Let the people of Sela sing for joy ; let them shout from the mountaintops . 42 : 12 Let them give glory to the LORD and proclaim his praise in the islands . 42 : 13 The LORD will march out like a mighty man , like a warrior he will stir up his zeal ; with a shout he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies . 42 : 14 " For a long time I have kept silent , I have been quiet and held myself back . But now , like a woman in childbirth , I cry out , I gasp and pant . 42 : 15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation ; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools . 42 : 16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known , along unfamiliar paths I will guide them ; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth . These are the things I will do ; I will not forsake them . 42 : 17 But those who trust in idols , who say to images , ' You are our gods , ' will be turned back in utter shame . 42 : 18 " Hear , you deaf ; look , you blind , and see ! 42 : 19 Who is blind but my servant , and deaf like the messenger I send ? Who is blind like the one committed to me , blind like the servant of the LORD ? 42 : 20 You have seen many things , but have paid no attention ; your ears are open , but you hear nothing . " 42 : 21 It pleased the LORD for the sake of his righteousness to make his law great and glorious . 42 : 22 But this is a people plundered and looted , all of them trapped in pits or hidden away in prisons . They have become plunder , with no one to rescue them ; they have been made loot , with no one to say , " Send them back . " 42 : 23 Which of you will listen to this or pay close attention in time to come ? 42 : 24 Who handed Jacob over to become loot , and Israel to the plunderers ? Was it not the LORD , against whom we have sinned ? For they would not follow his ways ; they did not obey his law . 42 : 25 So he poured out on them his burning anger , the violence of war . It enveloped them in flames , yet they did not understand ; it consumed them , but they did not take it to heart . 43 : 1 But now , this is what the LORD says -- he who created you , O Jacob , he who formed you , O Israel : " Fear not , for I have redeemed you ; I have summoned you by name ; you are mine . 43 : 2 When you pass through the waters , I will be with you ; and when you pass through the rivers , they will not sweep over you . When you walk through the fire , you will not be burned ; the flames will not set you ablaze . 43 : 3 For I am the LORD , your God , the Holy one of Israel , your Savior ; I give Egypt for your ransom , Cush and Seba in your stead . 43 : 4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight , and because I love you , I will give men in exchange for you , and people in exchange for your life . 43 : 5 Do not be afraid , for I am with you ; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west . 43 : 6 I will say to the north , ' Give them up ! ' and to the south , ' Do not hold them back . ' Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth -- 43 : 7 everyone who is called by my name , whom I created for my glory , whom I formed and made . " 43 : 8 Lead out those who have eyes but are blind , who have ears but are deaf . 43 : 9 All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble . Which of them foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things ? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right , so that others may hear and say , " It is true . " 43 : 10 " You are my witnesses , " declares the LORD , " and my servant whom I have chosen , so that you may know and believe me and qnderstand that I am he . Before me no god was formed , nor will there be one after me . 43 : 11 I , even I , am the LORD , and apart from me there is no savior . 43 : 12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed -- I , and not some foreign god among you . You are my witnesses , " declares the LORD , " that I am God . 43 : 13 Yes , and from ancient days I am he . No one can deliver out of my hand . When I act , who can reverse it ? " 43 : 14 This is what the LORD says -- your Redeemer , the Holy one of Israel : " For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians , in the ships in which they took pride . 43 : 15 I am the LORD , your Holy one , Israel ' s Creator , your King . " 43 : 16 This is what the LORD says -- he who made a way through the sea , a path through the mighty waters , 43 : 17 who drew out the chariots and horses , the army and reinforcements together , and they lay there , never to rise again , extinguished , snuffed out like a wick : 43 : 18 " Forget the former things ; do not dwell on the past . 43 : 19 See , I am doing a new thing ! Now it springs up ; do you not perceive it ? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland . 43 : 20 The wild animals honor me , the jackals and the owls , because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland , to give drink to my people , my chosen , 43 : 21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise . 43 : 22 " Yet you have not called upon me , O Jacob , you have not wearied yourselves for me , O Israel . 43 : 23 You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings , nor honored me with your sacrifices . I have not burdened you with grain offerings nor wearied you with demands for incense . 43 : 24 You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me , or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices . But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses . 43 : 25 " I , even I , am he who blots out your transgressions , for my own sake , and remembers your sins no more . 43 : 26 Review the past for me , let us argue the matter together ; state the case for your innocence . 43 : 27 Your first father sinned ; your spokesmen rebelled against me . 43 : 28 So I will disgrace the dignitaries of your temple , and I will consign Jacob to destruction and Israel to scorn . 44 : 1 " But now listen , O Jacob , my servant , Israel , whom I have chosen . 44 : 2 This is what the LORD says -- he who made you , who formed you in the womb , and who will help you : Do not be afraid , O Jacob , my servant , Jeshurun , whom I have chosen . 44 : 3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land , and streams on the dry ground ; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring , and my blessing on your descendants . 44 : 4 They will spring up like grass in a meadow , like poplar trees by flowing streams . 44 : 5 one will say , ' I belong to the LORD '; another will call himself by the name of Jacob ; still another will write on his hand , ' The LORD ' S , ' and will take the name Israel . 44 : 6 " This is what the LORD says -- Israel ' s King and Redeemer , the LORD Almighty : I am the first and I am the last ; apart from me there is no God . 44 : 7 Who then is like me ? Let him proclaim it . Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people , and what is yet to come -- yes , let him foretell what will come . 44 : 8 Do not tremble , do not be afraid . Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago ? You are my witnesses . Is there any God besides me ? No , there is no other Rock ; I know not one . " 44 : 9 All who make idols are nothing , and the things they treasure are worthless . Those who would speak up for them are blind ; they are ignorant , to their own shame . 44 : 10 Who shapes a god and casts an idol , which can profit him nothing ? 44 : 11 He and his kind will be put to shame ; craftsmen are nothing but men . Let them all come together and take their stand ; they will be brought down to terror and infamy . 44 : 12 The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals ; he shapes an idol with hammers , he forges it with the might of his arm . He gets hungry and loses his strength ; he drinks no water and grows faint . 44 : 13 The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker ; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses . He shapes it in the form of man , of man in all his glory , that it may dwell in a shrine . 44 : 14 He cut down cedars , or perhaps took a cypress or oak . He let it grow among the trees of the forest , or planted a pine , and the rain made it grow . 44 : 15 It is man ' s fuel for burning ; some of it he takes and warms himself , he kindles a fire and bakes bread . But he also fashions a god and worships it ; he makes an idol and bows down to it . 44 : 16 Half of the wood he burns in the fire ; over it he prepares his meal , he roasts his meat and eats his fill . He also warms himself and says , " Ah ! I am warm ; I see the fire . " 44 : 17 From the rest he makes a god , his idol ; he bows down to it and worships . He prays to it and says , " Save me ; you are my god . " 44 : 18 They know nothing , they understand nothing ; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see , and their minds closed so they cannot understand . 44 : 19 No one stops to think , no one has the knowledge or understanding to say , " Half of it I used for fuel ; I even baked bread over its coals , I roasted meat and I ate . Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left ? Shall I bow down to a block of wood ? " 44 : 20 He feeds on ashes , a deluded heart misleads him ; he cannot save himself , or say , " Is not this thing in my right hand a lie ? " 44 : 21 " Remember these things , O Jacob , for you are my servant , O Israel . I have made you , you are my servant ; O Israel , I will not forget you . 44 : 22 I have swept away your offenses like a cloud , your sins like the morning mist . Return to me , for I have redeemed you . " 44 : 23 Sing for joy , O heavens , for the LORD has done this ; shout aloud , O earth beneath . Burst into song , you mountains , you forests and all your trees , for the LORD has redeemed Jacob , he displays his glory in Israel . 44 : 24 " This is what the LORD says -- your Redeemer , who formed you in the womb : I am the LORD , who has made all things , who alone stretched out the heavens , who spread out the earth by myself , 44 : 25 who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners , who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense , 44 : 26 who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers , who says of Jerusalem , ' It shall be inhabited , ' of the towns of Judah , ' They shall be built , ' and of their ruins , ' I will restore them , ' 44 : 27 who says to the watery deap , ' Be dry , and I will dry up your streams , ' 44 : 28 who says of Cyrus , ' He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please ; he will say of Jerusalem , " Let it be rebuilt , " and of the temple , " Let its foundations be laid . "' 45 : 1 " This is what the LORD says to his anointed , to Cyrus , whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor , to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut : 45 : 2 I will go before you and will level the mountains ; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron . 45 : 3 I will give you the treasures of darkness , riches stored in secret places , so that you may know that I am the LORD , the God of Israel , who summons you by name . 45 : 4 For the sake of Jacob my servant , of Israel my chosen , I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor , though you do not acknowledge me . 45 : 5 I am the LORD , and there is no other ; apart from me there is no God . I will strengthen you , though you have not acknowledged me , 45 : 6 so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me . I am the LORD , and there is no other . 45 : 7 I form the light and create darkness , I bring prosperity and create disaster ; I , the LORD , do all these things . 45 : 8 " You heavens above , rain down righteousness ; let the clouds shower it down . Let the earth open wide , let salvation spring up , let righteousness grow with it ; I , the LORD , have created it . 45 : 9 " Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker , to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground . Does tha clay say to the potter , ' What are you making ? ' Does your work say , ' He has no hands '? 45 : 10 Woe to him who says to his father , ' What have you begotten ? ' or to his mother , ' What have you brought to birth ? ' 45 : 11 " This is what the LORD says -- the Holy one of Israel , and its Maker : Concerning things to come , do you question me about my children , or give me orders about the work of my hands ? 45 : 12 It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it . My own hands stretched out the heavens ; I marshaled their starry hosts . 45 : 13 I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness : I will make all his ways straight . He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free , but not for a price or reward , says the LORD Almighty . " 45 : 14 This is what the LORD says : " The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush , and those tall Sabeans -- they will come over to you and will be yours ; they will trudge behind you , coming over to you in chains . They will bow down before you and plead with you , saying , ' Surely God is with you , and there is no other ; there is no other god . '" 45 : 15 Truly you are a God who hides himself , O God and Savior of Israel . 45 : 16 All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced ; they will go off into disgrace together . 45 : 17 But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation ; you will never be put to shame or disgraced , to ages everlasting . 45 : 18 For this is what the LORD says -- he who created the heavens , he is God ; he who fashioned and made the earth , he founded it ; he did not create it to be empty , but formed it to be inhabited -- he says : " I am the LORD , and there is no other . 45 : 19 I have not spoken in secret , from somewhere in a land of darkness ; I have not said to Jacob ' s descendants , ' Seek me in vain . ' I , the LORD , speak the truth ; I declare what is right . 45 : 20 " Gather together and come ; assemble , you fugitives from the nations . Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood , who pray to gods that cannot save . 45 : 21 Declare what is to be , present it -- let them take counsel together . Who foretold this long ago , who declared it from the distant past ? Was it not I , the LORD ? And there is no God apart from me , a righteous God and a Savior ; there is none but me . 45 : 22 " Turn to me and be saved , all you ends of the earth ; for I am God , and there is no other . 45 : 23 By myself I have sworn , my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked : Before me every knee will bow ; by me every tongue will swear . 45 : 24 They will say of me , ' In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength . '" All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame . 45 : 25 But in the LORD all the descendants of Israel will be found righteous and will exult . 46 : 1 Bel bows down , Nebo stoops low ; their idols are borne by beasts of burden . The images that are carried about are burdensome , a burden for the weary . 46 : 2 They stoop and bow down together ; unable to rescue the burden , they themselves go off into captivity . 46 : 3 " Listen to me , O house of Jacob , all you who remain of the house of Israel , you whom I have upheld since you were conceived , and have carried since your birth . 46 : 4 Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he , I am he who will sustain you . I have made you and I will carry you ; I will sustain you and I will rescue you . 46 : 5 " To whom will you compare me or count me equal ? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared ? 46 : 6 Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on the scales ; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god , and they bow down and worship it . 46 : 7 They lift it to their shoulders and carry it ; they set it up in its place , and there it stands . From that spot it cannot move . Though one cries out to it , it does not answer ; it cannot save him from his troubles . 46 : 8 " Remember this , fix it in mind , take it to heart , you rebels . 46 : 9 Remember the former things , those of long ago ; I am God , and there is no other ; I am God , and there is none like me . 46 : 10 I make known the end from the beginning , from ancient times , what is still to come . I say : My purpose will stand , and I will do all that I please . 46 : 11 From the east I summon a bird of prey ; from a far - off land , a man to fulfill my purpose . What I have said , that will I bring about ; what I have planned , that will I do . 46 : 12 Listen to me , you stubborn - hearted , you who are far from righteousness . 46 : 13 I am bringing my righteousness near , it is not far away ; and my salvation will not be delayed . I will grant salvation to Zion , my splendor to Israel . 47 : 1 " Go down , sit in the dust , Virgin Daughter of Babylon ; sit on the ground without a throne , Daughter of the Babylonians . No more will you be called tender or delicate . 47 : 2 Take millstones and grind flour ; take off your veil . Lift up your skirts , bare your legs , and wade through the streams . 47 : 3 Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered . I will take vengeance ; I will spare no one . " 47 : 4 Our Redeemer -- the LORD Almighty is his name -- is the Holy one of Israel . 47 : 5 " Sit in silence , go into darkness , Daughter of the Babylonians ; no more will you be called queen of kingdoms . 47 : 6 I was angry with my people and desecrated my inheritance ; I gave them into your hand , and you showed them no mercy . Even on the aged you laid a very heavy yoke . 47 : 7 You said , ' I will continue forever -- the eternal queen ! ' But you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen . 47 : 8 " Now then , listen , you wanton creature , lounging in your security and saying to yourself , ' I am , and there is none besides me . I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children . ' 47 : 9 Both of these will overtake you in a moment , on a single day : loss of children and widowhood . They will come upon you in full measure , in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells . 47 : 10 You have trusted in your wickedness and have said , ' No one sees me . ' Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself , ' I am , and there is none besides me . ' 47 : 11 Disaster will come upon you , and you will not know how to conjure it away . A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom ; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you . 47 : 12 " Keep on , then , with your magic spells and with your many sorceries , which you have labored at since childhood . Perhaps you will succeed , perhaps you will cause terror . 47 : 13 All the counsel you have received has only worn you out ! Let your astrologers come forward , those stargazers who make predictions month by month , let them save you from what is coming upon you . 47 : 14 Surely they are like stubble ; the fire will burn them up . They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame . Here are no coals to warm anyone ; here is no fire to sit by . 47 : 15 That is all they can do for you -- these you have labored with and trafficked with since childhood . Each of them goes on in his error ; there is not one that can save you . 48 : 1 " Listen to this , O house of Jacob , you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah , you who take oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel -- but not in truth or righteousness -- 48 : 2 you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and rely on the God of Israel -- the LORD Almighty is his name : 48 : 3 I foretold the former things long ago , my mouth announced them and I made them known ; then suddenly I acted , and they came to pass . 48 : 4 For I knew how stubborn you were ; the sinews of your neck were iron , your forehead was bronze . 48 : 5 Therefore I told you these things long ago ; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say , ' My idols did them ; my wooden image and metal god ordained them . ' 48 : 6 You have heard these things ; look at them all . Will you not admit them ? " From now on I will tell you of new things , of hidden things unknown to you . 48 : 7 They are created now , and not long ago ; you have not heard of them before today . So you cannot say , ' Yes , I knew of them . ' 48 : 8 You have neither heard nor understood ; from of old your ear has not been open . Well do I know how treacherous you are ; you were called a rebel from birth . 48 : 9 For my own name ' s sake I delay my wrath ; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you , so as not to cut you off . 48 : 10 See , I have refined you , though not as silver ; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction . 48 : 11 For my own sake , for my own sake , I do this . How can I let myself be defamed ? I will not yield my glory to another . 48 : 12 " Listen to me , O Jacob , Israel , whom I have called : I am he ; I am the first and I am the last . 48 : 13 My own hand laid the foundations of the earth , and my right hand spread out the heavens ; when I summon them , they all stand up together . 48 : 14 " Come together , all of you , and listen : Which of the idols has foretold these things ? The LORD ' S chosen ally will carry out his purpose against Babylon ; his arm will be against the Babylonians . 48 : 15 I , even I , have spoken ; yes , I have called him . I will bring him , and he will succeed in his mission . 48 : 16 " Come near me and listen to this : " From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret ; at the time it happens , I am there . " And now the Sovereign LORD has sent me , with his Spirit . 48 : 17 This is what the LORD says -- your Redeemer , the Holy one of Israel : " I am the LORD your God , who teaches you what is best for you , who directs you in the way you should go . 48 : 18 If only you had paid attention to my commands , your peace would have been like a river , your righteousness like the waves of the sea . 48 : 19 Your descendants would have been like the sand , your children like its numberless grains ; their name would never be cut off nor destroyed from before me . " 48 : 20 Leave Babylon , flee from the Babylonians ! Announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it . Send it out to the ends of the earth ; say , " The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob . " 48 : 21 They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts ; he made water flow for them from the rock ; he split the rock and water gushed out . 48 : 22 " There is no peace , " says the LORD , " for the wicked . " 49 : 1 Listen to me , you islands ; hear this , you distant nations : Before I was born the LORD called me ; from my birth he has made mention of my name . 49 : 2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword , in the shadow of his hand he hid me ; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver . 49 : 3 He said to me , " You are my servant , Israel , in whom I will display my splendor . " 49 : 4 But I said , " I have labored to no purpose ; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing . Yet what is due me is in the LORD ' S hand , and my reward is with my God . " 49 : 5 And now the LORD says -- he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself , for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been my strength -- 49 : 6 he says : " It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept . I will also make you a light for the Gentiles , that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth . " 49 : 7 This is what the LORD says -- the Redeemer and Holy one of Israel -- to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation , to the servant of rulers : " Kings will see you and rise up , princes will see and bow down , because of the LORD , who is faithful , the Holy one of Israel , who has chosen you . " 49 : 8 This is what the LORD says : " In the time of my favor I will answer you , and in the day of salvation I will help you ; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people , to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances , 49 : 9 to say to the captives , ' Come out , ' and to those in darkness , ' Be free ! ' " They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill . 49 : 10 They will neither hunger nor thirst , nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them . He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water . 49 : 11 I will turn all my mountains into roads , and my highways will be raised up . 49 : 12 See , they will come from afar -- some from the north , some from the west , some from the region of Aswan . " 49 : 13 Shout for joy , O heavens ; rejoice , O earth ; burst into song , O mountains ! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones . 49 : 14 But Zion said , " The LORD has forsaken me , the Lord has forgotten me . " 49 : 15 " Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne ? Though she may forget , I will not forget you ! 49 : 16 See , I have engraved you on the palms of my hands ; your walls are ever before me . 49 : 17 Your sons hasten back , and those who laid you waste depart from you . 49 : 18 Lift up your eyes and look around ; all your sons gather and come to you . As surely as I live , " declares the LORD , " you will wear them all as ornaments ; you will put them on , like a bride . 49 : 19 " Though you were ruined and made desolate and your land laid waste , now you will be too small for your people , and those who devoured you will be far away . 49 : 20 The children born during your bereavement will yet say in your hearing , ' This place is too small for us ; give us more space to live in . ' 49 : 21 Then you will say in your heart , ' Who bore me these ? I was bereaved and barren ; I was exiled and rejected . Who brought these up ? I was left all alone , but these -- where have they come from ? '" 49 : 22 This is what the Sovereign LORD says : " See , I will beckon to the Gentiles , I will lift up my banner to the peoples ; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders . 49 : 23 Kings will be your foster fathers , and their queens your nursing mothers . They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground ; they will lick the dust at your feet . Then you will know that I am the LORD ; those who hope in me will not be disappointed . " 49 : 24 Can plunder be taken from warriors , or captives rescued from the fierce ? 49 : 25 But this is what the LORD says : " Yes , captives will be taken from warriors , and plunder retrieved from the fierce ; I will contend with those who contend with you , and your children I will save . 49 : 26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh ; they will be drunk on their own blood , as with wine . Then all mankind will know that I , the LORD , am your Savior , your Redeemer , the Mighty one of Jacob . " 50 : 1 This is what the LORD says : " Where is your mother ' s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away ? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you ? Because of your sins you were sold ; because of your transgressions your mother was sent away . 50 : 2 When I came , why was there no one ? When I called , why was there no one to answer ? Was my arm too short to ransom you ? Do I lack the strength to rescue you ? By a mere rebuke I dry up the sea , I turn rivers into a desert ; their fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst . 50 : 3 I clothe the sky with darkness and make sackcloth its covering . " 50 : 4 The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue , to know the word that sustains the weary . He wakens me morning by morning , wakens my ear to listen like one being taught . 50 : 5 The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears , and I have not been rebellious ; I have not drawn back . 50 : 6 I offered my back to those who beat me , my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard ; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting . 50 : 7 Because the Sovereign LORD helps me , I will not be disgraced . Therefore have I set my face like flint , and I know I will not be put to shame . 50 : 8 He who vindicates me is near . Who then will bring charges against me ? Let us face each other ! Who is my accuser ? Let him confront me ! 50 : 9 It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me . Who is he that will condemn me ? They will all wear out like a garment ; the moths will eat them up . 50 : 10 Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant ? Let him who walks in the dark , who has no light , trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God . 50 : 11 But now , all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches , go , walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze . This is what you shall receive from my hand : You will lie down in torment . ISA 51 : 1 " Listen to me , you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD : Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn ; 51 : 2 look to Abraham , your father , and to Sarah , who gave you birth . When I called him he was but one , and I blessed him and made him many . 51 : 3 The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins ; he will make her deserts like Eden , her wastelands like the garden of the LORD . Joy and gladness will be found in her , thanksgiving and the sound of singing . 51 : 4 " Listen to me , my people ; hear me , my nation : The law will go out from me ; my justice will become a light to the nations . 51 : 5 My righteousness draws near speedily , my salvation is on the way , and my arm will bring justice to the nations . The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm . 51 : 6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens , look at the earth beneath ; the heavens will vanish like smoke , the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies . But my salvation will last forever , my righteousness will never fail . 51 : 7 " Hear me , you who know what is right , you people who have my law in your hearts : Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults . 51 : 8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment ; the worm will devour them like wool . But my righteousness will last forever , my salvation through all generations . " 51 : 9 Awake , awake ! Clothe yourself with strength , O arm of the LORD ; awake , as in days gone by , as in generations of old . Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces , who pierced that monster through ? 51 : 10 Was it not you who dried up the sea , the waters of the great deep , who made a road in the depths of the sea so that the redeemed might cross over ? 51 : 11 The ransomed of the LORD will return . They will enter Zion with singing ; everlasting joy will crown their heads . Gladness and joy will overtake them , and sorrow and sighing will flee away . 51 : 12 " I , even I , am he who comforts you . Who are you that you fear mortal men , the sons of men , who are but grass , 51 : 13 that you forget the LORD your Maker , who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth , that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor , who is bent on destruction ? For where is the wrath of the oppressor ? 51 : 14 The cowering prisoners will soon be set free ; they will not die in their dungeon , nor will they lack bread . 51 : 15 For I am the LORD your God , who churns up the sea so that its waves roar -- the LORD Almighty is his name . 51 : 16 I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand -- I who set the heavens in place , who laid the foundations of the earth , and who say to Zion , ' You are my people . '" 51 : 17 Awake , awake ! Rise up , O Jerusalem , you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath , you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes men stagger . 51 : 18 Of all the sons she bore there was none to guide her ; of all the sons she reared there was none to take her by the hand . 51 : 19 These double calamities have come upon you -- who can comfort you ? -- ruin and destruction , famine and sword -- who can console you ? 51 : 20 Your sons have fainted ; they lie at the head of every street , like antelope caught in a net . They are filled with the wrath of the LORD and the rebuke of your God . 51 : 21 Therefore hear this , you afflicted one , made drunk , but not with wine . 51 : 22 This is what your Sovereign LORD says , your God , who defends his people : " See , I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger ; from that cup , the goblet of my wrath , you will never drink again . 51 : 23 I will put it into the hands of your tormentors , who said to you , ' Fall prostrate that we may walk over you . ' And you made your back like the ground , like a street to be walked over . " 52 : 1 Awake , awake , O Zion , clothe yourself with strength . Put on your garments of splendor , O Jerusalem , the holy city . The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again . 52 : 2 Shake off your dust ; rise up , sit enthroned , O Jerusalem . Free yourself from the chains on your neck , O captive Daughter of Zion . 52 : 3 For this is what the LORD says : " You were sold for nothing , and without money you will be redeemed . " 52 : 4 For this is what the Sovereign LORD says : " At first my people went down to Egypt to live ; lately , Assyria has oppressed them . 52 : 5 " And now what do I have here ? " declares the LORD . " For my people have been taken away for nothing , and those who rule them mock , " declares the LORD . " And all day long my name is constantly blasphemed . 52 : 6 Therefore my people will know my name ; therefore in that day they will know that it is I who foretold it . Yes , it is I . " 52 : 7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news , who proclaim peace , who bring good tidings , who proclaim salvation , who say to Zion , " Your God reigns ! " 52 : 8 Listen ! Your watchmen lift up their voices ; together they shout for joy . When the LORD returns to Zion , they will see it with their own eyes . 52 : 9 Burst into songs of joy together , you ruins of Jerusalem , for the LORD has comforted his people , he has redeemed Jerusalem . 52 : 10 The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations , and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God . 52 : 11 Depart , depart , go out from there ! Touch no unclean thing ! Come out from it and be pure , you who carry the vessels of the LORD . 52 : 12 But you will not leave in haste or go in flight ; for the LORD will go before you , the God of Israel will be your rear guard . 52 : 13 See , my servant will act wisely ; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted . 52 : 14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him -- his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness -- 52 : 15 so will he sprinkle many nations , and kings will shut their mouths because of him . For what they were not told , they will see , and what they have not heard , they will understand . 53 : 1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed ? 53 : 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot , and like a root out of dry ground . He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him , nothing in his appearance that we should desire him . 53 : 3 He was despised and rejected by men , a man of sorrows , and familiar with suffering . Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised , and we esteemed him not . 53 : 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows , yet we considered him stricken by God , smitten by him , and afflicted . 53 : 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions , he was crushed for our iniquities ; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him , and by his wounds we are healed . 53 : 6 We all , like sheep , have gone astray , each of us has turned to his own way ; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all . 53 : 7 He was oppressed and afflicted , yet he did not open his mouth ; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter , and as a sheep before her shearers is silent , so he did not open his mouth . 53 : 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away . And who can speak of his descendants ? For he was cut off from the land of the living ; for the transgression of my people he was stricken . 53 : 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked , and with the rich in his death , though he had done no violence , nor was any deceit in his mouth . 53 : 10 Yet it was the LORD ' S will to crush him and cause him to suffer , and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering , he will see his offspring and prolong his days , and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand . 53 : 11 After the suffering of his soul , he will see the light of life and be satisfied ; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many , and he will bear their iniquities . 53 : 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great , and he will divide the spoils with the strong , because he poured out his life unto death , and was numbered with the transgressors . For he bore the sin of many , and made intercession for the transgressors . 54 : 1 " Sing , O barren woman , you who never bore a child ; burst into song , shout for joy , you who were never in labor ; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband , " says the LORD . 54 : 2 " Enlarge the place of your tent , stretch your tent curtains wide , do not hold back ; lengthen your cords , strengthen your stakes . 54 : 3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left ; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities . 54 : 4 " Do not be afraid ; you will not suffer shame . Do not fear disgrace ; you will not be humiliated . You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood . 54 : 5 For your Maker is your husband -- the LORD Almighty is his name -- the Holy one of Israel is your Redeemer ; he is called the God of all the earth . 54 : 6 The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit -- a wife who married young , only to be rejected , " says your God . 54 : 7 " For a brief moment I abandoned you , but with deep compassion I will bring you back . 54 : 8 In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment , but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you , " says the LORD your Redeemer . 54 : 9 " To me this is like the days of Noah , when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth . So now I have sworn not to be angry with you , never to rebuke you again . 54 : 10 Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed , yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed , " says the LORD , who has compassion on you . 54 : 11 " O afflicted city , lashed by storms and not comforted , I will build you with stones of turquoise , your foundations with sapphires . 54 : 12 I will make your battlements of rubies , your gates of sparkling jewels , and all your walls of precious stones . 54 : 13 All your sons will be taught by the LORD , and great will be your children ' s peace . 54 : 14 In righteousness you will be established : Tyranny will be far from you ; you will have nothing to fear . Terror will be far removed ; it will not come near you . 54 : 15 If anyone does attack you , it will not be my doing ; whoever attacks you will surrender to you . 54 : 16 " See , it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work . And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc ; 54 : 17 no weapon forged against you will prevail , and you will refute every tongue that accuses you . This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD , and this is their vindication from me , " declares the LORD . 55 : 1 " Come , all you who are thirsty , come to the waters ; and you who have no money , come , buy and eat ! Come , buy wine and milk without money and without cost . 55 : 2 Why spend money on what is not bread , and your labor on what does not satisfy ? Listen , listen to me , and eat what is good , and your soul will delight in the richest of fare . 55 : 3 Give ear and come to me ; hear me , that your soul may live . I will make an everlasting covenant with you , my faithful love promised to David . 55 : 4 See , I have made him a witness to the peoples , a leader and commander of the peoples . 55 : 5 Surely you will summon nations you know not , and nations that do not know you will hasten to you , because of the LORD your God , the Holy one of Israel , for he has endowed you with splendor . " 55 : 6 Seek the LORD while he may be found ; call on him while he is near . 55 : 7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts . Let him turn to the LORD , and he will have mercy on him , and to our God , for he will freely pardon . 55 : 8 " For my thoughts are not your thoughts , neither are your ways my ways , " declares the LORD . 55 : 9 " As the heavens are higher than the earth , so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts . 55 : 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven , and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish , so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater , 55 : 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth : It will not return to me empty , but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it . 55 : 12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace ; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you , and all the trees of the field will clap their hands . 55 : 13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree , and instead of briers the myrtle will grow . This will be for the LORD ' S renown , for an everlasting sign , which will not be destroyed . " 56 : 1 This is what the LORD says : " Maintain justice and do what is right , for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed . 56 : 2 Blessed is the man who does this , the man who holds it fast , who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it , and keeps his hand from doing any evil . " 56 : 3 Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say , " The LORD will surely exclude me from his people . " And let not any eunuch complain , " I am only a dry tree . " 56 : 4 For this is what the LORD says : " To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths , who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant -- 56 : 5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters ; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off . 56 : 6 And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him , to love the name of the LORD , and to worship him , all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant -- 56 : 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer . Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar ; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations . " 56 : 8 The Sovereign LORD declares -- he who gathers the exiles of Israel : " I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered . " 56 : 9 Come , all you beasts of the field , come and devour , all you beasts of the forest ! 56 : 10 Israel ' s watchmen are blind , they all lack knowledge ; they are all mute dogs , they cannot bark ; they lie around and dream , they love to sleep . 56 : 11 They are dogs with mighty appetites ; they never have enough . They are shepherds who lack understanding ; they all turn to their own way , each seeks his own gain . 56 : 12 " Come , " each one cries , " let me get wine ! Let us drink our fill of beer ! And tomorrow will be like today , or even far better . " 57 : 1 The righteous perish , and no one ponders it in his heart ; devout men are taken away , and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil . 57 : 2 Those who walk uprightly enter into peace ; they find rest as they lie in death . 57 : 3 " But you -- come here , you sons of a sorceress , you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes ! 57 : 4 Whom are you mocking ? At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue ? Are you not a brood of rebels , the offspring of liars ? 57 : 5 You burn with lust among the oaks and under every spreading tree ; you sacrifice your children in the ravines and under the overhanging crags . 57 : 6 The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion ; they , they are your lot . Yes , to them you have poured out drink offerings and offered grain offerings . In the light of these things , should I relent ? 57 : 7 You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill ; there you went up to offer your sacrifices . 57 : 8 Behind your doors and your doorposts you have put your pagan symbols . Forsaking me , you uncovered your bed , you climbed into it and opened it wide ; you made a pact with those whose beds you love , and you looked on their nakedness . 57 : 9 You went to Molech with olive oil and increased your perfumes . You sent your ambassadors far away ; you descended to the grave itself ! 57 : 10 You were wearied by all your ways , but you would not say , ' It is hopeless . ' You found renewal of your strength , and so you did not faint . 57 : 11 " Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to me , and have neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts ? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me ? 57 : 12 I will expose your righteousness and your works , and they will not benefit you . 57 : 13 When you cry out for help , let your collection of idols save you ! The wind will carry all of them off , a mere breath will blow them away . But the man who makes me his refuge will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain . " 57 : 14 And it will be said : " Build up , build up , prepare the road ! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people . " 57 : 15 For this is what the high and lofty one says -- he who lives forever , whose name is holy : " I live in a high and holy place , but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit , to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite . 57 : 16 I will not accuse forever , nor will I always be angry , for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me -- the breath of man that I have created . 57 : 17 I was enraged by his sinful greed ; I punished him , and hid my face in anger , yet he kept on in his willful ways . 57 : 18 I have seen his ways , but I will heal him ; I will guide him and restore comfort to him , 57 : 19 creating praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel . Peace , peace , to those far and near , " says the LORD . " And I will heal them . " 57 : 20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea , which cannot rest , whose waves cast up mire and mud . 57 : 21 " There is no peace , " says my God , " for the wicked . " 58 : 1 " Shout it aloud , do not hold back . Raise your voice like a trumpet . Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins . 58 : 2 For day after day they seek me out ; they seem eager to know my ways , as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God . They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them . 58 : 3 ' Why have we fasted , ' they say , ' and you have not seen it ? Why have we humbled ourselves , and you have not noticed ? ' " Yet on the day of your fasting , you do as you please and exploit all your workers . 58 : 4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife , and in striking each other with wicked fists . You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high . 58 : 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen , only a day for a man to humble himself ? Is it only for bowing one ' s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes ? Is that what you call a fast , a day acceptable to the LORD ? 58 : 6 " Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen : to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke , to set the oppressed free and break every yoke ? 58 : 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter -- when you see the naked , to clothe him , and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood ? 58 : 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn , and your healing will quickly appear ; then your righteousness will go before you , and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard . 58 : 9 Then you will call , and the LORD will answer ; you will cry for help , and he will say : Here am I . " If you do away with the yoke of oppression , with the pointing finger and malicious talk , 58 : 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed , then your light will rise in the darkness , and your night will become like the noonday . 58 : 11 The LORD will guide you always ; he will satisfy your needs in a sun - scorched land and will strengthen your frame . You will be like a well - watered garden , like a spring whose waters never fail . 58 : 12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age - old foundations ; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls , Restorer of Streets with Dwellings . 58 : 13 " If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day , if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD ' S holy day honorable , and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words , 58 : 14 then you will find your joy in the LORD , and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob . " The mouth of the LORD has spoken . 59 : 1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save , nor his ear too dull to hear . 59 : 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God ; your sins have hidden his face from you , so that he will not hear . 59 : 3 For your hands are stained with blood , your fingers with guilt . Your lips have spoken lies , and your tongue mutters wicked things . 59 : 4 No one calls for justice ; no one pleads his case with integrity . They rely on empty arguments and speak lies ; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil . 59 : 5 They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider ' s web . Whoever eats their eggs will die , and when one is broken , an adder is hatched . 59 : 6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing ; they cannot cover themselves with what they make . Their deeds are evil deeds , and acts of violence are in their hands . 59 : 7 Their feet rush into sin ; they are swift to shed innocent blood . Their thoughts are evil thoughts ; ruin and destruction mark their ways . 59 : 8 The way of peace they do not know ; there is no justice in their paths . They have turned them into crooked roads ; no one who walks in them will know peace . 59 : 9 So justice is far from us , and righteousness does not reach us . We look for light , but all is darkness ; for brightness , but we walk in deep shadows . 59 : 10 Like the blind we grope along the wall , feeling our way like men without eyes . At midday we stumble as if it were twilight ; among the strong , we are like the dead . 59 : 11 We all growl like bears ; we moan mournfully like doves . We look for justice , but find none ; for deliverance , but it is far away . 59 : 12 For our offenses are many in your sight , and our sins testify against us . Our offenses are ever with us , and we acknowledge our iniquities : 59 : 13 rebellion and treachery against the LORD , turning our backs on our God , fomenting oppression and revolt , uttering lies our hearts have conceived . 59 : 14 So justice is driven back , and righteousness stands at a distance ; truth has stumbled in the streets , honesty cannot enter . 59 : 15 Truth is nowhere to be found , and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey . The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice . 59 : 16 He saw that there was no one , he was appalled that there was no one to intervene ; so his own arm worked salvation for him , and his own righteousness sustained him . 59 : 17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate , and the helmet of salvation on his head ; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak . 59 : 18 According to what they have done , so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes ; he will repay the islands their due . 59 : 19 From the west , men will fear the name of the LORD , and from the rising of the sun , they will revere his glory . For he will come like a pent - up flood that the breath of the LORD drives along . 59 : 20 " The Redeemer will come to Zion , to those in Jacob who repent of their sins , " declares the LORD . 59 : 21 " As for me , this is my covenant with them , " says the LORD . " My Spirit , who is on you , and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth , or from the mouths of your children , or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever , " says the LORD . 60 : 1 " Arise , shine , for your light has come , and the glory of the LORD rises upon you . 60 : 2 See , darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples , but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you . 60 : 3 Nations will come to your light , and kings to the brightness of your dawn . 60 : 4 " Lift up your eyes and look about you : All assemble and come to you ; your sons come from afar , and your daughters are carried on the arm . 60 : 5 Then you will look and be radiant , your heart will throb and swell with joy ; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you , to you the riches of the nations will come . 60 : 6 Herds of camels will cover your land , young camels of Midian and Ephah . And all from Sheba will come , bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the LORD . 60 : 7 All Kedar ' s flocks will be gathered to you , the rams of Nebaioth will serve you ; they will be accepted as offerings on my altar , and I will adorn my glorious temple . 60 : 8 " Who are these that fly along like clouds , like doves to their nests ? 60 : 9 Surely the islands look to me ; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish , bringing your sons from afar , with their silver and gold , to the honor of the LORD your God , the Holy one of Israel , for he has endowed you with splendor . 60 : 10 " Foreigners will rebuild your walls , and their kings will serve you . Though in anger I struck you , in favor I will show you compassion . 60 : 11 Your gates will always stand open , they will never be shut , day or night , so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations -- their kings led in triumphal procession . 60 : 12 For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish ; it will be utterly ruined . 60 : 13 " The glory of Lebanon will come to you , the pine , the fir and the cypress together , to adorn the place of my sanctuary ; and I will glorify the place of my feet . 60 : 14 The sons of your oppressors will come bowing before you ; all who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of the LORD , Zion of the Holy one of Israel . 60 : 15 " Although you have been forsaken and hated , with no one traveling through , I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations . 60 : 16 You will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts . Then you will know that I , the LORD , am your Savior , your Redeemer , the Mighty one of Jacob . 60 : 17 Instead of bronze I will bring you gold , and silver in place of iron . Instead of wood I will bring you bronze , and iron in place of stones . I will make peace your governor and righteousness your ruler . 60 : 18 No longer will violence be heard in your land , nor ruin or destruction within your borders , but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise . 60 : 19 The sun will no more be your light by day , nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you , for the LORD will be your everlasting light , and your God will be your glory . 60 : 20 Your sun will never set again , and your moon will wane no more ; the LORD will be your everlasting light , and your days of sorrow will end . 60 : 21 Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land forever . They are the shoot I have planted , the work of my hands , for the display of my splendor . 60 : 22 The least of you will become a thousand , the smallest a mighty nation . I am the LORD ; in its time I will do this swiftly . " ISA 61 : 1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me , because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor . He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted , to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners , 61 : 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD ' S favor and the day of vengeance of our God , to comfort all who mourn , 61 : 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion -- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes , the oil of gladness instead of mourning , and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair . They will be called oaks of righteousness , a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor . 61 : 4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated ; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations . 61 : 5 Aliens will shepherd your flocks ; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards . 61 : 6 And you will be called priests of the LORD , you will be named ministers of our God . You will feed on the wealth of nations , and in their riches you will boast . 61 : 7 Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion , and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance ; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land , and everlasting joy will be theirs . 61 : 8 " For I , the LORD , love justice ; I hate robbery and iniquity . In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them . 61 : 9 Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples . All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed . " 61 : 10 I delight greatly in the LORD ; my soul rejoices in my God . For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness , as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest , and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels . 61 : 11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow , so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations . 62 : 1 For Zion ' s sake I will not keep silent , for Jerusalem ' s sake I will not remain quiet , till her righteousness shines out like the dawn , her salvation like a blazing torch . 62 : 2 The nations will see your righteousness , and all kings your glory ; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow . 62 : 3 You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD ' S hand , a royal diadem in the hand of your God . 62 : 4 No longer will they call you Deserted , or name your land Desolate . But you will be called Hephzibah , and your land Beulah ; for the LORD will take delight in you , and your land will be married . 62 : 5 As a young man marries a maiden , so will your sons marry you ; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride , so will your God rejoice over you . 62 : 6 I have posted watchmen on your walls , O Jerusalem ; they will never be silent day or night . You who call on the LORD , give yourselves no rest , 62 : 7 and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth . 62 : 8 The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm : " Never again will I give your grain as food for your enemies , and never again will foreigners drink the new wine for which you have toiled ; 62 : 9 but those who harvest it will eat it and praise the LORD , and those who gather the grapes will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary . " 62 : 10 Pass through , pass through the gates ! Prepare the way for the people . Build up , build up the highway ! Remove the stones . Raise a banner for the nations . 62 : 11 The LORD has made proclamation to the ends of the earth : " Say to the Daughter of Zion , ' See , your Savior comes ! See , his reward is with him , and his recompense accompanies him . '" 62 : 12 They will be called the Holy People , the Redeemed of the LORD ; and you will be called Sought After , the City No Longer Deserted . 63 : 1 Who is this coming from Edom , from Bozrah , with his garments stained crimson ? Who is this , robed in splendor , striding forward in the greatness of his strength ? " It is I , speaking in righteousness , mighty to save . " 63 : 2 Why are your garments red , like those of one treading the winepress ? 63 : 3 " I have trodden the winepress alone ; from the nations no one was with me . I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath ; their blood spattered my garments , and I stained all my clothing . 63 : 4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart , and the year of my redemption has come . 63 : 5 I looked , but there was no one to help , I was appalled that no one gave support ; so my own arm worked salvation for me , and my own wrath sustained me . 63 : 6 I trampled the nations in my anger ; in my wrath I made them drunk and poured their blood on the ground . " 63 : 7 I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD , the deeds for which he is to be praised , according to all the LORD has done for us -- yes , the many good things he has done for the house of Israel , according to his compassion and many kindnesses . 63 : 8 He said , " Surely they are my people , sons who will not be false to me "; and so he became their Savior . 63 : 9 In all their distress he too was distressed , and the angel of his presence saved them . In his love and mercy he redeemed them ; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old . 63 : 10 Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit . So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them . 63 : 11 Then his people recalled the days of old , the days of Moses and his people -- where is he who brought them through the sea , with the shepherd of his flock ? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them , 63 : 12 who sent his glorious arm of power to be at Moses ' right hand , who divided the waters before them , to gain for himself everlasting renown , 63 : 13 who led them through the depths ? Like a horse in open country , they did not stumble ; 63 : 14 like cattle that go down to the plain , they were given rest by the Spirit of the LORD . This is how you guided your people to make for yourself a glorious name . 63 : 15 Look down from heaven and see from your lofty throne , holy and glorious . Where are your zeal and your might ? Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us . 63 : 16 But you are our Father , though Abraham does not know us or Israel acknowledge us ; you , O LORD , are our Father , our Redeemer from of old is your name . 63 : 17 Why , O LORD , do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere you ? Return for the sake of your servants , the tribes that are your inheritance . 63 : 18 For a little while your people possessed your holy place , but now our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary . 63 : 19 We are yours from of old ; but you have not ruled over them , they have not been called by your name . 64 : 1 Oh , that you would rend the heavens and come down , that the mountains would tremble before you ! 64 : 2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil , come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you ! 64 : 3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect , you came down , and the mountains trembled before you . 64 : 4 Since ancient times no one has heard , no ear has perceived , no eye has seen any God besides you , who acts on behalf of those who wait for him . 64 : 5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right , who remember your ways . But when we continued to sin against them , you were angry . How then can we be saved ? 64 : 6 All of us have become like one who is unclean , and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags ; we all shrivel up like a leaf , and like the wind our sins sweep us away . 64 : 7 No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you ; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins . 64 : 8 Yet , O LORD , you are our Father . We are the clay , you are the potter ; we are all the work of your hand . 64 : 9 Do not be angry beyond measure , O LORD ; do not remember our sins forever . Oh , look upon us , we pray , for we are all your people . 64 : 10 Your sacred cities have become a desert ; even Zion is a desert , Jerusalem a desolation . 64 : 11 Our holy and glorious temple , where our fathers praised you , has been burned with fire , and all that we treasured lies in ruins . 64 : 12 After all this , O LORD , will you hold yourself back ? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure ? 65 : 1 " I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me ; I was found by those who did not seek me . To a nation that did not call on my name , I said , ' Here am I , here am I . ' 65 : 2 All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people , who walk in ways not good , pursuing their own imaginations -- 65 : 3 a people who continually provoke me to my very face , offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on altars of brick ; 65 : 4 who sit among the graves and spend their nights keeping secret vigil ; who eat the flesh of pigs , and whose pots hold broth of unclean meat ; 65 : 5 who say , ' Keep away ; don ' t come near me , for I am too sacred for you ! ' Such people are smoke in my nostrils , a fire that keeps burning all day . 65 : 6 " See , it stands written before me : I will not keep silent but will pay back in full ; I will pay it back into their laps -- 65 : 7 both your sins and the sins of your fathers , " says the LORD . " Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains and defied me on the hills , I will measure into their laps the full payment for their former deeds . " 65 : 8 This is what the LORD says : " As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes and men say , ' Don ' t destroy it , there is yet some good in it , ' so will I do in behalf of my servants ; I will not destroy them all . 65 : 9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob , and from Judah those who will possess my mountains ; my chosen people will inherit them , and there will my servants live . 65 : 10 Sharon will become a pasture for flocks , and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds , for my people who seek me . 65 : 11 " But as for you who forsake the LORD and forget my holy mountain , who spread a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny , 65 : 12 I will destine you for the sword , and you will all bend down for the slaughter ; for I called but you did not answer , I spoke but you did not listen . You did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me . " 65 : 13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : " My servants will eat , but you will go hungry ; my servants will drink , but you will go thirsty ; my servants will rejoice , but you will be put to shame . 65 : 14 My servants will sing out of the joy of their hearts , but you will cry out from anguish of heart and wail in brokenness of spirit . 65 : 15 You will leave your name to my chosen ones as a curse ; the Sovereign LORD will put you to death , but to his servants he will give another name . 65 : 16 Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the God of truth ; he who takes an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth . For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes . 65 : 17 " Behold , I will create new heavens and a new earth . The former things will not be remembered , nor will they come to mind . 65 : 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create , for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy . 65 : 19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people ; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more . 65 : 20 " Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days , or an old man who does not live out his years ; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth ; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed . 65 : 21 They will build houses and dwell in them ; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit . 65 : 22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them , or plant and others eat . For as the days of a tree , so will be the days of my people ; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands . 65 : 23 They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune ; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD , they and their descendants with them . 65 : 24 Before they call I will answer ; while they are still speaking I will hear . 65 : 25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together , and the lion will eat straw like the ox , but dust will be the serpent ' s food . They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain , " says the LORD . 66 : 1 This is what the LORD says : " Heaven is my throne , and the earth is my footstool . Where is the house you will build for me ? Where will my resting place be ? 66 : 2 Has not my hand made all these things , and so they came into being ? " declares the LORD . " This is the one I esteem : he who is humble and contrite in spirit , and trembles at my word . 66 : 3 But whoever sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a man , and whoever offers a lamb , like one who breaks a dog ' s neck ; whoever makes a grain offering is like one who presents pig ' s blood , and whoever burns memorial incense , like one who worships an idol . They have chosen their own ways , and their souls delight in their abominations ; 66 : 4 so I also will choose harsh treatment for them and will bring upon them shat they dread . For when I called , no one answered , when I spoke , no one listened . They did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me . " 66 : 5 Hear the word of the LORD , you who tremble at his word : " Your brothers who hate you , and exclude you because of my name , have said , ' Let the LORD be glorified , that we may see your joy ! ' Yet they will be put to shame . 66 : 6 Hear that uproar from the city , hear that noise from the temple ! It is the sound of the LORD repaying his enemies all they deserve . 66 : 7 " Before she goes into labor , she gives birth ; before the pains come upon her , she delivers a son . 66 : 8 Who has ever heard of such a thing ? Who has ever seen such things ? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment ? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children . 66 : 9 Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery ? " says the LORD . " Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery ? " says your God . 66 : 10 " Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her , all you who love her ; rejoice greatly with her , all you who mourn over her . 66 : 11 For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts ; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance . " 66 : 12 For this is what the LORD says : " I will extend peace to her like a river , and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream ; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees . 66 : 13 As a mother comforts her child , so will I comfort you ; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem . " 66 : 14 When you see this , your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass ; the hand of the LORD will be made known to his servants , but his fury will be shown to his foes . 66 : 15 See , the LORD is coming with fire , and his chariots are like a whirlwind ; he will bring down his anger with fury , and his rebuke with flames of fire . 66 : 16 For with fire and with his sword the LORD will execute judgment upon all men , and many will be those slain by the LORD . 66 : 17 " Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens , following the one in the midst of those who eat the flesh of pigs and rats and other abominable things -- they will meet their end together , " declares the LORD . 66 : 18 " And I , because of their actions and their imaginations , am about to come and gather all nations and tongues , and they will come and see my glory . 66 : 19 " I will set a sign among them , and I will send some of those who survive to the nations -- to Tarshish , to the Libyans and Lydians ( famous as archers ) , to Tubal and Greece , and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory . They will proclaim my glory among the nations . 66 : 20 And they will bring all your brothers , from all the nations , to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD -- on horses , in chariots and wagons , and on mules and camels , " says the LORD . " They will bring them , as the Israelites bring their grain offerings , to the temple of the LORD in ceremonially clean vessels . 66 : 21 And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites , " says the LORD . 66 : 22 " As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me , " declares the LORD , " so will your name and descendants endure . 66 : 23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another , all mankind will come and bow down before me , " says the LORD . Jeremiah 1 : 1 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah , one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin . 1 : 2 The word of the LORD came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah , 1 : 3 and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah , down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah , when the people of Jerusalem went into exile . 1 : 4 The word of the LORD came to me , saying , 1 : 5 " Before I formed you in the womb I knew you , before you were born I set you apart ; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations . " 1 : 6 " Ah , Sovereign LORD , " I said , " I do not know how to speak ; I am only a child . " 1 : 7 But the LORD said to me , " Do not say , ' I am only a child . ' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you . 1 : 8 Do not be afraid of them , for I am with you and will rescue you , " declares the LORD . 1 : 9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me , " Now , I have put my words in your mouth . 1 : 10 See , today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down , to destroy and overthrow , to build and to plant . " 1 : 11 The word of the LORD came to me : " What do you see , Jeremiah ? " " I see the branch of an almond tree , " I replied . 1 : 12 The LORD said to me , " You have seen correctly , for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled . " 1 : 13 The word of the LORD came to me again : " What do you see ? " " I see a boiling pot , tilting away from the north , " I answered . 1 : 14 The LORD said to me , " From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land . 1 : 15 I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms , " declares the LORD . " Their kings will come and set up their thrones in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem ; they will come against all her surrounding walls and against all the towns of Judah . 1 : 16 I will pronounce my judgments on my people because of their wickedness in forsaking me , in burning incense to other gods and in worshiping what their hands have made . 1 : 17 " Get yourself ready ! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you . Do not be terrified by them , or I will terrify you before them . 1 : 18 Today I have made you a fortified city , an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land -- against the kings of Judah , its officials , its priests and the people of the land . 1 : 19 They will fight against you but will not overcome you , for I am with you and will rescue you , " declares the LORD . 2 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 2 : 2 " Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem : "' I remember the devotion of your youth , how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert , through a land not sown . 2 : 3 Israel was holy to the LORD , the firstfruits of his harvest ; all who devoured her were held guilty , and disaster overtook them , '" declares the LORD . 2 : 4 Hear the word of the LORD , O house of Jacob , all you clans of the house of Israel . 2 : 5 This is what the LORD says : " What fault did your fathers find in me , that they strayed so far from me ? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves . 2 : 6 They did not ask , ' Where is the LORD , who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness , through a land of deserts and rifts , a land of drought and darkness , a land where no one travels and no one lives ? ' 2 : 7 I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce . But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable . 2 : 8 The priests did not ask , ' Where is the LORD ? ' Those who deal with the law did not know me ; the leaders rebelled against me . The prophets prophesied by Baal , following worthless idols . 2 : 9 " Therefore I bring charges against you again , " declares the LORD . " And I will bring charges against your children ' s children . 2 : 10 Cross over to the coasts of Kittim and look , send to Kedar and observe closely ; see if there has ever been anything like this : 2 : 11 Has a nation ever changed its gods ? ( Yet they are not gods at all . ) But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols . 2 : 12 Be appalled at this , O heavens , and shudder with great horror , " declares the LORD . 2 : 13 " My people have committed two sins : They have forsaken me , the spring of living water , and have dug their own cisterns , broken cisterns that cannot hold water . 2 : 14 Is Israel a servant , a slave by birth ? Why then has he become plunder ? 2 : 15 Lions have roared ; they have growled at him . They have laid waste his land ; his towns are burned and deserted . 2 : 16 Also , the men of Memphis and Pahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head . 2 : 17 Have you not brought this on yourselves by forsaking the LORD your God when he led you in the way ? 2 : 18 Now why go to Egypt to drink water from the Shihor ? And why go to Assyria to drink water from the River ? 2 : 19 Your wickedness will punish you ; your backsliding will rebuke you . Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me , " declares the Lord , the LORD Almighty . 2 : 20 " Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds ; you said , ' I will not serve you ! ' Indeed , on every high hill and under every spreading tree you lay down as a prostitute . 2 : 21 I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock . How then did you turn against me into a corrupt , wild vine ? 2 : 22 Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap , the stain of your guilt is still before me , " declares the Sovereign LORD . 2 : 23 " How can you say , ' I am not defiled ; I have not run after the Baals '? See how you behaved in the valley ; consider what you have done . You are a swift she - camel running here and there , 2 : 24 a wild donkey accustomed to the desert , sniffing the wind in her craving -- in her heat who can restrain her ? Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves ; at mating time they will find her . 2 : 25 Do not run until your feet are bare and your throat is dry . But you said , ' It ' s no use ! I love foreign gods , and I must go after them . ' 2 : 26 " As a thief is disgraced when he is caught , so the house of Israel is disgraced -- they , their kings and their officials , their priests and their prophets . 2 : 27 They say to wood , ' You are my father , ' and to stone , ' You gave me birth . ' They have turned their backs to me and not their faces ; yet when they are in trouble , they say , ' Come and save us ! ' 2 : 28 Where then are the gods you made for yourselves ? Let them come if they can save you when you are in trouble ! For you have as many gods as you have towns , O Judah . 2 : 29 " Why do you bring charges against me ? You have all rebelled against me , " declares the LORD . 2 : 30 " In vain I punished your people ; they did not respond to correction . Your sword has devoured your prophets like a ravening lion . 2 : 31 " You of this generation , consider the word of the LORD : " Have I been a desert to Israel or a land of great darkness ? Why do my people say , ' We are free to roam ; we will come to you no more '? 2 : 32 Does a maiden forget her jewelry , a bride her wedding ornaments ? Yet my people have forgotten me , days without number . 2 : 33 How skilled you are at pursuing love ! Even the worst of women can learn from your ways . 2 : 34 on your clothes men find the lifeblood of the innocent poor , though you did not catch them breaking in . Yet in spite of all this 2 : 35 you say , ' I am innocent ; he is not angry with me . ' But I will pass judgment on you because you say , ' I have not sinned . ' 2 : 36 Why do you go about so much , changing your ways ? You will be disappointed by Egypt as you were by Assyria . 2 : 37 You will also leave that place with your hands on your head , for the LORD has rejected those you trust ; you will not be helped by them . 3 : 1 " If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man , should he return to her again ? Would not the land be completely defiled ? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers -- would you now return to me ? " declares the LORD . 3 : 2 " Look up to the barren heights and see . Is there any place where you have not been ravished ? By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers , sat like a nomad in the desert . You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness . 3 : 3 Therefore the showers have been withheld , and no spring rains have fallen . Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute ; you refuse to blush with shame . 3 : 4 Have you not just called to me : ' My Father , my friend from my youth , 3 : 5 will you always be angry ? Will your wrath continue forever ? ' This is how you talk , but you do all the evil you can . " 3 : 6 During the reign of King Josiah , the LORD said to me , " Have you seen what faithless Israel has done ? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there . 3 : 7 I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not , and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it . 3 : 8 I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries . Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear ; she also went out and committed adultery . 3 : 9 Because Israel ' s immorality mattered so little to her , she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood . 3 : 10 In spite of all this , her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart , but only in pretense , " declares the LORD . 3 : 11 The LORD said to me , " Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah . 3 : 12 Go , proclaim this message toward the north : "' Return , faithless Israel , ' declares the LORD , ' I will frown on you no longer , for I am merciful , ' declares the LORD , ' I will not be angry forever . 3 : 13 only acknowledge your guilt -- you have rebelled against the LORD your God , you have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every spreading tree , and have not obeyed me , '" declares the LORD . 3 : 14 " Return , faithless people , " declares the LORD , " for I am your husband . I will choose you -- one from a town and two from a clan -- and bring you to Zion . 3 : 15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart , who will lead you with knowledge and understanding . 3 : 16 In those days , when your numbers have increased greatly in the land , " declares the LORD , " men will no longer say , ' The ark of the covenant of the LORD . ' It will never enter their minds or be remembered ; it will not be missed , nor will another one be made . 3 : 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD , and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD . No loncer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts . 3 : 18 In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel , and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an inheritance . 3 : 19 " I myself said , "' How gladly would I treat you like sons and give you a desirable land , the most beautiful inheritance of any nation . ' I thought you would call me ' Father ' and not turn away from following me . 3 : 20 But like a woman unfaithful to her husband , so you have been unfaithful to me , O house of Israel , " declares the LORD . 3 : 21 A cry is heard on the barren heights , the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel , because they have perverted their ways and have forgotten the LORD their God . 3 : 22 " Return , faithless people ; I will cure you of backsliding . " " Yes , we will come to you , for you are the LORD our God . 3 : 23 Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception ; surely in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel . 3 : 24 From our youth shameful gods have consumed the fruits of our fathers ' labor -- their flocks and herds , their sons and daughters . 3 : 25 Let us lie down in our shame , and let our disgrace cover us . We have sinned against the LORD our God , both we and our fathers ; from our youth till this day we have not obeyed the LORD our God . " 4 : 1 " If you will return , O Israel , return to me , " declares the LORD . " If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray , 4 : 2 and if in a truthful , just and righteous way you swear , ' As surely as the LORD lives , ' then the nations will be blessed by him and in him they will glory . " 4 : 3 This is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem : " Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns . 4 : 4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD , circumcise your hearts , you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem , or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done -- burn with no one to quench it . 4 : 5 " Announce in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say : ' Sound the trumpet throughout the land ! ' Cry aloud and say : ' Gather together ! Let us flee to the fortified cities ! ' 4 : 6 Raise the signal to go to Zion ! Flee for safety without delay ! For I am bringing disaster from the north , even terrible destruction . " 4 : 7 A lion has come out of his lair ; a destroyer of nations has set out . He has left his place to lay waste your land . Your towns will lie in ruins without inhabitant . 4 : 8 So put on sackcloth , lament and wail , for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us . 4 : 9 " In that day , " declares the LORD , " the king and the officials will lose heart , the priests will be horrified , and the prophets will be appalled . " 4 : 10 Then I said , " Ah , Skvereign LORD , how completely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying , ' You will have peace , ' when the sword is at our throats . " 4 : 11 At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told , " A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people , but not to winnow or cleanse ; 4 : 12 a wind too strong for that comes from me . Now I pronounce my judgments against them . " 4 : 13 Look ! He advances like the clouds , his chariots come like a whirlwind , his horses are swifter than eagles . Woe to us ! We are ruined ! 4 : 14 O Jerusalem , wash the evil from your heart and be saved . How long will you harbor wicked thoughts ? 4 : 15 A voice is announcing from Dan , proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim . 4 : 16 " Tell this to the nations , proclaim it to Jerusalem : ' A besieging army is coming from a distant land , raising a war cry against the cities of Judah . 4 : 17 They surround her like men guarding a field , because she has rebelled against me , '" declares the LORD . 4 : 18 " Your own conduct and actions have brought this upon you . This is your punishment . How bitter it is ! How it pierces to the heart ! " 4 : 19 Oh , my anguish , my anguish ! I writhe in pain . Oh , the agony of my heart ! My heart pounds within me , I cannot keep silent . For I have heard the sound of the trumpet ; I have heard the battle cry . 4 : 20 Disaster follows disaster ; the whole land lies in ruins . In an instant my tents are destroyed , my shelter in a moment . 4 : 21 How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the trumpet ? 4 : 22 " My people are fools ; they do not know me . They are senseless children ; they have no understanding . They are skilled in doing evil ; they know not how to do good . " 4 : 23 I looked at the earth , and it was formless and empty ; and at the heavens , and their light was gone . 4 : 24 I looked at the mountains , and they were quaking ; all the hills were swaying . 4 : 25 I looked , and there were no people ; every bird in the sky had flown away . 4 : 26 I looked , and the fruitful land was a desert ; all its towns lay in ruins before the LORD , before his fierce anger . 4 : 27 This is what the LORD says : " The whole land will be ruined , though I will not destroy it completely . 4 : 28 Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above grow dark , because I have spoken and will not relent , I have decided and will not turn back . " 4 : 29 At the sound of horsemen and archers every town takes to flight . Some go into the thickets ; some climb up among the rocks . All the towns are deserted ; no one lives in them . 4 : 30 What are you doing , O devastated one ? Why dress yourself in scarlet and put on jewels of gold ? Why shade your eyes with paint ? You adorn yourself in vain . Your lovers despise you ; they seek your life . 4 : 31 I hear a cry as of a woman in labor , a groan as of one bearing her first child -- the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath , stretching out her hands and saying , " Alas ! I am fainting ; my life is given over to murderers . " 5 : 1 " Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem , look around and consider , search through her squares . If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth , I will forgive this city . 5 : 2 Although they say , ' As surely as the LORD lives , ' still they are swearing falsely . " 5 : 3 O LORD , do not your eyes look for truth ? You struck them , but they felt no pain ; you crushed them , but they refused correction . They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent . 5 : 4 I thought , " These are only the poor ; they are foolish , for they do not know the way of the LORD , the requirements of their God . 5 : 5 So I will go to the leaders and speak to them ; surely they know the way of the LORD , the requirements of their God . " But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke and torn off the bonds . 5 : 6 Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them , a wolf from the desert will ravage them , a leopard will lie in wait near their towns to tear to pieces any who venture out , for their rebellion is great and their backslidings many . 5 : 7 " Why should I forgive you ? Your children have forsaken me and sworn by gods that are not gods . I supplied all their needs , yet they committed adultery and thronged to the houses of prostitutes . 5 : 8 They are well - fed , lusty stallions , each neighing for another man ' s wife . 5 : 9 Should I not punish them for this ? " declares the LORD . " Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this ? 5 : 10 " Go through her vineyards and ravage them , but do not destroy them completely . Strip off her branches , for these people do not belong to the LORD . 5 : 11 The house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me , " declares the LORD . 5 : 12 They have lied about the LORD ; they said , " He will do nothing ! No harm will come to us ; we will never see sword or famine . 5 : 13 The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them ; so let what they say be done to them . " 5 : 14 Therefore this is what the LORD God Almighty says : " Because the people have spoken these words , I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes . 5 : 15 O house of Israel , " declares the LORD , " I am bringing a distant nation against you -- an ancient and enduring nation , a people whose language you do not know , whose speech you do not understand . 5 : 16 Their quivers are like an open grave ; all of them are mighty warriors . 5 : 17 They will devour your harvests and food , devour your sons and daughters ; they will devour your flocks and herds , devour your vines and fig trees . With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust . 5 : 18 " Yet even in those days , " declares the LORD , " I will not destroy you completely . 5 : 19 And when the people ask , ' Why has the LORD our God done all this to us ? ' you will tell them , ' As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land , so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own . ' 5 : 20 " Announce this to the house of Jacob and proclaim it ij Judah : 5 : 21 Hear this , you foolish and senseless people , who have eyes but do not see , who have ears but do not hear : 5 : 22 Should you not fear me ? " declares the LORD . " Should you not tremble in my presence ? I made the sand a boundary for the sea , an everlasting barrier it cannot cross . The waves may roll , but they cannot prevail ; they may roar , but they cannot cross it . 5 : 23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts ; they have turned aside and gone away . 5 : 24 They do not say to themselves , ' Let us fear the LORD our God , who gives autumn and spring rains in season , who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest . ' 5 : 25 Your wrongdoings have kept these away ; your sins have deprived you of good . 5 : 26 " Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait like men who snare birds and like those who set traps to catch men . 5 : 27 Like cages full of birds , their houses are full of deceit ; they have become rich and powerful 5 : 28 and have grown fat and sleek . Their evil deeds have no limit ; they do not plead the case of the fatherless to win it , they do not defend the rights of the poor . 5 : 29 Should I not punish them for this ? " declares the LORD . " Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this ? 5 : 30 " A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land : 5 : 31 The prophets prophesy lies , the priests rule by their own authority , and my people love it this way . But what will you do in the end ? 6 : 1 " Flee for safety , people of Benjamin ! Flee from Jerusalem ! Sound the trumpet in Tekoa ! Raise the signal over Beth Hakkerem ! For disaster looms out of the north , even terrible destruction . 6 : 2 M will destroy the Daughter of Zion , so beautiful and delicate . 6 : 3 Shepherds with their flocks will come against her ; they will pitch their tents around her , each tending his own portion . " 6 : 4 " Prepare for battle against her ! Arise , let us attack at noon ! But , alas , the daylight is fading , and the shadows of evening grow long . 6 : 5 So arise , let us attack at night and destroy her fortresses ! " 6 : 6 This is what the LORD Almighty says : " Cut down the trees and build siege ramps against Jerusalem . This city must be punished ; it is filled with oppression . 6 : 7 As a well pours out its water , so she pours out her wickedness . Violence and destruction resound in her ; her sickness and wounds are ever before me . 6 : 8 Take warning , O Jerusalem , or I will turn away from you and make your land desolate so no one can live in it . " 6 : 9 This is what the LORD Almighty says : " Let them glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine ; pass your hand over the branches again , like one gathering grapes . " 6 : 10 To whom can I speak and give warning ? Who will listen to me ? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear . The word of the LORD is offensive to them ; they find no pleasure in it . 6 : 11 But I am full of the wrath of the LORD , and I cannot hold it in . " Pour it out on the children in the street and on the young men gathered together ; both husband and wife will be caught in it , and the old , those weighed down with years . 6 : 12 Their houses will be turned over to others , together with their fields and their wives , when I stretch out my hand against those who live in the land , " declares the LORD . 6 : 13 " From the least to the greatest , all are greedy for gain ; prophets and priests alike , all practice deceit . 6 : 14 They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious . ' Peace , peace , ' they say , when there is no peace . 6 : 15 Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct ? No , they have no shame at all ; they do not even know how to blush . So they will fall among the fallen ; they will be brought down when I punish them , " says the LORD . 6 : 16 This is what the LORD says : " Stand at the crossroads and look ; ask for the ancient paths , ask where the good way is , and walk in it , and you will find rest for your souls . But you said , ' We will not walk in it . ' 6 : 17 I appointed watchmen over you and said , ' Listen to the sound of the trumpet ! ' But you said , ' We will not listen . ' 6 : 18 Therefore hear , O nations ; observe , O witnesses , what will happen to them . 6 : 19 Hear , O earth : I am bringing disaster on this people , the fruit of their schemes , because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law . 6 : 20 What do I care about incense from Sheba or sweet calamus from a distant land ? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable ; your sacrifices do not please me . " 6 : 21 Therefore this is what the LORD says : " I will put obstacles before this people . Fathers and sons alike will stumble over them ; neighbors and friends will perish . " 6 : 22 This is what the LORD says : " Look , an army is coming from the land of the north ; a great nation is being stirred up from the ends of the earth . 6 : 23 They are armed with bow and spear ; they are cruel and show no mercy . They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses ; they come like men in battle formation to attack you , O Daughter of Zion . " 6 : 24 We have heard reports about them , and our hands hang limp . Anguish has gripped us , pain like that of a woman in labor . 6 : 25 Do not go out to the fields or walk on the roads , for the enemy has a sword , and there is terror on every side . 6 : 26 O my people , put on sackcloth and roll in ashes ; mourn with bitter wailing as for an only son , for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us . 6 : 27 " I have made you a tester of metals and my people the ore , that you may observe and test their ways . 6 : 28 They are all hardened rebels , going about to slander . They are bronze and iron ; they all act corruptly . 6 : 29 The bellows blow fiercely to burn away the lead with fire , but the refining goes on in vain ; the wicked are not purged out . 6 : 30 They are called rejected silver , because the LORD has rejected them . " 7 : 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 7 : 2 " Stand at the gate of the LORD ' S house and there proclaim this message : "' Hear the word of the LORD , all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD . 7 : 3 This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : Reform your ways and your actions , and I will let you live in this place . 7 : 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say , " This is the temple of the LORD , the temple of the LORD , the temple of the LORD ! " 7 : 5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly , 7 : 6 if you do not oppress the alien , the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place , and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm , 7 : 7 then I will let you live in this place , in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever . 7 : 8 But look , you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless . 7 : 9 "' Will you steal and murder , commit adultery and perjury , burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known , 7 : 10 and then come and stand before me in this house , which bears my Name , and say , " We are safe "-- safe to do all these detestable things ? 7 : 11 Has this house , which bears my Name , become a den of robbers to you ? But I have been watching ! declares the LORD . 7 : 12 "' Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name , and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel . 7 : 13 While you were doing all these things , declares the LORD , I spoke to you again and again , but you did not listen ; I called you , but you did not answer . 7 : 14 Therefore , what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name , the temple you trust in , the place I gave to you and your fathers . 7 : 15 I will thrust you from my presence , just as I did all your brothers , the people of Ephraim . ' 7 : 16 " So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them ; do not plead with me , for I will not listen to you . 7 : 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem ? 7 : 18 The children gather wood , the fathers light the fire , and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven . They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger . 7 : 19 But am I the one they are provoking ? declares the LORD . Are they not rather harming themselves , to their own shame ? 7 : 20 "' Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place , on man and beast , on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground , and it will burn and not be quenched . 7 : 21 "' This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : Go ahead , add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves ! 7 : 22 For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them , I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices , 7 : 23 but I gave them this command : Obey me , and I will be your God and you will be my people . Walk in all the ways I command you , that it may go well with you . 7 : 24 But they did not listen or pay attention ; instead , they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts . They went backward and not forward . 7 : 25 From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now , day after day , again and again I sent you my servants the prophets . 7 : 26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention . They were stiff - necked and did more evil than their forefathers . ' 7 : 27 " When you tell them all this , they will not listen to you ; when you call to them , they will not answer . 7 : 28 Therefore say to them , ' This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction . Truth has perished ; it has vanished from their lips . 7 : 29 Cut off your hair and throw it away ; take up a lament on the barren heights , for the LORD has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath . 7 : 30 "' The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes , declares the LORD . They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it . 7 : 31 They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire -- something I did not command , nor did it enter my mind . 7 : 32 So beware , the days are coming , declares the LORD , when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom , but the Valley of Slaughter , for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room . 7 : 33 Then the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth , and there will be no one to frighten them away . 7 : 34 I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem , for the land will become desolate . 8 : 1 "' At that time , declares the LORD , the bones of the kings and officials of Judah , the bones of the priests and prophets , and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves . 8 : 2 They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens , which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped . They will not be gathered up or buried , but will be like refuse lying on the ground . 8 : 3 Wherever I banish them , all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life , declares the LORD Almighty . ' 8 : 4 " Say to them , ' This is what the LORD says : "' When men fall down , do they not get up ? When a man turns away , does he not return ? 8 : 5 Why then have these people turned away ? Why does Jerusalem always turn away ? They cling to deceit ; they refuse to return . 8 : 6 I have listened attentively , but they do not say what is right . No one repents of his wickedness , saying , " What have I done ? " Each pursues his own course like a horse charging into battle . 8 : 7 Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons , and the dove , the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration . But my people do not know the requirements of the LORD . 8 : 8 "' How can you say , " We are wise , for we have the law of the LORD , " when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely ? 8 : 9 The wise will be put to shame ; they will be dismayed and trapped . Since they have rejected the word of the LORD , what kind of wisdom do they have ? 8 : 10 Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners . From the least to the greatest , all are greedy for gain ; prophets and priests alike , all practice deceit . 8 : 11 They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious . " Peace , peace , " they say , when there is no peace . 8 : 12 Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct ? No , they have no shame at all ; they do not even know how to blush . So they will fall among the fallen ; they will be brought down when they are punished , says the LORD . 8 : 13 "' I will take away their harvest , declares the LORD . There will be no grapes on the vine . There will be no figs on the tree , and their leaves will wither . What I have given them will be taken from them . '" 8 : 14 " Why are we sitting here ? Gather together ! Let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there ! For the LORD our God has doomed us to perish and given us poisoned water to drink , because we have sinned against him . 8 : 15 We hoped for peace but no good has come , for a time of healing but there was only terror . 8 : 16 The snorting of the enemy ' s horses is heard from Dan ; at the neighing of their stallions the whole land trembles . They have come to devour the land and everything in it , the city and all who live there . " 8 : 17 " See , I will send venomous snakes among you , vipers that cannot be charmed , and they will bite you , " declares the LORD . 8 : 18 O my Comforter in sorrow , my heart is faint within me . 8 : 19 Listen to the cry of my people from a land far away : " Is the LORD not in Zion ? Is her King no longer there ? " " Why have they provoked me to anger with their images , with their worthless foreign idols ? " 8 : 20 " The harvest is past , the summer has ended , and we are not saved . " 8 : 21 Since my people are crushed , I am crushed ; I mourn , and horror grips me . 8 : 22 Is there no balm in Gilead ? Is there no physician there ? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people ? 9 : 1 Oh , that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears ! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people . 9 : 2 Oh , that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers , so that I might leave my people and go away from them ; for they are all adulterers , a crowd of unfaithful people . 9 : 3 " They make ready their tongue like a bow , to shoot lies ; it is not by truth that they triumph in the land . They go from one sin to another ; they do not acknowledge me , " declares the LORD . 9 : 4 " Beware of your friends ; do not trust your brothers . For every brother is a deceiver , and every friend a slanderer . 9 : 5 Friend deceives friend , and no one speaks the truth . They have taught their tongues to lie ; they weary themselves with sinning . 9 : 6 You live in the midst of deception ; in their deceit they refuse to ackjowledge me , " declares the LORD . 9 : 7 Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says : " See , I will refine and test them , for what else can I do because of the sin of my people ? 9 : 8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow ; it speaks with deceit . With his mouth each speaks cordially to his neighbor , but in his heart he sets a trap for him . 9 : 9 Should I not punish them for this ? " declares the LORD . " Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this ? " 9 : 10 I will weep and wail for the mountains and take up a lament concerning the desert pastures . They are desolate and untraveled , and the lowing of cattle is not heard . The birds of the air have fled and the animals are gone . 9 : 11 " I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins , a haunt of jackals ; and I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there . " 9 : 12 What man is wise enough to understand this ? Who has been instructed by the LORD and can explain it ? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross ? 9 : 13 The LORD said , " It is because they have forsaken my law , which I set before them ; they have not obeyed me or followed my law . 9 : 14 Instead , they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts ; they have followed the Baals , as their fathers taught them . " 9 : 15 Therefore , this is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : " See , I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water . 9 : 16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their fathers have known , and I will pursue them with the sword until I have destroyed them . " 9 : 17 This is what the LORD Almighty says : " Consider now ! Call for the wailing women to come ; send for the most skillful of them . 9 : 18 Let thei come quickly and wail over us till our eyes overflow with tears and water streams from our eyelids . 9 : 19 The sound of wailing is heard from Zion : ' How ruined we are ! How great is our shame ! We must leave our land because our houses are in ruins . '" 9 : 20 Now , O women , hear the word of the LORD ; open your ears to the words of his mouth . Teach your daughters how to wail ; teach one another a lament . 9 : 21 Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our fortresses ; it has cut off the children from the streets and the young men from the public squares . 9 : 22 Say , " This is what the LORD declares : "' The dead bodies of men will lie like refuse on the open field , like cut grain behind the reaper , with no one to gather them . '" 9 : 23 This is what the LORD says : " Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches , 9 : 24 but let him who boasts boast about this : that he understands and knows me , that I am the LORD , who exercises kindness , justice and righteousness on earth , for in these I delight , " declares the LORD . 9 : 25 " The days are coming , " declares the LORD , " when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh -- 9 : 26 Egypt , Judah , Edom , Ammon , Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places . For all these nations are really uncircumcised , and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart . " 10 : 1 Hear what the LORD says to you , O house of Israel . 10 : 2 This is what the LORD says : " Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky , though the nations are terrified by them . 10 : 3 For the customs of the peoples are worthless ; they cut a tree out of the forest , and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel . 10 : 4 They adorn it with silver and gold ; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter . 10 : 5 Like a scarecrow in a melon patch , their idols cannot speak ; they must be carried because they cannot walk . Do not fear them ; they can do no harm nor can they do any good . " 10 : 6 No one is like you , O LORD ; you are great , and your name is mighty in power . 10 : 7 Who should not revere you , O King of the nations ? This is your due . Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms , there is no one like you . 10 : 8 They are all senseless and foolish ; they are taught by worthless wooden idols . 10 : 9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz . What the craftsman and goldsmith have made is then dressed in blue and purple -- all made by skilled workers . 10 : 10 But the LORD is the true God ; he is the living God , the eternal King . When he is angry , the earth trembles ; the nations cannot endure his wrath . 10 : 11 " Tell them this : ' These gods , who did not make the heavens and the earth , will perish from the earth and from under the heavens . '" 10 : 12 But God made the earth by his power ; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding . 10 : 13 When he thunders , the waters in the heavens roar ; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth . He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses . 10 : 14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge ; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols . His images are a fraud ; they have no breath in them . 10 : 15 They are worthless , the objects of mockery ; when their judgment comes , they will perish . 10 : 16 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these , for he is the Maker of all things , including Israel , the tribe of his inheritance -- the LORD Almighty is his name . 10 : 17 Gather up your belongings to leave the land , you who live under siege . 10 : 18 For this is what the LORD says : " At this time I will hurl out those who live in this land ; I will bring distress on them so that they may be captured . " 10 : 19 Woe to me because of my injury ! My wound is incurable ! Yet I said to myself , " This is my sickness , and I must endure it . " 10 : 20 My tent is destroyed ; all its ropes are snapped . My sons are gone from me and are no more ; no one is left now to pitch my tent or to set up my shelter . 10 : 21 The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the LORD ; so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered . 10 : 22 Listen ! The report is coming -- a great commotion from the land of the north ! It will make the towns of Judah desolate , a haunt of jackals . 10 : 23 I know , O LORD , that a man ' s life is not his own ; it is not for man to direct his steps . 10 : 24 Correct me , LORD , but only with justice -- not in your anger , lest you reduce me to nothing . 10 : 25 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you , on the peoples who do not call on your name . For they have devoured Jacob ; they have devoured him completely and destroyed his homeland . JER 11 : 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 11 : 2 " Listen to the terms of this covenant and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem . 11 : 3 Tell them that this is what the LORD , the God of Israel , says : ' Cursed is the man who does not obey the terms of this covenant -- 11 : 4 the terms I commanded your forefathers when I brought them out of Egypt , out of the iron - smelting furnace . ' I said , ' Obey me and do everything I command you , and you will be my people , and I will be your God . 11 : 5 Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your forefathers , to give them a land flowing with milk and honey '-- the land you possess today . " I answered , " Amen , LORD . " 11 : 6 The LORD said to me , " Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem : ' Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow them . 11 : 7 From the time I brought your forefathers up from Egypt until today , I warned them again and again , saying , " Obey me . " 11 : 8 But they did not listen or pay attention ; instead , they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts . So I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep . '" 11 : 9 Then the LORD said to me , " There is a conspiracy among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem . 11 : 10 They have returned to the sins of their forefathers , who refused to listen to my words . They have followed other gods to serve them . Both the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their forefathers . 11 : 11 Therefore this is what the LORD says : ' I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape . Although they cry out to me , I will not listen to them . 11 : 12 The towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense , but they will not help them at all when disaster strikes . 11 : 13 You have as many gods as you have towns , O Judah ; and the altars you have set up to burn incense to that shameful god Baal are as many as the streets of Jerusalem . ' 11 : 14 " Do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them , because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress . 11 : 15 " What is my beloved doing in my temple as she works out her evil schemes with many ? Can consecrated meat avert your punishment ? When you engage in your wickedness , then you rejoice . " 11 : 16 The LORD called you a thriving olive tree with fruit beautiful in form . But with the roar of a mighty storm he will set it on fire , and its branches will be broken . 11 : 17 The LORD Almighty , who planted you , has decreed disaster for you , because the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done evil and provoked me to anger by burning incense to Baal . 11 : 18 Because the LORD revealed their plot to me , I knew it , for at that time he showed me what they were doing . 11 : 19 I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter ; I did not realize that they had plotted against me , saying , " Let us destroy the tree and its fruit ; let us cut him off from the land of the living , that his jame be remembered no more . " 11 : 20 But , O LORD Almighty , you who judge righteously and test the heart and mind , let me see your vengeance upon them , for to you I have committed my cause . 11 : 21 " Therefore this is what the LORD says about the men of Anathoth who are seeking your life and saying , ' Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD or you will die by our hands '-- 11 : 22 therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says : ' I will punish them . Their young men will die by the sword , their sons and daughters by famine . 11 : 23 Not even a remnant will be left to them , because I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth in the year of their punishment . '" 12 : 1 You are always righteous , O LORD , when I bring a case before you . Yet I would speak with you about your justice : Why does the way of the wicked prosper ? Why do all the faithless live at ease ? 12 : 2 You have planted them , and they have taken root ; they grow and bear fruit . You are always on their lips but far from their hearts . 12 : 3 Yet you know me , O LORD ; you see me and test my thoughts about you . Drag them off like sheep to be butchered ! Set them apart for the day of slaughter ! 12 : 4 How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered ? Because those who live in it are wicked , the animals and birds have perished . Moreover , the people are saying , " He will not see what happens to us . " 12 : 5 " If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out , how can you compete with horses ? If you stumble in safe country , how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan ? 12 : 6 Your brothers , your own family -- even they have betrayed you ; they have raised a loud cry against you . Do not trust them , though they speak well of you . 12 : 7 " I will forsake my house , abandon my inheritance ; I will give the one I love into the hands of her enemies . 12 : 8 My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest . She roars at me ; therefore I hate her . 12 : 9 Has not my inheritance become to me like a speckled bird of prey that other birds of prey surround and attack ? Go and gather all the wild beasts ; bring them to devour . 12 : 10 Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard and trample down my field ; they will turn my pleasant field into a desolate wasteland . 12 : 11 It will be made a wasteland , parched and desolate before me ; the whole land will be laid waste because there is no one who cares . 12 : 12 Over all the barren heights in the desert destroyers will swarm , for the sword of the LORD will devour from one end of the land to the other ; no one will be safe . 12 : 13 They will sow wheat but reap thorns ; they will wear themselves out but gain nothing . So bear the shame of your harvest because of the LORD ' S fierce anger . " 12 : 14 This is what the LORD says : " As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel , I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them . 12 : 15 But after I uproot them , I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to his own inheritance and his own country . 12 : 16 And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name , saying , ' As surely as the LORD lives '-- even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal -- then they will be established among my people . 12 : 17 But if any nation does not listen , I will completely uproot and destroy it , " declares the LORD . 13 : 1 This is what the LORD said to me : " Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist , but do not let it touch water . " 13 : 2 So I bought a belt , as the LORD directed , and put it around my waist . 13 : 3 Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time : 13 : 4 " Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist , and go now to Perath and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks . " 13 : 5 So I went and hid it at Perath , as the LORD told me . 13 : 6 Many days later the LORD said to me , " Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there . " 13 : 7 So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it , but now it was ruined and completely useless . 13 : 8 Then the word of the LORD came to me : 13 : 9 " This is what the LORD says : ' In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem . 13 : 10 These wicked people , who refuse to listen to my words , who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them , will be like this belt -- completely useless ! 13 : 11 For as a belt is bound around a man ' s waist , so I bound the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to me , ' declares the LORD , ' to be my people for my renown and praise and honor . But they have not listened . ' 13 : 12 " Say to them : ' This is what the LORD , the God of Israel , says : Every wineskin should be filled with wine . ' And if they say to you , ' Don ' t we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine ? ' 13 : 13 then tell them , ' This is what the LORD says : I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land , including the kings who sit on David ' s throne , the priests , the prophets and all those living in Jerusalem . 13 : 14 I will smash them one against the other , fathers and sons alike , declares the LORD . I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them . '" 13 : 15 Hear and pay attention , do not be arrogant , for the LORD has spoken . 13 : 16 Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings the darkness , before your feet stumble on the darkening hills . You hope for light , but he will turn it to thick darkness and change it to deep gloom . 13 : 17 But if you do not listen , I will weep in secret because of your pride ; my eyes will weep bitterly , overflowing with tears , because the LORD ' S flock will be taken captive . 13 : 18 Say to the king and to the queen mother , " Come down from your thrones , for your glorious crowns will fall from your heads . " 13 : 19 The cities in the Negev will be shut up , and there will be no one to open them . All Judah will be carried into exile , carried completely away . 13 : 20 Lift up your eyes and see those who are coming from the north . Where is the flock that was entrusted to you , the sheep of which you boasted ? 13 : 21 What will you say when the LORD sets over you those you cultivated as your special allies ? Will not pain grip you like that of a woman in labor ? 13 : 22 And if you ask yourself , " Why has this happened to me ? "-- it is because of your many sins that your skirts have been torn off and your body mistreated . 13 : 23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots ? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil . 13 : 24 " I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind . 13 : 25 This is your lot , the portion I have decreed for you , " declares the LORD , " because you have forgotten me and trusted in false gods . 13 : 26 I will pull up your skirts over your face that your shame may be seen -- 13 : 27 your adulteries and lustful neighings , your shameless prostitution ! I have seen your detestable acts on the hills and in the fields . Woe to you , O Jerusalem ! How long will you be unclean ? " 14 : 1 This is the word of the LORD to Jeremiah concerning the drought : 14 : 2 " Judah mourns , her cities languish ; they wail for the land , and a cry goes up from Jerusalem . 14 : 3 The nobles send their servants for water ; they go to the cisterns but find no water . They return with their jars unfilled ; dismayed and despairing , they cover their heads . 14 : 4 The ground is cracked because there is no rain in the land ; the farmers are dismayed and cover their heads . 14 : 5 Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass . 14 : 6 Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals ; their eyesight fails for lack of pasture . " 14 : 7 Although our sins testify against us , O LORD , do something for the sake of your name . For our backsliding is great ; we have sinned against you . 14 : 8 O Hope of Israel , its Savior in times of distress , why are you like a stranger in the land , like a traveler who stays only a night ? 14 : 9 Why are you like a man taken by surprise , like a warrior powerless to save ? You are among us , O LORD , and we bear your name ; do not forsake us ! 14 : 10 This is what the LORD says about this people : " They greatly love to wander ; they do not restrain their feet . So the LORD does not accept them ; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins . " 14 : 11 Then the LORD said to me , " Do not pray for the well - being of this people . 14 : 12 Although they fast , I will not listen to their cry ; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings , I will not accept them . Instead , I will destroy them with the sword , famine and plague . " 14 : 13 But I said , " Ah , Sovereign LORD , the prophets keep telling them , ' You will not see the sword or suffer famine . Indeed , I will give you lasting peace in this place . '" 14 : 14 Then the LORD said to me , " The prophets are prophesying lies in my name . I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them . They are prophesying to you false visions , divinations , idolatries and the delusions of their own minds . 14 : 15 Therefore , this is what the LORD says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name : I did not send them , yet they are saying , ' No sword or famine will touch this land . ' Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine . 14 : 16 And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem becaqse of the famine and sword . There will be no one to bury them or their wives , their sons or their daughters . I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve . 14 : 17 " Speak this word to them : "' Let my eyes overflow with tears night and day without ceasing ; for my virgin daughter -- my people -- has suffered a grievous wound , a crushing blow . 14 : 18 If I go into the country , I see those slain by the sword ; if I go into the city , I see the ravages of famine . Both prophet and priest have gone to a land they know not . '" 14 : 19 Have you rejected Judah completely ? Do you despise Zion ? Why have you afflicted us so that we cannot be healed ? We hoped for peace but no good has come , for a time of healing but there is only terror . 14 : 20 O LORD , we acknowledge our wickedness and the guilt of our fathers ; we have indeed sinned against you . 14 : 21 For the sake of your name do not despise us ; do not dishonor your glorious throne . Remember your covenant with us and do not break it . 14 : 22 Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain ? Do the skies themselves send down showers ? No , it is you , O LORD our God . Therefore our hope is in you , for you are the one who does all this . 15 : 1 Then the LORD said to me : " Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me , my heart would not go out to this people . Send them away from my presence ! Let them go ! 15 : 2 And if they ask you , ' Where shall we go ? ' tell them , ' This is what the LORD says : "' Those destined for death , to death ; those for the sword , to the sword ; those for starvation , to starvation ; those for captivity , to captivity . ' 15 : 3 " I will send four kinds of destroyers against them , " declares the LORD , " the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy . 15 : 4 I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jarusalem . 15 : 5 " Who will have pity on you , O Jerusalem ? Who will mourn for you ? Who will stop to ask how you are ? 15 : 6 You have rejected me , " declares the LORD . " You keep on backsliding . So I will lay hands on you and destroy you ; I can no longer show compassion . 15 : 7 I will winnow them with a winnowing fork at the city gates of the land . I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people , for they have not changed their ways . 15 : 8 I will make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea . At midday I will bring a destroyer against the mothers of their young men ; suddenly I will bring down on them anguish and terror . 15 : 9 The mother of seven will grow faint and breathe her last . Her sun will set while it is still day ; she will be disgraced and humiliated . I will put the survivors to the sword before their enemies , " declares the LORD . 15 : 10 Alas , my mother , that you gave me birth , a man with whom the whole land strives and contends ! I have neither lent nor borrowed , yet everyone curses me . 15 : 11 The LORD said , " Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose ; surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress . 15 : 12 " Can a man break iron -- iron from the north -- or bronze ? 15 : 13 Your wealth and your treasures I will give as plunder , without charge , because of all your sins throughout your country . 15 : 14 I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know , for my anger will kindle a fire that will burn against you . " 15 : 15 You understand , O LORD ; remember me and care for me . Avenge me on my persecutors . You are long - suffering -- do not take me away ; think of how I suffer reproach for your sake . 15 : 16 When your words came , I ate them ; they were my joy and my heart ' s delight , for I bear your name , O LORD God Almighty . 15 : 17 I never sat in the company of revelers , never made merry with them ; I sat alone because your hand was on me and you had filled me with indignation . 15 : 18 Why is my pain unending and my wound grievous and incurable ? Will you be to me like a deceptive brook , like a spring that fails ? 15 : 19 Therefore this is what the LORD says : " If you repent , I will restore you that you may serve me ; if you utter worthy , not worthless , words , you will be my spokesman . Let this people turn to you , but you must not turn to them . 15 : 20 I will make you a wall to this people , a fortified wall of bronze ; they will fight against you but will not overcome you , for I am with you to rescue and save you , " declares the LORD . 15 : 21 " I will save you from the hands of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the cruel . " 16 : 1 Then the word of the LORD came to me : 16 : 2 " You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place . " 16 : 3 For this is what the LORD says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers : 16 : 4 " They will die of deadly diseases . They will not be mourned or buried but will be like refuse lying on the ground . They will perish by sword and famine , and their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth . " 16 : 5 For this is what the LORD says : " Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal ; do not go to mourn or show sympathy , because I have withdrawn my blessing , my love and my pity from this people , " declares the LORD . 16 : 6 " Both high and low will die in this land . They will not be buried or mourned , and no one will cut himself or shave his head for them . 16 : 7 No one will offer food to comfort those who mourn for the dead -- not even for a father or a mother -- nor will anyone give them a drink to console them . 16 : 8 " And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink . 16 : 9 For this is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in this place . 16 : 10 " When you tell these people all this and they ask you , ' Why has the LORD decreed such a great disaster against us ? What wrong have we done ? What sin have we committed against the LORD our God ? ' 16 : 11 then say to them , ' It is because your fathers forsook me , ' declares the LORD , ' and followed other gods and served and worshiped them . They forsook me and did not keep my law . 16 : 12 But you have behaved more wickedly than your fathers . See how each of you is following the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying me . 16 : 13 So I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your fathers have known , and there you will serve other gods day and night , for I will show you no favor . ' 16 : 14 " However , the days are coming , " declares the LORD , " when men will no longer say , ' As surely as the LORD lives , who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt , ' 16 : 15 but they will say , ' As surely as the LORD lives , who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them . ' For I will restore them to the land I gave their forefathers . 16 : 16 " But now I will send for many fishermen , " declares the LORD , " and they will catch them . After that I will send for many hunters , and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks . 16 : 17 My eyes are on all their ways ; they are not hidden from me , nor is their sin concealed from my eyes . 16 : 18 I will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin , because they have defiled my land with the lifeless forms of their vile images and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols . " 16 : 19 O LORD , my strength and my fortress , my refuge in time of distress , to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say , " Our fathers possessed nothing but false gods , worthless idols that did them no good . 16 : 20 Do men make their own gods ? Yes , but they are not gods ! " 16 : 21 " Therefore I will teach them -- this time I will teach them my power and might . Then they will know that my name is the LORD . 17 : 1 " Judah ' s sin is engraved with an iron tool , inscribed with a flint point , on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars . 17 : 2 Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles beside the spreading trees and on the high hills . 17 : 3 My mountain in the land and your wealth and all your treasures I will give away as plunder , together with your high places , because of sin throughout your country . 17 : 4 Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you . I will enshave you to your enemies in a land you do not know , for you have kindled my anger , and it will burn forever . " 17 : 5 This is what the LORD says : " Cursed is the one who trusts in man , who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD . 17 : 6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands ; he will not see prosperity when it comes . He will dwell in the parched places of the desert , in a salt land where no one lives . 17 : 7 " But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD , whose confidence is in him . 17 : 8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream . It does not fear when heat comes ; its leaves are always green . It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit . " 17 : 9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure . Who can understand it ? 17 : 10 " I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind , to reward a man according to his conduct , according to what his deeds deserve . " 17 : 11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay is the man who gains riches by unjust means . When his life is half gone , they will desert him , and in the end he will prove to be a fool . 17 : 12 A glorious throne , exalted from the beginning , is the place of our sanctuary . 17 : 13 O LORD , the hope of Israel , all who forsake you will be put to shame . Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD , the spring of living water . 17 : 14 Heal me , O LORD , and I will be healed ; save me and I will be saved , for you are the one I praise . 17 : 15 They keep saying to me , " Where is the word of the LORD ? Let it now be fulfilled ! " 17 : 16 I have not run away from being your shepherd ; you know I have not desired the day of despair . What passes my lips is open before you . 17 : 17 Do not be a terror to me ; you are my refuge in the day of disaster . 17 : 18 Let my persecutors be put to shame , but keep me from shame ; let them be terrified , but keep me from terror . Bring on them the day of disaster ; destroy them with double destruction . 17 : 19 This is what the LORD said to me : " Go and stand at the gate of the people , through which the kings of Judah go in and out ; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem . 17 : 20 Say to them , ' Hear the word of the LORD , O kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem who come through these gates . 17 : 21 This is what the LORD says : Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem . 17 : 22 Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath , but keep the Sabbath day holy , as I commanded your forefathers . 17 : 23 Yet they did not listen or pay attention ; they were stiff - necked and would not listen or respond to discipline . 17 : 24 But if you are careful to obey me , declares the LORD , and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath , but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it , 17 : 25 then kings who sit on David ' s throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials . They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses , accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem , and this city will be inhabited forever . 17 : 26 People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem , from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills , from the hill country and the Negev , bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices , grain offerings , incense and thank offerings to the house of the LORD . 17 : 27 But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day , then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses . '" 18 : 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 18 : 2 " Go down to the potter ' s house , and there I will give you my message . " 18 : 3 So I went down to the potter ' s house , and I saw him working at the wheel . 18 : 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands ; so the potter formed it into another pot , shaping it as seemed best to him . 18 : 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me : 18 : 6 " O house of Israel , can I not do with you as this potter does ? " declares the LORD . " Like clay in the hand of the potter , so are you in my hand , O house of Israel . 18 : 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted , torn down and destroyed , 18 : 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil , then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned . 18 : 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted , 18 : 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me , then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it . 18 : 11 " Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem , ' This is what the LORD says : Look ! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you . So turn from your evil ways , each one of you , and reform your ways and your actions . ' 18 : 12 But they will reply , ' It ' s no use . We will continue with our own plans ; each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart . '" 18 : 13 Therefore this is what the LORD says : " Inquire among the nations : Who has ever heard anything like this ? A most horrible thing has been done by Virgin Israel . 18 : 14 Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes ? Do its cool waters from distant sources ever cease to flow ? 18 : 15 Yet my people have forgotten me ; they burn incense to worthless idols , which made them stumble in their ways and in the ancient paths . They made them walk in bypaths and on roads not built up . 18 : 16 Their land will be laid waste , an object of lasting scorn ; all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads . 18 : 17 Like a wind from the east , I will scatter them before their enemies ; I will show them my back and not my face in the day of their disaster . " 18 : 18 They said , " Come , let ' s make plans against Jeremiah ; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not be lost , nor will counsel from the wise , nor the word from the prophets . So come , let ' s attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says . " 18 : 19 Listen to me , O LORD ; hear what my accusers are saying ! 18 : 20 Should good be repaid with evil ? Yet they have dug a pit for me . Remember that I stood before you and spoke in their behalf to turn your wrath away from them . 18 : 21 So give their children over to famine ; hand them over to the power of the sword . Let their wives be made childless an ` widows ; let their men be put to death , their young men slain by the sword in battle . 18 : 22 Let a cry be heard from their houses when you suddenly bring invaders against them , for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet . 18 : 23 But you know , O LORD , all their plots to kill me . Do not forgive their crimes or blot out their sins from your sight . Let them be overthrown before you ; deal with them in the time of your anger . 19 : 1 This is what the LORD says : " Go and buy a clay jar from a potter . Take along some of the elders of the people and of the priests 19 : 2 and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom , near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate . There proclaim the words I tell you , 19 : 3 and say , ' Hear the word of the LORD , O kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem . This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : Listen ! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle . 19 : 4 For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods ; they have burned sacrifices in it to gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah ever knew , and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent . 19 : 5 They have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as offerings to Baal -- something I did not command or mention , nor did it enter my mind . 19 : 6 So beware , the days are coming , declares the LORD , when people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom , but the Valley of Slaughter . 19 : 7 "' In this place I will ruin the plajs of Judah and Jerusalem . I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies , at the hands of those who seek their lives , and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth . 19 : 8 I will devastate this city and make it an object of scorn ; all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds . 19 : 9 I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters , and they will eat one another ' s flesh during the stress of the siege imposed on them by the enemies who seek their lives . ' 19 : 10 " Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching , 19 : 11 and say to them , ' This is what the LORD Almighty says : I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter ' s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired . They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room . 19 : 12 This is what I will do to this place and to those who live here , declares the LORD . I will make this city like Topheth . 19 : 13 The houses in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will be defiled like this place , Topheth -- all the houses where they burned incense on the roofs to all the starry hosts and poured out drink offerings to other gods . '" 19 : 14 Jeremiah then returned from Topheth , where the LORD had sent him to prophesy , and stood in the court of the LORD ' S temple and said to all the people , 19 : 15 " This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : ' Listen ! I am going to bring on this city and the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them , because they were stiff - necked and would not listen to my words . '" 20 : 1 When the priest Pashhur son of Immer , the chief officer in the temple of the LORD , heard Jeremiah prophesying these things , 20 : 2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the LORD ' S temple . 20 : 3 The next day , when Pashhur released him from the stocks , Jeremiah said to him , " The LORD ' S name for you is not Pashhur , but Magor - Missabib . 20 : 4 For this is what the LORD says : ' I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends ; with your own eyes you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies . I will hand all Judah over to the king of Babylon , who will carry them away to Babylon or put them to the sword . 20 : 5 I will hand over to their enemies all the wealth of this city -- all its products , all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah . They will take it away as plunder and carry it off to Babylon . 20 : 6 And you , Pashhur , and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon . There you will die and be buried , you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies . '" 20 : 7 O LORD , you deceived me , and I was deceived ; you overpowered me and prevailed . I am ridiculed all day long ; everyone mocks me . 20 : 8 Whenever I speak , I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction . So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long . 20 : 9 But if I say , " I will not mention him or speak any more in his name , " his word is in my heart like a fire , a fire shut up in my bones . I am weary of holding it in ; indeed , I cannot . 20 : 10 I hear many whispering , " Terror on every side ! Report him ! Let ' s report him ! " All my friends are waiting for me to slip , saying , " Perhaps he will be deceived ; then we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him . " 20 : 11 But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior ; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail . They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced ; their dishonor will never be forgotten . 20 : 12 O LORD Almighty , you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind , let me see your vengeance upon them , for to you I have committed my cause . 20 : 13 Sing to the LORD ! Give praise to the LORD ! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked . 20 : 14 Cursed be the day I was born ! May the day my mother bore me not be blessed ! 20 : 15 Cursed be the man who brought my father the news , who made him very glad , saying , " A child is born to you -- a son ! " 20 : 16 May that man be like the towns the LORD overthrew without pity . May he hear wailing in the morning , a battle cry at noon . 20 : 17 For he did not kill me in the womb , with my mother as my grave , her womb enlarged forever . 20 : 18 Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame ? JER 21 : 1 The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah . They said : 21 : 2 " Inquire now of the LORD for us because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is attacking us . Perhaps the LORD will perform wonders for us as in times past so that he will withdraw from us . " 21 : 3 But Jeremiah answered them , " Tell Zedekiah , 21 : 4 ' This is what the LORD , the God of Israel , says : I am about to turn against you the weapons of war that are in your hands , which you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are outside the wall besieging you . And I will gather them inside this city . 21 : 5 I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm in anger and fury and great wrath . 21 : 6 I will strike down those who live in this city -- both men and animals -- and they will die of a terrible plague . 21 : 7 After that , declares the LORD , I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah , his officials and the people in this city who survive the plague , sword and famine , to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who seek their lives . He will put them to the sword ; he will show them no mercy or pity or compassion . ' 21 : 8 " Furthermore , tell the people , ' This is what the LORD says : See , I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death . 21 : 9 Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword , famine or plague . But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live ; he will escape with his life . 21 : 10 I have determined to do this city harm and not good , declares the LORD . It will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon , and he will destroy it with fire . ' 21 : 11 " Moreover , say to the royal house of Judah , ' Hear the word of the LORD ; 21 : 12 O house of David , this is what the LORD says : "' Administer justice every morning ; rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed , or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done -- burn with no one to quench it . 21 : 13 I am against you , Jerusalem , you who liva above this valley on the rocky plateau , declares the LORD -- you who say , " Who can come against us ? Who can enter our refuge ? " 21 : 14 I will punish you as your deeds deserve , declares the LORD . I will kindle a fire in your forests that will consume everything around you . '" 22 : 1 This is what the LORD says : " Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there : 22 : 2 ' Hear the word of the LORD , O king of Judah , you who sit on David ' s throne -- you , your officials and your people who come through these gates . 22 : 3 This is what the LORD says : Do what is just and right . Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed . Do no wrong or violence to the alien , the fatherless or the widow , and do not shed innocent blood in this place . 22 : 4 For if you are careful to carry out these commands , then kings who sit on David ' s throne will come through the gates of this palace , riding in chariots and on horses , accompanied by their officials and their people . 22 : 5 But if you do not obey these commands , declares the LORD , I swear by myself that this palace will become a ruin . '" 22 : 6 For this is what the LORD says about the palace of the king of Judah : " Though you are like Gilead to me , like the summit of Lebanon , I will surely make you like a desert , like towns not inhabited . 22 : 7 I will send destroyers against you , each man with his weapons , and they will cut up your fine cedar beams and throw them into the fire . 22 : 8 " People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another , ' Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city ? ' 22 : 9 And the answer will be : ' Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have worshiped and served other gods . '" 22 : 10 Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss ; rather , weep bitterly for him who is exiled , because he will never return nor see his native land again . 22 : 11 For this is what the LORD says about Shallum son of Josiah , who succeeded his father as king of Judah but has gone from this place : " He will never return . 22 : 12 He will die in the place where they have led him captive ; he will not see this land again . " 22 : 13 " Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness , his upper rooms by injustice , making his countrymen work for nothing , not paying them for their labor . 22 : 14 He says , ' I will build myself a great palace with spacious upper rooms . ' So he makes large windows in it , panels it with cedar and decorates it in red . 22 : 15 " Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar ? Did not your father have food and drink ? He did what was right and just , so all went well with him . 22 : 16 He defended the cause of the poor and needy , and so all went well . Is that not what it means to know me ? " declares the LORD . 22 : 17 " But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain , on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion . " 22 : 18 Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah : " They will not mourn for him : ' Alas , my brother ! Alas , my sister ! ' They will not mourn for him : ' Alas , my master ! Alas , his splendor ! ' 22 : 19 He will have the burial of a donkey -- dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem . " 22 : 20 " Go up to Lebanon and cry out , let your voice be heard in Bashan , cry out from Abarim , for all your allies are crushed . 22 : 21 I warned you when you felt secure , but you said , ' I will not listen ! ' This has been your way from your youth ; you have not obeyed me . 22 : 22 The wind will drive all your shepherds away , and your allies will go into exile . Then you will be ashamed and disgraced because of all your wickedness . 22 : 23 You who live in ' Lebanon , ' who are nestled in cedar buildings , how you will groan when pangs come upon you , pain like that of a woman in labor ! 22 : 24 " As surely as I live , " declares the LORD , " even if you , Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah , were a signet ring on my right hand , I would still pull you off . 22 : 25 I will hand you over to those who seek your life , those you fear -- to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Babylonians . 22 : 26 I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country , where neither of you was born , and there you both will die . 22 : 27 You will never come back to the land you long to return to . " 22 : 28 Is this man Jehoiachin a despised , broken pot , an object no one wants ? Why will he and his children be hurled out , cast into a land they do not know ? 22 : 29 O land , land , land , hear the word of the LORD ! 22 : 30 This is what the LORD says : " Record this man as if childless , a man who will not prosper in his lifetime , for none of his offspring will prosper , none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah . " 23 : 1 " Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture ! " declares the LORD . 23 : 2 Therefore this is what the LORD , the God of Israel , says to the shepherds who tend my people : " Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them , I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done , " declares the LORD . 23 : 3 " I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture , where they will be fruitful and increase in number . 23 : 4 I will place shepherds over them who will tend them , and they will no longer be afraid or terrified , nor will any be missing , " declares the LORD . 23 : 5 " The days are coming , " declares the LORD , " when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch , a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land . 23 : 6 In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety . This is the name by which he will be called : The LORD Our Righteousness . 23 : 7 " So then , the days are coming , " declares the LORD , " when people will no longer say , ' As surely as the LORD lives , who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt , ' 23 : 8 but they will say , ' As surely as the LORD lives , who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them . ' Then they will live in their own land . " 23 : 9 Concerning the prophets : My heart is broken within me ; all my bones tremble . I am like a drunken man , like a man overcome by wine , because of the LORD and his holy words . 23 : 10 The land is full of adulterers ; because of the curse the land lies parched and the pastures in the desert are withered . The prophets follow an evil course and use their power unjustly . 23 : 11 " Both prophet and priest are godless ; even in my temple I find their wickedness , " declares the LORD . 23 : 12 " Therefore their path will become slippery ; they will be banished to darkness and there they will fall . I will bring disaster on them in the year they are punished , " declares the LORD . 23 : 13 " Among the prophets of Samaria I saw this repulsive thing : They prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray . 23 : 14 And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible : They commit adultery and live a lie . They strengthen the hands of evildoers , so that no one turns from his wickedness . They are all like Sodom to me ; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah . " 23 : 15 Therefore , this is what the LORD Almighty says concerning the prophets : " I will make them eat bitter food and drink poisoned water , because from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land . " 23 : 16 This is what the LORD Almighty says : " Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you ; they fill you with false hopes . They speak visions from their own minds , not from the mouth of the LORD . 23 : 17 They keep saying to those who despise me , ' The LORD says : You will have peace . ' And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say , ' No harm will come to you . ' 23 : 18 But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see or to hear his word ? Who has listened and heard his word ? 23 : 19 See , the storm of the LORD will burst out in wrath , a whirlwind swirling down on the heads of the wicked . 23 : 20 The anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart . In days po come you will understand it clearly . 23 : 21 I did not send these prophets , yet they have run with their message ; I did not speak to them , yet they have prophesied . 23 : 22 But if they had stood in my council , they would have proclaimed my words to my people and would have turned them from their evil ways and from their evil deeds . 23 : 23 " Am I only a God nearby , " declares the LORD , " and not a God far away ? 23 : 24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him ? " declares the LORD . " Do not I fill heaven and earth ? " declares the LORD . 23 : 25 " I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name . They say , ' I had a dream ! I had a dream ! ' 23 : 26 How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets , who prophesy the delusions of their own minds ? 23 : 27 They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name , just as their fathers forgot my name through Baal worship . 23 : 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream , but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully . For what has straw to do with grain ? " declares the LORD . 23 : 29 " Is not my word like fire , " declares the LORD , " and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces ? 23 : 30 " Therefore , " declares the LORD , " I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me . 23 : 31 Yes , " declares the LORD , " I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare , ' The LORD declares . ' 23 : 32 Indeed , I am against those who prophesy false dreams , " declares the LORD . " They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies , yet I did not send or appoint them . They do not benefit these people in the least , " declares the LORD . 23 : 33 " When these people , or a prophet or a priest , ask you , ' What is the oracle of the LORD ? ' say to them , ' What oracle ? I will forsake you , declares the LORD . ' 23 : 34 If a prophet or a priest or anyone else claims , ' This is the oracle of the LORD , ' I will punish that man and his household . 23 : 35 This is what each of you keeps on saying to his friend or relative : ' What is the LORD ' S answer ? ' or ' What has the LORD spoken ? ' 23 : 36 But you must not mention ' the oracle of the LORD ' again , because every man ' s own word becomes his oracle and so you distort the words of the living God , the LORD Almighty , our God . 23 : 37 This is what you keep saying to a prophet : ' What is the LORD ' S answer to you ? ' or ' What has the LORD spoken ? ' 23 : 38 Although you claim , ' This is the oracle of the LORD , ' this is what the LORD says : You used the words , ' This is the oracle of the LORD , ' even though I told you that you must not claim , ' This is the oracle of the LORD . ' 23 : 39 Therefore , I will surely forget you and cast you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your fathers . 23 : 40 I will bring upon you everlasting disgrace -- everlasting shame that will not be forgotten . " 24 : 1 After Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials , the craftsmen and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon , the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD . 24 : 2 one basket had very good figs , like those that ripen early ; the other basket had very poor figs , so bad they could not be eaten . 24 : 3 Then the LORD asked me , " What do you see , Jeremiah ? " " Figs , " I answered . " The good ones are very good , but the poor ones are so bad they cannot be eaten . " 24 : 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me : 24 : 5 " This is what the LORD , the God of Israel , says : ' Like these good figs , I regard as good the exiles from Judah , whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians . 24 : 6 My eyes will watch over them for their good , and I will bring them back to this land . I will build them up and not tear them down ; I will plant them and not uproot them . 24 : 7 I will give them a heart to know me , that I am the LORD . They will be my people , and I will be their God , for they will return to me with all their heart . 24 : 8 "' But like the poor figs , which are so bad they cannot be eaten , ' says the LORD , ' so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah , his officials and the survivors from Jerusalem , whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt . 24 : 9 I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth , a reproach and a byword , an object of ridicule and cursing , wherever I banish them . 24 : 10 I will send the sword , famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their fathers . '" 25 : 1 The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah , which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon . 25 : 2 So Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah and to all those living in Jerusalem : 25 : 3 For twenty - three years -- from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day -- the word of the LORD has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again , but you have not listened . 25 : 4 And though the LORD has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again , you have not listened or paid any attention . 25 : 5 They said , " Turn now , each of you , from your evil ways and your evil practices , and you can stay in the land the LORD gave to you and your fathers for ever and ever . 25 : 6 Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them ; do not provoke me to anger with what your hands have made . Then I will not harm you . " 25 : 7 " But you did not listen to me , " declares the LORD , " and you have provoked me with what your hands have made , and you have brought harm to yourselves . " 25 : 8 Therefore the LORD Almighty says this : " Because you have not listened to my words , 25 : 9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon , " declares the LORD , " and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations . I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn , and an everlasting ruin . 25 : 10 I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness , the voices of bride and bridegroom , the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp . 25 : 11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland , and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years . 25 : 12 " But when the seventy years are fulfilled , I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation , the land of the Babylonians , for their guilt , " declares the LORD , " and will make it desolate forever . 25 : 13 I will bring upon that land all the things I have spoken against it , all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations . 25 : 14 They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings ; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands . " 25 : 15 This is what the LORD , the God of Israel , said to me : " Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it . 25 : 16 When they drink it , they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them . " 25 : 17 So I took the cup from the LORD ' S hand and made all the nations to whom he sent me drink it : 25 : 18 Jerusalem and the towns of Judah , its kings and officials , to make them a ruin and an object of horror and scorn and cursing , as they are today ; 25 : 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt , his attendants , his officials and all his people , 25 : 20 and all the foreign people there ; all the kings of Uz ; all the kings of the Philistines ( those of Ashkelon , Gaza , Ekron , and the people left at Ashdod ) ; 25 : 21 Edom , Moab and Ammon ; 25 : 22 all the kings of Tyre and Sidon ; the kings of the coastlands across the sea ; 25 : 23 Dedan , Tema , Buz and all who are in distant places ; 25 : 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign people who live in the desert ; 25 : 25 all the kings of Zimri , Elam and Media ; 25 : 26 and all the kings of the north , near and far , one after the other -- all the kingdoms on the face of the earth . And after all of them , the king of Sheshach will drink it too . 25 : 27 " Then tell them , ' This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : Drink , get drunk and vomit , and fall to rise no more because of the sword I will send among you . ' 25 : 28 But if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink , tell them , ' This is what the LORD Almighty says : You must drink it ! 25 : 29 See , I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that bears my Name , and will you indeed go unpunished ? You will not go unpunished , for I am calling down a sword upon all who live on the earth , declares the LORD Almighty . ' 25 : 30 " Now prophesy all these words against them and say to them : "' The LORD will roar from on high ; he will thunder from his holy dwelling and roar mightily against his land . He will shout like those who tread the grapes , shout against all who live on the earth . 25 : 31 The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth , for the LORD will bring charges against the nations ; he will bring judgment on all mankind and put the wicked to the sword , '" declares the LORD . 25 : 32 This is what the LORD Almighty says : " Look ! Disaster is spreading from nation to nation ; a mighty storm is rising from the ends of the earth . " 25 : 33 At that time those slain by the LORD will be everywhere -- from one end of the earth to the other . They will not be mourned or gathered up or buried , but will be like refuse lying on the ground . 25 : 34 Weep and wail , you shepherds ; roll in the dust , you leaders of the flock . For your time to be slaughtered has come ; you will fall and be shattered like fine pottery . 25 : 35 The shepherds will have nowhere to flee , the leaders of the flock no place to escape . 25 : 36 Hear the cry of the shepherds , the wailing of the leaders of the flock , for the LORD is destroying their pasture . 25 : 37 The peaceful meadows will be laid waste because of the fierce anger of the LORD . 25 : 38 Like a lion he will leave his lair , and their land will become desolate because of the sword of the oppressor and because of the LORD ' S fierce anger . 26 : 1 Early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah , this word came from the LORD : 26 : 2 " This is what the LORD says : Stand in the courtyard of the LORD ' S house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the LORD . Tell them everything I command you ; do not omit a word . 26 : 3 Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way . Then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done . 26 : 4 Say to them , ' This is what the LORD says : If you do not listen to me and follow my law , which I have set before you , 26 : 5 and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets , whom I have sent to you again and again ( though you have not listened ) , 26 : 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth . '" 26 : 7 The priests , the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the LORD . 26 : 8 But as soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say , the priests , the prophets and all the people seized him and said , " You must die ! 26 : 9 Why do you prophesy in the LORD ' S name that this house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted ? " And all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the house of the LORD . 26 : 10 When the officials of Judah heard about these things , they went up from the royal palace to the house of the LORD and took their places at the entrance of the New Gate of the LORD ' S house . 26 : 11 Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and all the people , " This man should be sentenced to death because he has prophesied against this city . You have heard it with your own ears ! " 26 : 12 Then Jeremiah said to all the officials and all the people : " The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the things you have heard . 26 : 13 Now reform your ways and your actions and obey the LORD your God . Then the LORD will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you . 26 : 14 As for me , I am in your hands ; do with me whatever you think is good and right . 26 : 15 Be assured , however , that if you put me to death , you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on those who live in it , for in truth the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing . " 26 : 16 Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets , " This man should not be sentenced to death ! He has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God . " 26 : 17 Some of the elders of the land stepped forward and said to the entire assembly of people , 26 : 18 " Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah . He told all the people of Judah , ' This is what the LORD Almighty says : "' Zion will be plowed like a field , Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble , the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets . ' 26 : 19 " Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else in Judah put him to death ? Did not Hezekiah fear the LORD and seek his favor ? And did not the LORD relent , so that he did not bring the disaster he pronounced against them ? We are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves ! " 26 : 20 ( Now Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim was another man who prophesied in the name of the LORD ; he prophesied the same things against this city and this land as Jeremiah did . 26 : 21 When King Jehoiakim and all his officers and officials heard his words , the king sought to put him to death . But Uriah heard of it and fled in fear to Egypt . 26 : 22 King Jehoiakim , however , sent Elnathan son of Acbor to Egypt , along with some other men . 26 : 23 They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim , who had him struck down with a sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people . ) 26 : 24 Furthermore , Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah , and so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death . 27 : 1 Early in the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah , this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 27 : 2 This is what the LORD said to me : " Make a yoke out of straps and crossbars and put it on your neck . 27 : 3 Then send word to the kings of Edom , Moab , Ammon , Tyre and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah . 27 : 4 Give them a message for their masters and say , ' This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : " Tell this to your masters : 27 : 5 With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it , and I give it to anyone I please . 27 : 6 Now I will hand all your countries over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ; I will make even the wild animals subject to him . 27 : 7 All nations will serve him and his son and his grandson until the time for his land comes ; then many nations and great kings will subjugate him . 27 : 8 "'" If , however , any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke , I will punish that nation with the sword , famine and plague , declares the LORD , until I destroy it by his hand . 27 : 9 So do not listen to your prophets , your diviners , your interpreters of dreams , your mediums or your sorcerers who tell you , ' You will not serve the king of Babylon . ' 27 : 10 They prophesy lies to you that will only serve to remove you far from your lands ; I will banish you and you will perish . 27 : 11 But if any nation will bow its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him , I will let that nation remain in its own land to till it and to live there , declares the LORD . "'" 27 : 12 I gave the same message to Zedekiah king of Judah . I said , " Bow your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon ; serve him and his people , and you will live . 27 : 13 Why will you and your people die by the sword , famine and plague with which the LORD has threatened any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon ? 27 : 14 Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say to you , ' You will not serve the king of Babylon , ' for they are prophesying lies to you . 27 : 15 ' I have not sent them , ' declares the LORD . ' They are prophesying lies in my name . Therefore , I will banish you and you will perish , both you and the prophets who prophesy to you . '" 27 : 16 Then I said to the priests and all these people , " This is what the LORD says : Do not listen to the prophets who say , ' Very soon now the articles from the LORD ' S house will be brought back from Babylon . ' They are prophesying lies to you . 27 : 17 Do not listen to them . Serve the king of Babylon , and you will live . Why should this city become a ruin ? 27 : 18 If they are prophets and have the word of the LORD , let them plead with the LORD Almighty that the furnishings remaining in the house of the LORD and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem not be taken to Babylon . 27 : 19 For this is what the LORD Almighty says about the pillars , the Sea , the movable stands and the other furnishings that are left in this city , 27 : 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away when he carried Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon , along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem -- 27 : 21 yes , this is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says about the things that are left in the house of the LORD and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem : 27 : 22 ' They will be taken to Babylon and there they will remain until the day I come for them , ' declares the LORD . ' Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place . '" 28 : 1 In the fifth month of that same year , the fourth year , early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah , the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur , who was from Gibeon , said to me in the house of the LORD in the presence of the priests and all the people : 28 : 2 " This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : ' I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon . 28 : 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the LORD ' S house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon . 28 : 4 I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon , ' declares the LORD , ' for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon . '" 28 : 5 Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah before the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD . 28 : 6 He said , " Amen ! May the LORD do so ! May the LORD fulfill the words you have prophesied by bringing the articles of the LORD ' S house and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon . 28 : 7 Nevertheless , listen to what I have to say in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people : 28 : 8 From early times the prophets who preceded you and me have prophesied war , disaster and plague against many countries and great kingdoms . 28 : 9 But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the LORD only if his prediction comes true . " 28 : 10 Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it , 28 : 11 and he said before all the people , " This is what the LORD says : ' In the same way will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon off the neck of all the nations within two years . '" At this , the prophet Jeremiah went on his way . 28 : 12 Shortly after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah , the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah : 28 : 13 " Go and tell Hananiah , ' This is what the LORD says : You have broken a wooden yoke , but in its place you will get a yoke of iron . 28 : 14 This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : I will put an iron yoke on the necks of all these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon , and they will serve him . I will even give him control over the wild animals . '" 28 : 15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet , " Listen , Hananiah ! The LORD has not sent you , yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies . 28 : 16 Therefore , this is what the LORD says : ' I am about to remove you from the face of the earth . This very year you are going to die , because you have preached rebellion against the LORD . '" 28 : 17 In the seventh month of that same year , Hananiah the prophet died . 29 : 1 This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests , the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon . 29 : 2 ( This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother , the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem , the craftsmen and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem . ) 29 : 3 He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah , whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon . It said : 29 : 4 This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon : 29 : 5 " Build houses and settle down ; plant gardens and eat what they produce . 29 : 6 Marry and have sons and daughters ; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage , so that they too may have sons and daughters . Increase in number there ; do not decrease . 29 : 7 Also , seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile . Pray to the LORD for it , because if it prospers , you too will prosper . " 29 : 8 Yes , this is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : " Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you . Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have . 29 : 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name . I have not sent them , " declares the LORD . 29 : 10 This is what the LORD says : " When seventy years are completed for Babylon , I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place . 29 : 11 For I know the plans I have for you , " declares the LORD , " plans to prosper you and not to harm you , plans to give you hope and a future . 29 : 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me , and I will listen to you . 29 : 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart . 29 : 14 I will be found by you , " declares the LORD , " and will bring you back from captivity . I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you , " declares the LORD , " and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile . " 29 : 15 You may say , " The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon , " 29 : 16 but this is what the LORD says about the king who sits on David ' s throne and all the people who remain in this city , your countrymen who did not go with you into exile -- 29 : 17 yes , this is what the LORD Almighty says : " I will send the sword , famine and plague against them and I will make them like poor figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten . 29 : 18 I will pursue them with the sword , famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth and an object of cursing and horror , of scorn and reproach , among all the nations where I drive them . 29 : 19 For they have not listened to my words , " declares the LORD , " words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets . And you exiles have not listened either , " declares the LORD . 29 : 20 Therefore , hear the word of the LORD , all you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon . 29 : 21 This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah , who are prophesying lies to you in my name : " I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon , and he will put them to death before your very eyes . 29 : 22 Because of them , all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse : ' The LORD treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab , whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire . ' 29 : 23 For they have done outrageous things in Israel ; they have committed adultery with their neighbors ' wives and in my name have spoken lies , which I did not tell them to do . I know it and am a witness to it , " declares the LORD . 29 : 24 Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite , 29 : 25 " This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem , to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest , and to all the other priesps . You said to Zephaniah , 29 : 26 ' The LORD has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge of the house of the LORD ; you should put any madman who acts like a prophet into the stocks and neck - irons . 29 : 27 So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth , who poses as a prophet among you ? 29 : 28 He has sent this message to us in Babylon : It will be a long time . Therefore build houses and settle down ; plant gardens and eat what they produce . '" 29 : 29 Zephaniah the priest , however , read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet . 29 : 30 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah : 29 : 31 " Send this message to all the exiles : ' This is what the LORD says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite : Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you , even though I did not send him , and has led you to believe a lie , 29 : 32 this is what the LORD says : I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants . He will have no one left among this people , nor will he see the good things I will do for my people , declares the LORD , because he has preached rebellion against me . '" 30 : 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 30 : 2 " This is what the LORD , the God of Israel , says : ' Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you . 30 : 3 The days are coming , ' declares the LORD , ' when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their forefathers to possess , ' says the LORD . " 30 : 4 These are the words the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah : 30 : 5 " This is what the LORD says : "' Cries of fear are heard -- terror , not peace . 30 : 6 Ask and see : Can a man bear children ? Then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor , every face turned deathly pale ? 30 : 7 How awful that day will be ! None will be like it . It will be a time of trouble for Jacob , but he will be saved out of it . 30 : 8 "' In that day , ' declares the LORD Almighty , ' I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds ; no longer will foreigners enslave them . 30 : 9 Instead , they will serve the LORD their God and David their king , whom I will raise up for them . 30 : 10 "' So do not fear , O Jacob my servant ; do not be dismayed , O Israel , ' declares the LORD . ' I will surely save you out of a distant place , your descendants from the land of their exile . Jacob will again have peace and security , and no one will make him afraid . 30 : 11 I am with you and will save you , ' declares the LORD . ' Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you , I will not completely destroy you . I will discipline you but only with justice ; I will not let you go entirely unpunished . ' 30 : 12 " This is what the LORD says : "' Your wound is incurable , your injury beyond healing . 30 : 13 There is no one to plead your cause , no remedy for your sore , no healing for you . 30 : 14 All your allies have forgotten you ; they care nothing for you . I have struck you as an enemy would and punished you as would the cruel , because your guilt is so great and your sins so many . 30 : 15 Why do you cry out over your wound , your pain that has no cure ? Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you . 30 : 16 "' But all who devour you will be devoured ; all your enemies will go into exile . Those who plunder you will be plundered ; all who make spoil of you I will despoil . 30 : 17 But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds , ' declares the LORD , ' because you are called an outcast , Zion for whom no one cares . ' 30 : 18 " This is what the LORD says : "' I will restore the fortunes of Jacob ' s tents and have compassion on his dwellings ; the city will be rebuilt on her ruins , and the palace will stand in its proper place . 30 : 19 From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing . I will add to their numbers , and they will not be decreased ; I will bring them honor , and they will not be disdained . 30 : 20 Their children will be as in days of old , and their community will be established before me ; I will punish all who oppress them . 30 : 21 Their leader will be one of their own ; their ruler will arise from among them . I will bring him near and he will come close to me , for who is he who will devote himself to be close to me ? ' declares the LORD . 30 : 22 "' So you will be my people , and I will be your God . '" 30 : 23 See , the storm of the LORD will burst out in wrath , a driving wind swirling down on the heads of the wicked . 30 : 24 The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart . In days to come you will understand this . JER 31 : 1 " At that time , " declares the LORD , " I will be the God of all the clans of Israel , and they will be my people . " 31 : 2 This is what the LORD says : " The people who survive the sword will find favor in the desert ; I will come to give rest to Israel . " 31 : 3 The LORD appeared to us in the past , saying : " I have loved you with an everlasting love ; I have drawn you with loving - kindness . 31 : 4 I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt , O Virgin Israel . Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful . 31 : 5 Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria ; the farmers will plant them and enjoy their fruit . 31 : 6 There will be a day when watchmen cry out on the hills of Ephraim , ' Come , let us go up to Zion , to the LORD our God . '" 31 : 7 This is what the LORD says : " Sing with joy for Jacob ; shout for the foremost of the nations . Make your praises heard , and say , ' O LORD , save your people , the remnant of Israel . ' 31 : 8 See , I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth . Among them will be the blind and the lame , expectant mothers and women in labor ; a great throng will return . 31 : 9 They will come with weeping ; they will pray as I bring them back . I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble , because I am Israel ' s father , and Ephraim is my firstborn son . 31 : 10 " Hear the word of the LORD , O nations ; proclaim it in distant coastlands : ' He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd . ' 31 : 11 For the LORD will ransom Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they . 31 : 12 They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion ; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD -- the grain , the new wine and the oil , the young of the flocks and herds . They will be like a well - watered garden , and they will sorrow no more . 31 : 13 Then maidens will dance and be glad , young men and old as well . I will turn their mourning into gladness ; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow . 31 : 14 I will satisfy the priests with abundance , and my people will be filled with my bounty , " declares the LORD . 31 : 15 This is what the LORD says : " A voice is heard in Ramah , mourning and great weeping , Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted , because her children are no more . " 31 : 16 This is what the LORD says : " Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears , for your work will be rewarded , " declares the LORD . " They will return from the land of the enemy . 31 : 17 So there is hope for your future , " declares the LORD . " Your children will return to their own land . 31 : 18 " I have surely heard Ephraim ' s moaning : ' You disciplined me like an unruly calf , and I have been disciplined . Restore me , and I will return , because you are the LORD my God . 31 : 19 After I strayed , I repented ; after I came to understand , I beat my breast . I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth . ' 31 : 20 Is not Ephraim my dear son , the child in whom I delight ? Though I often speak against him , I still remember him . Therefore my heart yearns for him ; I have great compassion for him , " declares the LORD . 31 : 21 " Set up road signs ; put up guideposts . Take note of the highway , the road that you take . Return , O Virgin Israel , return to your towns . 31 : 22 How long will you wander , O unfaithful daughter ? The LORD will create a new thing on earth -- a woman will surround a man . " 31 : 23 This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : " When I bring them back from captivity , the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words : ' The LORD bless you , O righteous dwelling , O sacred mountain . ' 31 : 24 People will live together in Judah and all its towns -- farmers and those who move about with their flocks . 31 : 25 I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint . " 31 : 26 At this I awoke and looked around . My sleep had been pleasant to me . 31 : 27 " The days are coming , " declares the LORD , " when I will plant the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the offspring of men and of animals . 31 : 28 Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down , and to overthrow , destroy and bring disaster , so I will watch over them to build and to plant , " declares the LORD . 31 : 29 " In those days people will no longer say , ' The fathers have eaten sour grapes , and the children ' s teeth are set on edge . ' 31 : 30 Instead , everyone will die for his own sin ; whoever eats sour grapes -- his own teeth will be set on edge . 31 : 31 " The time is coming , " declares the LORD , " when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah . 31 : 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt , because they broke my covenant , though I was a husband to them , " declares the LORD . 31 : 33 " This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time , " declares the LORD . " I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts . I will be their God , and they will be my people . 31 : 34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor , or a man his brother , saying , ' Know the LORD , ' because they will all know me , from the least of them to the greatest , " declares the LORD . " For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more . " 31 : 35 This is what the LORD says , he who appoints the sun to shine by day , who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night , who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar -- the LORD Almighty is his name : 31 : 36 only if these decrees vanish from my sight , " declares the LORD , " will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me . " 31 : 37 This is what the LORD says : only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done , " declares the LORD . 31 : 38 " The days are coming , " declares the LORD , " when this city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate . 31 : 39 The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah . 31 : 40 The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown , and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate , will be holy to the LORD . The city will never again be uprooted or demolished . " 32 : 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah , which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar . 32 : 2 The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem , and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of Judah . 32 : 3 Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there , saying , " Why do you prophesy as you do ? You say , ' This is what the LORD says : I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon , and he will capture it . 32 : 4 Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out of the hands of the Babylonians but will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon , and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes . 32 : 5 He will take Zedekiah to Babylon , where he will remain until I deal with him , declares the LORD . If you fight against the Babylonians , you will not succeed . '" 32 : 6 Jeremiah said , " The word of the LORD came to me : 32 : 7 Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say , ' Buy my field at Anathoth , because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it . ' 32 : 8 " Then , just as the LORD had said , my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said , ' Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin . Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it , buy it for yourself . ' " I knew that this was the word of the LORD ; 32 : 9 so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels of silver . 32 : 10 I signed and sealed the deed , had it witnessed , and weighed out the silver on the scales . 32 : 11 I took the deed of purchase -- the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions , as well as the unsealed copy -- 32 : 12 and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah , the son of Mahseiah , in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard . 32 : 13 " In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions : 32 : 14 ' This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : Take these documents , both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase , and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time . 32 : 15 For this is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : Houses , fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land . ' 32 : 16 " After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah , I prayed to the LORD : 32 : 17 " Ah , Sovereign LORD , you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm . Nothing is too hard for you . 32 : 18 You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the fathers ' sins into the laps of their children after them . O great and powerful God , whose name is the LORD Almighty , 32 : 19 great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds . Your eyes are open to all the ways of men ; you reward everyone according to his conduct and as his deeds deserve . 32 : 20 You performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day , both in Israel and among all mankind , and have gained the renown that is still yours . 32 : 21 You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders , by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror . 32 : 22 You gave them this land you had sworn to give their forefathers , a land flowing with milk and honey . 32 : 23 They came in and took possession of it , but they did not obey you or follow your law ; they did not do what you commanded them to do . So you brought all this disaster upon them . 32 : 24 " See how the siege ramps are built up to take the city . Because of the sword , famine and plague , the city will be handed over to the Babylonians who are attacking it . What you said has happened , as you now see . 32 : 25 And though the city will be handed over to the Babylonians , you , O Sovereign LORD , say to me , ' Buy the field with silver and have the transaction witnessed . '" 32 : 26 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah : 32 : 27 " I am the LORD , the God of all mankind . Is anything too hard for me ? 32 : 28 Therefore , this is what the LORD says : I am about to hand this city over to the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon , who will capture it . 32 : 29 The Babylonians who are attacking this city will come in and set it on fire ; they will burn it down , along with the houses where the people provoked me to anger by burning incense on the roofs to Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods . 32 : 30 " The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth ; indeed , the people of Israel have done nothing but provoke me with what their hands have made , declares the LORD . 32 : 31 From the day it was built until now , this city has so aroused my anger and wrath that I must remove it from my sight . 32 : 32 The people of Israel and Judah have provoked me by all the evil they have done -- they , their kings and officials , their priests and prophets , the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem . 32 : 33 They turned their backs to me and not their faces ; though I taught them again and again , they would not listen or respond to discipline . 32 : 34 They set up their abominable idols in the house that bears my Name and defiled it . 32 : 35 They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech , though I never commanded , nor did it enter my mind , that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin . 32 : 36 " You are saying about this city , ' By the sword , famine and plague it will be handed over to the king of Babylon '; but this is what the LORD , the God of Israel , says : 32 : 37 I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath ; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety . 32 : 38 They will be my people , and I will be their God . 32 : 39 I will give them singleness of heart and action , so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them . 32 : 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them : I will never stop doing good to them , and I will inspire them to fear me , so that they will never turn away from me . 32 : 41 I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul . 32 : 42 " This is what the LORD says : As I have brought all this great calamity on this people , so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them . 32 : 43 once more fields will be bought in this land of which you say , ' It is a desolate waste , without men or animals , for it has been handed over to the Babylonians . ' 32 : 44 Fields will be bought for silver , and deeds will be signed , sealed and witnessed in the territory of Benjamin , in the villages around Jerusalem , in the towns of Judah and in the towns of the hill country , of the western foothills and of the Negev , because I will restore their fortunes , declares the LORD . " 33 : 1 While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard , the word of the LORD came to him a second time : 33 : 2 " This is what the LORD says , he who made the earth , the LORD who formed it and established it -- the LORD is his name : 33 : 3 ' Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know . ' 33 : 4 For this is what the LORD , the God of Israel , says about the houses in this city and the royal palaces of Judah that have been torn down to be used against the siege ramps and the sword 33 : 5 in the fight with the Babylonians : ' They will be filled with the dead bodies of the men I will slay in my anger and wrath . I will hide my face from this city because of all its wickedness . 33 : 6 "' Nevertheless , I will bring health and healing to it ; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security . 33 : 7 I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before . 33 : 8 I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me . 33 : 9 Then this city will bring me renown , joy , praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it ; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it . ' 33 : 10 " This is what the LORD says : ' You say about this place , " It is a desolate waste , without men or animals . " Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted , inhabited by neither men nor animals , there will be heard once more 33 : 11 the sounds of joy and gladness , the voices of bride and bridegroom , and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD , saying , " Give thanks to the LORD Almighty , for the LORD is good ; his love endures forever . " For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before , ' says the LORD . 33 : 12 " This is what the LORD Almighty says : ' In this place , desolate and without men or animals -- in all its towns there will again be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks . 33 : 13 In the towns of the hill country , of the western foothills and of the Negev , in the territory of Benjamin , in the villages around Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah , flocks will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them , ' says the LORD . 33 : 14 "' The days are coming , ' declares the LORD , ' when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah . 33 : 15 "' In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David ' s line ; he will do what is just and right in the land . 33 : 16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety . This is the name by which it will be called : The LORD Our Righteousness . ' 33 : 17 For this is what the LORD says : ' David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel , 33 : 18 nor will the priests , who are Levites , ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings , to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices . '" 33 : 19 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah : 33 : 20 " This is what the LORD says : ' If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night , so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time , 33 : 21 then my covenant with David my servant -- and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me -- can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne . 33 : 22 I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore . '" 33 : 23 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah : 33 : 24 " Have you not noticed that these people are saying , ' The LORD has rejected the two kingdoms he chose '? So they despise my people and no longer regard them as a nation . 33 : 25 This is what the LORD says : ' If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth , 33 : 26 then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham , Isaac and Jacob . For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them . '" 34 : 1 While Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms and peoples in the empire he ruled were fighting against Jerusalem and all its surrounding towns , this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 34 : 2 " This is what the LORD , the God of Israel , says : Go to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him , ' This is what the LORD says : I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon , and he will burn it down . 34 : 3 You will not escape from his grasp but will surely be captured and handed over to him . You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes , and he will speak with you face to face . And you will go to Babylon . 34 : 4 "' Yet hear the promise of the LORD , O Zedekiah king of Judah . This is what the LORD says concerning you : You will not die by the sword ; 34 : 5 you will die peacefully . As people made a funeral fire in honor of your fathers , the former kings who preceded you , so they will make a fire in your honor and lament , " Alas , O master ! " I myself make this promise , declares the LORD . '" 34 : 6 Then Jeremiah the prophet told all this to Zedekiah king of Judah , in Jerusalem , 34 : 7 while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah that were still holding out -- Lachish and Azekah . These were the only fortified cities left in Judah . 34 : 8 The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom for the slaves . 34 : 9 Everyone was to free his Hebrew slaves , both male and female ; no one was to hold a fellow Jew in bondage . 34 : 10 So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage . They agreed , and set them free . 34 : 11 But afterward they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again . 34 : 12 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah : 34 : 13 " This is what the LORD , the God of Israel , says : I made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them out of Egypt , out of the land of slavery . I said , 34 : 14 ' Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrew who has sold himself to you . After he has served you six years , you must let him go free . ' Your fathers , however , did not listen to me or pay attention to me . 34 : 15 Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight : Each of you proclaimed freedom to his countrymen . You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name . 34 : 16 But now you have turned around and profaned my name ; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished . You have forced them to become your slaves again . 34 : 17 " Therefore , this is what the LORD says : You have not obeyed me ; you have not proclaimed freedom for your fellow countrymen . So I now proclaim ' freedom ' for you , declares the LORD --' freedom ' to fall by the sword , plague and famine . I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth . 34 : 18 The men who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me , I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces . 34 : 19 The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem , the court officials , the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf , 34 : 20 I will hand over to their enemies who seek their lives . Their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth . 34 : 21 " I will hand Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials over to their enemies who seek their lives , to the army of the king of Babylon , which has withdrawn from you . 34 : 22 I am going to give the order , declares the LORD , and I will bring them back to this city . They will fight against it , take it and burn it down . And I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there . " 35 : 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD during the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah : 35 : 2 " Go to the Recabite family and invite them to come to one of the side rooms of the house of the LORD and give them wine to drink . " 35 : 3 So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah , the son of Habazziniah , and his brothers and all his sons -- the whole family of the Recabites . 35 : 4 I brought them into the house of the LORD , into the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah the man of God . It was next to the room of the officials , which was over that of Maaseiah son of Shallum the doorkeeper . 35 : 5 Then I set bowls full of wine and some cups before the men of the Recabite family and said to them , " Drink some wine . " 35 : 6 But they replied , " We do not drink wine , because our forefather Jonadab son of Recab gave us this command : ' Neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine . 35 : 7 Also you must never build houses , sow seed or plant vineyards ; you must never have any of these things , but must always live in tents . Then you will live a long time in the land where you are nomads . ' 35 : 8 We have obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab son of Recab commanded us . Neither we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine 35 : 9 or built houses to live in or had vineyards , fields or crops . 35 : 10 We have lived in tents and have fully obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab commanded us . 35 : 11 But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded this land , we said , ' Come , we must go to Jerusalem to escape the Babylonian and Aramean armies . ' So we have remained in Jerusalem . " 35 : 12 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah , saying : 35 : 13 " This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : Go and tell the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem , ' Will you not learn a lesson and obey my words ? ' declares the LORD . 35 : 14 ' Jonadab son of Recab ordered his sons not to drink wine and this command has been kept . To this day they do not drink wine , because they obey their forefather ' s command . But I have spoken to you again and again , yet you have not obeyed me . 35 : 15 Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you . They said , " Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions ; do not follow other gods to serve them . Then you will live in the land I have given to you and your fathers . " But you have not paid attention or listened to me . 35 : 16 The descendants of Jonadab son of Recab have carried out the command their forefather gave them , but these people have not obeyed me . ' 35 : 17 " Therefore , this is what the LORD God Almighty , the God of Israel , says : ' Listen ! I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster I pronounced against them . I spoke to them , but they did not listen ; I called to them , but they did not answer . '" 35 : 18 Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Recabites , " This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : ' You have obeyed the command of your forefather Jonadab and have followed all his instructions and have done everything he ordered . ' 35 : 19 Therefore , this is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : ' Jonadab son of Recab will never fail to have a man to serve me . '" 36 : 1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah , this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 36 : 2 " Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel , Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now . 36 : 3 Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them , each of them will turn from his wicked way ; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin . " 36 : 4 So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah , and while Jeremiah dictated all the words the LORD had spoken to him , Baruch wrote them on the scroll . 36 : 5 Then Jeremiah told Baruch , " I am restricted ; I cannot go to the LORD ' S temple . 36 : 6 So you go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of the LORD that you wrote as I dictated . Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns . 36 : 7 Perhaps they will bring their petition before the LORD , and each will turn from his wicked ways , for the anger and wrath pronounced against this people by the LORD are great . " 36 : 8 Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do ; at the LORD ' S temple he read the words of the LORD from the scroll . 36 : 9 In the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah , a time of fasting before the LORD was proclaimed for all the people in Jerusalem and those who had come from the towns of Judah . 36 : 10 From the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary , which was in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate of the temple , Baruch read to all the people at the LORD ' S temple the words of Jeremiah from the scroll . 36 : 11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah , the son of Shaphan , heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll , 36 : 12 he went down to the secretary ' s room in the royal palace , where all the officials were sitting : Elishama the secretary , Delaiah son of Shemaiah , Elnathan son of Acbor , Gemariah son of Shaphan , Zedekiah son of Hananiah , and all the other officials . 36 : 13 After Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read to the people from the scroll , 36 : 14 all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah , the son of Shelemiah , the son of Cushi , to say to Baruch , " Bring the scroll from which you have read to the people and come . " So Baruch son of Neriah went to them with the scroll in his hand . 36 : 15 They said to him , " Sit down , please , and read it to us . " So Baruch read it to them . 36 : 16 When they heard all these words , they looked at each other in fear and said to Baruch , " We must report all these words to the king . " 36 : 17 Then they asked Baruch , " Tell us , how did you come to write all this ? Did Jeremiah dictate it ? " 36 : 18 " Yes , " Baruch replied , " he dictated all these words to me , and I wrote them in ink on the scroll . " 36 : 19 Then the officials said to Baruch , " You and Jeremiah , go and hide . Don ' t let anyone know where you are . " 36 : 20 After they put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary , they went to the king in the courtyard and reported everything to him . 36 : 21 The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll , and Jehudi brought it from the room of Elishama the secretary and read it to the king and all the officials standing beside him . 36 : 22 It was the ninth month and the king was sitting in the winter apartment , with a fire burning in the firepot in front of him . 36 : 23 Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll , the king cut them off with a scribe ' s knife and threw them into the firepot , until the entire scroll was burned in the fire . 36 : 24 The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear , nor did they tear their clothes . 36 : 25 Even though Elnathan , Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll , he would not listen to them . 36 : 26 Instead , the king commanded Jerahmeel , a son of the king , Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet . But the LORD had hidden them . 36 : 27 After the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah ' s dictation , the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah : 36 : 28 " Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll , which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up . 36 : 29 Also tell Jehoiakim king of Judah , ' This is what the LORD says : You burned that scroll and said , " Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon would certainly come and destroy this land and cut off both men and animals from it ? " 36 : 30 Therefore , this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah : He will have no one to sit on the throne of David ; his body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night . 36 : 31 I will punish him and his children and his attendants for their wickedness ; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster I pronounced against them , because they have not listened . '" 36 : 32 So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah , and as Jeremiah dictated , Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire . And many similar words were added to them . 37 : 1 Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim . 37 : 2 Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet . 37 : 3 King Zedekiah , however , sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message : " Please pray to the LORD our God for us . " 37 : 4 Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people , for he had not yet been put in prison . 37 : 5 Pharaoh ' s army had marched out of Egypt , and when the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them , they withdrew from Jerusalem . 37 : 6 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet : 37 : 7 " This is what the LORD , the God of Israel , says : Tell the king of Judah , who sent you to inquire of me , ' Pharaoh ' s army , which has marched out to support you , will go back to its own land , to Egypt . 37 : 8 Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city ; they will capture it and burn it down . ' 37 : 9 " This is what the LORD says : Do not deceive yourselves , thinking , ' The Babylonians will surely leave us . ' They will not ! 37 : 10 Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents , they would come out and burn this city down . " 37 : 11 After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh ' s army , 37 : 12 Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there . 37 : 13 But when he reached the Benjamin Gate , the captain of the guard , whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah , the son of Hananiah , arrested him and said , " You are deserting to the Babylonians ! " 37 : 14 " That ' s not true ! " Jeremiah said . " I am not deserting to the Babylonians . " But Irijah would not listen to him ; instead , he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials . 37 : 15 They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary , which they had made into a prison . 37 : 16 Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon , where he remained a long time . 37 : 17 Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace , where he asked him privately , " Is there any word from the LORD ? " " Yes , " Jeremiah replied , " you will be handed over to the king of Babylon . " 37 : 18 Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah , " What crime have I committed against you or your officials or this people , that you have put me in prison ? 37 : 19 Where are your prophets who prophesied to you , ' The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land '? 37 : 20 But now , my lord the king , please listen . Let me bring my petition before you : Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary , or I will die there . " 37 : 21 King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread in the city was gone . So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard . 38 : 1 Shephatiah son of Mattan , Gedaliah son of Pashhur , Jehucal son of Shelemiah , and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said , 38 : 2 " This is what the LORD says : ' Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword , famine or plague , but whoever goes over to the Babylonians will live . He will escape with his life ; he will live . ' 38 : 3 And this is what the LORD says : ' This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon , who will capture it . '" 38 : 4 Then the officials said to the king , " This man should be put to death . He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city , as well as all the people , by the things he is saying to them . This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin . " 38 : 5 " He is in your hands , " King Zedekiah answered . " The king can do nothing to oppose you . " 38 : 6 So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah , the king ' s son , which was in the courtyard of the guard . They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern ; it had no water in it , only mud , and Jeremiah sank down into the mud . 38 : 7 But Ebed - Melech , a Cushite , an official in the royal palace , heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern . While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate , 38 : 8 Ebed - Melech went out of the palace and said to him , 38 : 9 " My lord the king , these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet . They have thrown him into a cistern , where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread in the city . " 38 : 10 Then the king commanded Ebed - Melech the Cushite , " Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies . " 38 : 11 So Ebed - Melech took the men with him and went to a room under the treasury in the palace . He took some old rags and worn - out clothes from there and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern . 38 : 12 Ebed - Melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah , " Put these old rags and worn - out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes . " Jeremiah did so , 38 : 13 and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern . And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard . 38 : 14 Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the LORD . " I am going to ask you something , " the king said to Jeremiah . " Do not hide anything from me . " 38 : 15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah , " If I give you an answer , will you not kill me ? Even if I did give you counsel , you would not listen to me . " 38 : 16 But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly to Jeremiah : " As surely as the LORD lives , who has given us breath , I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who are seeking your life . " 38 : 17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah , " This is what the LORD God Almighty , the God of Israel , says : ' If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon , your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down ; you and your family will live . 38 : 18 But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon , this city will be handed over to the Babylonians and they will burn it ` own ; you yourself will not escape from their hands . '" 38 : 19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah , " I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Babylonians , for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me . " 38 : 20 " They will not hand you over , " Jeremiah replied . " Obey the LORD by doing what I tell you . Then it will go well with you , and your life will be spared . 38 : 21 But if you refuse to surrender , this is what the LORD has revealed to me : 38 : 22 All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon . Those women will say to you : "' They misled you and overcame you -- those trusted friends of yours . Your feet are sunk in the mud ; your friends have deserted you . ' 38 : 23 " All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians . You yourself will not escape from their hands but will be captured by the king of Babylon ; and this city will be burned down . " 38 : 24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah , " Do not let anyone know about this conversation , or you may die . 38 : 25 If the officials hear that I talked with you , and they come to you and say , ' Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you ; do not hide it from us or we will kill you , ' 38 : 26 then tell them , ' I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan ' s house to die there . '" 38 : 27 All the officials did come to Jeremiah and question him , and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say . So they said no more to him , for no one had heard his conversation with the king . 38 : 28 And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured . This is how Jerusalem was taken : 39 : 1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah , in the tenth month , Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it . 39 : 2 And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah ' s eleventh year , the city wall was broken through . 39 : 3 Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate : Nergal - Sharezer of Samgar , Nebo - Sarsekim a chief officer , Nergal - Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon . 39 : 4 When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them , they fled ; they left the city at night by way of the king ' s garden , through the gate between the two walls , and headed toward the Arabah . 39 : 5 But the Babylonian army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho . They captured him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath , where he pronounced sentence on him . 39 : 6 There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles of Judah . 39 : 7 Then he put out Zedekiah ' s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon . 39 : 8 The Babylonians set fire to the royal palace and the houses of the people and broke down the walls of Jerusalem . 39 : 9 Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard carried into exile to Babylon the people who remained in the city , along with those who had gone over to him , and the rest of the people . 39 : 10 But Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people , who owned nothing ; and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields . 39 : 11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had given these orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard : 39 : 12 " Take him and look after him ; don ' t harm him but do for him whatever he asks . " 39 : 13 So Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard , Nebushazban a chief officer , Nergal - Sharezer a high official and all the other officers of the king of Babylon 39 : 14 sent and had Jeremiah taken out of the courtyard of the guard . They turned him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam , the son of Shaphan , to take him back to his home . So he remained among his own people . 39 : 15 While Jeremiah had been confined in the courtyard of the guard , the word of the LORD came to him : 39 : 16 " Go and tell Ebed - Melech the Cushite , ' This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : I am about to fulfill my words against this city through disaster , not prosperity . At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes . 39 : 17 But I will rescue you on that day , declares the LORD ; you will not be handed over to those you fear . 39 : 18 I will save you ; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life , because you trust in me , declares the LORD . '" 40 : 1 The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had released him at Ramah . He had found Jeremiah bound in chains among all the captives from Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile to Babylon . 40 : 2 When the commander of the guard found Jeremiah , he said to him , " The LORD your God decreed this disaster for this place . 40 : 3 And now the LORD has brought it about ; he has done just as he said he would . All this happened because you people sinned against the LORD and did not obey him . 40 : 4 But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists . Come with me to Babylon , if you like , and I will look after you ; but if you do not want to , then don ' t come . Look , the whole country lies before you ; go wherever you please . " 40 : 5 However , before Jeremiah turned to go , Nebuzaradan added , " Go back to Gedaliah son of Ahikam , the son of Shaphan , whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the towns of Judah , and live with him among the people , 40 : 5 + or go anywhere else you please . " Then the commander gave him provisions and a present and let him go . 40 : 6 So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left behind in the land . 40 : 7 When all the army officers and their men who were still in the open country heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor over the land and had put him in charge of the men , women and children 40 : 7 + who were the poorest in the land and who had not been carried into exile to Babylon , 40 : 8 they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah -- Ishmael son of Nethaniah , Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah , Seraiah son of Tanhumeth , the sons of Ephai the Netophathite , and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite , and their men . 40 : 9 Gedaliah son of Ahikam , the son of Shaphan , took an oath to reassure them and their men . " Do not be afraid to serve the Babylonians , " he said . " Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon , and it will go well with you . 40 : 10 I myself will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians who come to us , but you are to harvest the wine , summer fruit and oil , and put them in your storage jars , and live in the towns you have taken over . " 40 : 11 When all the Jews in Moab , Ammon , Edom and all the other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam , the son of Shaphan , as governor over them , 40 : 12 they all came back to the land of Judah , to Gedaliah at Mizpah , from all the countries where they had been scattered . And they harvested an abundance of wine and summer fruit . 40 : 13 Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah 40 : 14 and said to him , " Don ' t you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life ? " But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them . 40 : 15 Then Johanan son of Kareah said privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah , " Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah , and no one will know it . 40 : 15 + Why should he take your life and cause all the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish ? " 40 : 16 But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah , " Don ' t do such a thing ! What you are saying about Ishmael is not true . " 41 : 1 In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah , the son of Elishama , who was of royal blood and had been one of the king ' s officers , came with pen men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah . While they were eating together there , 41 : 2 Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam , the son of Shaphan , with the sword , killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land . 41 : 3 Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah , as well as the Babylonian soldiers who were there . 41 : 4 The day after Gedaliah ' s assassination , before anyone knew about it , 41 : 5 eighty men who had shaved off their beards , torn their clothes and cut themselves came from Shechem , Shiloh and Samaria , bringing grain offerings and incense with them to the house of the LORD . 41 : 6 Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them , weeping as he went . When he met them , he said , " Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam . " 41 : 7 When they went into the city , Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern . 41 : 8 But ten of them said to Ishmael , " Don ' t kill us ! We have wheat and barley , oil and honey , hidden in a field . " So he let them alone and did not kill them with the others . 41 : 9 Now the cistern where he threw all the bodies of the men he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one King Asa had made as part of his defense against Baasha king of Israel . Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead . 41 : 10 Ishmael made captives of all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah -- the king ' s daughters along with all the others who were left there , over whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam . Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites . 41 : 11 When Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him heard about all the crimes Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed , 41 : 12 they took all their men and went to fight Ishmael son of Nethaniah . They caught up with him near the great pool in Gibeon . 41 : 13 When all the people Ishmael had with him saw Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers who were with him , they were glad . 41 : 14 All the people Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah . 41 : 15 But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped from Johanan and fled to the Ammonites . 41 : 16 Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led away all the survivors from Mizpah whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after he had assassinated Gedaliah son of Ahikam : the soldiers , women , children and court officials he had brought from Gibeon . 41 : 17 And they went on , stopping at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem on their way to Egypt 41 : 18 to escape the Babylonians . They were afraid of them because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam , whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land . 42 : 1 Then all the army officers , including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah , and all the people from the least to the greatest approached 42 : 2 Jeremiah the prophet and said to him , " Please hear our petition and pray to the LORD your God for this entire remnant . For as you now see , though we were once many , now only a few are left . 42 : 3 Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do . " 42 : 4 " I have heard you , " replied Jeremiah the prophet . " I will certainly pray to the LORD your God as you have requested ; I will tell you everything the LORD says and will keep nothing back from you . " 42 : 5 Then they said to Jeremiah , " May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the LORD your God sends you to tell us . 42 : 6 Whether it is favorable or unfavorable , we will obey the LORD our God , to whom we are sending you , so that it will go well with us , for we will obey the LORD our God . " 42 : 7 Ten days later the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah . 42 : 8 So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest . 42 : 9 He said to them , " This is what the LORD , the God of Israel , to whom you sent me to present your petition , says : 42 : 10 ' If you stay in this land , I will build you up and not tear you down ; I will plant you and not uproot you , for I am grieved over the disaster I have inflicted on you . 42 : 11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon , whom you now fear . Do not be afraid of him , declares the LORD , for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands . 42 : 12 I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land . ' 42 : 13 " However , if you say , ' We will not stay in this land , ' and so disobey the LORD your God , 42 : 14 and if you say , ' No , we will go and live in Egypt , where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread , ' 42 : 15 then hear the word of the LORD , O remnant of Judah . This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : ' If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there , 42 : 16 then the sword you fear will overtake you there , and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt , and there you will die . 42 : 17 Indeed , all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword , famine and plague ; not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them . ' 42 : 18 This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : ' As my anger and wrath have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem , so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt . You will be an object of cursing and horror , of condemnation and reproach ; you will never see this place again . ' 42 : 19 " O remnant of Judah , the LORD has told you , ' Do not go to Egypt . ' Be sure of this : I warn you today 42 : 20 that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the LORD your God and said , ' Pray to the LORD our God for us ; tell us everything he says and we will do it . ' 42 : 21 I have told you today , but you still have not obeyed the LORD your God in all he sent me to tell you . 42 : 22 So now , be sure of this : You will die by the sword , famine and plague in the place where you want to go to settle . " 43 : 1 When Jeremiah finished telling the people all the words of the LORD their God -- everything the LORD had sent him to tell them -- 43 : 2 Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah , " You are lying ! The LORD our God has not sent you to say , ' You must not go to Egypt to settle there . ' 43 : 3 But Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians , so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon . " 43 : 4 So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people disobeyed the LORD ' S command to stay in the land of Judah . 43 : 5 Instead , Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered . 43 : 6 They also led away all the men , women and children and the king ' s daughters whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam , the son of Shaphan , and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah . 43 : 7 So they entered Egypt in disobedience to the LORD and went as far as Tahpanhes . 43 : 8 In Tahpanhes the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah : 43 : 9 " While the Jews are watching , take some large stones with you and bury them in clay in the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh ' s palace in Tahpanhes . 43 : 10 Then say to them , ' This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : I will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon , and I will set his throne over these stones I have buried here ; he will spread his royal canopy above them . 43 : 11 He will come and attack Egypt , bringing death to those destined for death , captivity to those destined for captivity , and the sword to those destined for the sword . 43 : 12 He will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt ; he will burn their temples and take their gods captive . As a shepherd wraps his garment around him , so will he wrap Egypt around himself and depart from there unscathed . 43 : 13 There in the temple of the sun in Egypt he will demolish the sacred pillars and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt . '" 44 : 1 This word came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in Lower Egypt -- in Migdol , Tahpanhes and Memphis -- and in Upper Egypt : 44 : 2 " This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : You saw the great disaster I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah . Today they lie deserted and in ruins 44 : 3 because of the evil they have done . They provoked me to anger by burning incense and by worshiping other gods that neither they nor you nor your fathers ever knew . 44 : 4 Again and again I sent my servants the prophets , who said , ' Do not do this detestable thing that I hate ! ' 44 : 5 But they did not listen or pay attention ; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods . 44 : 6 Therefore , my fierce anger was poured out ; it raged against the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem and made them the desolate ruins they are today . 44 : 7 " Now this is what the LORD God Almighty , the God of Israel , says : Why bring such great disaster on yourselves by cutting off from Judah the men and women , the children and infants , and so leave yourselves without a remnant ? 44 : 8 Why provoke me to anger with what your hands have made , burning incense to other gods in Egypt , where you have come to live ? You will destroy yourselves and make yourselves an object of cursing and reproach among all the nations on earth . 44 : 9 Have you forgotten the wickedness committed by your fathers and by the kings and queens of Judah and the wickedness committed by you and your wives in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem ? 44 : 10 To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence , nor have they followed my law and the decrees I set before you and your fathers . 44 : 11 " Therefore , this is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : I am determined to bring disaster on you and to destroy all Judah . 44 : 12 I will take away the remnant of Judah who were determined to go to Egypt to settle there . They will all perish in Egypt ; they will fall by the sword or die from famine . From the least to the greatest , they will die by sword or famine . They will become an object of cursing and horror , of condemnation and reproach . 44 : 13 I will punish those who live in Egypt with the sword , famine and plague , as I punished Jerusalem . 44 : 14 None of the remnant of Judah who have gone to live in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah , to which they long to return and live ; none will return except a few fugitives . " 44 : 15 Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods , along with all the women who were present -- a large assembly -- and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt , said to Jeremiah , 44 : 16 " We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD ! 44 : 17 We will certainly do everything we said we would : We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers , our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem . At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm . 44 : 18 But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her , we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine . " 44 : 19 The women added , " When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her , did not our husbands know that we were making cakes like her image and pouring out drink offerings to her ? " 44 : 20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people , both men and women , who were answering him , 44 : 21 " Did not the LORD remember and think about the incense burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem by you and your fathers , your kings and your officials and the people of the land ? 44 : 22 When the LORD could no longer endure your wicked actions and the detestable things you did , your land became an object of cursing and a desolate waste without inhabitants , as it is today . 44 : 23 Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed him or followed his law or his decrees or his stipulations , this disaster has come upon you , as you now see . " 44 : 24 Then Jeremiah said to all the people , including the women , " Hear the word of the LORD , all you people of Judah in Egypt . 44 : 25 This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : You and your wives have shown by your actions what you promised when you said , ' We will certainly carry out the vows we made to burn incense and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven . ' " Go ahead then , do what you promised ! Keep your vows ! 44 : 26 But hear the word of the LORD , all Jews living in Egypt : ' I swear by my great name , ' says the LORD , ' that no one from Judah living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name or swear , " As surely as the Sovereign LORD lives . " 44 : 27 For I am watching over them for harm , not for good ; the Jews in Egypt will perish by sword and famine until they are all destroyed . 44 : 28 Those who escape the sword and return to the land of Judah from Egypt will be very few . Then the whole remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose word will stand -- mine or theirs . 44 : 29 "' This will be the sign to you that I will punish you in this place , ' declares the LORD , ' so that you will know that my threats of harm against you will surely stand . ' 44 : 30 This is what the LORD says : ' I am going to hand Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies who seek his life , just as I handed Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon , the enemy who was seeking his life . '" 45 : 1 This is what Jeremiah the prophet told Baruch son of Neriah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah , after Baruch had written on a scroll the words Jeremiah was then dictating : 45 : 2 " This is what the LORD , the God of Israel , says to you , Baruch : 45 : 3 You said , ' Woe to me ! The LORD has added sorrow to my pain ; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest . '" 45 : 4 The LORD said , " Say this to him : ' This is what the LORD says : I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted , throughout the land . 45 : 5 Should you then seek great things for yourself ? Seek them not . For I will bring disaster on all people , declares the LORD , but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life . '" 46 : 1 This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations : 46 : 2 Concerning Egypt : This is the message against the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt , which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah : 46 : 3 " Prepare your shields , both large and small , and march out for battle ! 46 : 4 Harness the horses , mount the steeds ! Take your positions with helmets on ! Polish your spears , put on your armor ! 46 : 5 What do I see ? They are terrified , they are retreating , their warriors are defeated . They flee in haste without looking back , and there is terror on every side , " declares the LORD . 46 : 6 " The swift cannot flee nor the strong escape . In the north by the River Euphrates they stumble and fall . 46 : 7 " Who is this that rises like the Nile , like rivers of surging waters ? 46 : 8 Egypt rises like the Nile , like rivers of surging waters . She says , ' I will rise and cover the earth ; I will destroy cities and their people . ' 46 : 9 Charge , O horses ! Drive furiously , O charioteers ! March on , O warriors -- men of Cush and Put who carry shields , men of Lydia who draw the bow . 46 : 10 But that day belongs to the Lord , the LORD Almighty -- a day of vengeance , for vengeance on his foes . The sword will devour till it is satisfied , till it has quenched its thirst with blood . For the Lord , the LORD Almighty , will offer sacrifice in the land of the north by the River Euphrates . 46 : 11 " Go up to Gilead and get balm , O Virgin Daughter of Egypt . But you multiply remedies in vain ; there is no healing for you . 46 : 12 The nations will hear of your shame ; your cries will fill the earth . one warrior will stumble over another ; both will fall down together . " 46 : 13 This is the message the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to attack Egypt : 46 : 14 " Announce this in Egypt , and proclaim it in Migdol ; proclaim it also in Memphis and Tahpanhes : ' Take your positions and get ready , for the sword devours those around you . ' 46 : 15 Why will your warriors be laid low ? They cannot stand , for the LORD will push them down . 46 : 16 They will stumble repeatedly ; they will fall over each other . They will say , ' Get up , let us go back to our own people and our native lands , away from the sword of the oppressor . ' 46 : 17 There they will exclaim , ' Pharaoh king of Egypt is only a loud noise ; he has missed his opportunity . ' 46 : 18 " As surely as I live , " declares the King , whose name is the LORD Almighty , one will come who is like Tabor among the mountains , like Carmel by the sea . 46 : 19 Pack your belongings for exile , you who live in Egypt , for Memphis will be laid waste and lie in ruins without inhabitant . 46 : 20 " Egypt is a beautiful heifer , but a gadfly is coming against her from the north . 46 : 21 The mercenaries in her ranks are like fattened calves . They too will turn and flee together , they will not stand their ground , for the day of disaster is coming upon them , the time for them to be punished . 46 : 22 Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent as the enemy advances in force ; they will come against her with axes , like men who cut down trees . 46 : 23 They will chop down her forest , " declares the LORD , " dense though it be . They are more numerous than locusts , they cannot be counued . 46 : 24 The Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame , handed over to the people of the north . " 46 : 25 The LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : " I am about to bring punishment on Amon god of Thebes , on Pharaoh , on Egypt and her gods and her kings , and on those who rely on Pharaoh . 46 : 26 I will hand them over to those who seek their lives , to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers . Later , however , Egypt will be inhabited as in times past , " declares the LORD . 46 : 27 " Do not fear , O Jacob my servant ; do not be dismayed , O Israel . I will surely save you out of a distant place , your descendants from the land of their exile . Jacob will again have peace and security , and no one will make him afraid . 46 : 28 Do not fear , O Jacob my servant , for I am with you , " declares the LORD . " Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you , I will not completely destroy you . I will discipline you but only with justice ; I will not let you go entirely unpunished . " 47 : 1 This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza : 47 : 2 This is what the LORD says : " See how the waters are rising in the north ; they will become an overflowing torrent . They will overflow the land and everything in it , the towns and those who live in them . The people will cry out ; all who dwell in the land will wail 47 : 3 at the sound of the hoofs of galloping steeds , at the noise of enemy chariots and the rumble of their wheels . Fathers will not turn to help their children ; their hands will hang limp . 47 : 4 For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines and to cut off all survivors who could help Tyre and Sidon . The LORD is about to destroy the Philistines , the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor . 47 : 5 Gaza will shave her head in mourning ; Ashkelon will be silenced . O remnant on the plain , how long will you cut yourselves ? 47 : 6 "' Ah , sword of the LORD , ' you cry , ' how long till you rest ? Return to your scabbard ; cease and be still . ' 47 : 7 But how can it rest when the LORD has commanded it , when he has ordered it to attack Ashkelon and the coast ? " 48 : 1 Concerning Moab : This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : " Woe to Nebo , for it will be ruined . Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured ; the stronghold will be disgraced and shattered . 48 : 2 Moab will be praised no more ; in Heshbon men will plot her downfall : ' Come , let us put an end to that nation . ' You too , O Madmen , will be silenced ; the sword will pursue you . 48 : 3 Listen to the cries from Horonaim , cries of great havoc and destruction . 48 : 4 Moab will be broken ; her little ones will cry out . 48 : 5 They go up the way to Luhith , weeping bitterly as they go ; on the road down to Horonaim anguished cries over the destruction are heard . 48 : 6 Flee ! Run for your lives ; become like a bush in the desert . 48 : 7 Since you trust in your deeds and riches , you too will be taken captive , and Chemosh will go into exile , together with his priests and officials . 48 : 8 The destroyer will come against every town , and not a town will escape . The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed , because the LORD has spoken . 48 : 9 Put salt on Moab , for she will be laid waste ; her towns will become desolate , with no one to live in them . 48 : 10 " A curse on him who is lax in doing the LORD ' S work ! A curse on him who keeps his sword from bloodshed ! 48 : 11 " Moab has been at rest from youth , like wine left on its dregs , not poured from one jar to another -- she has not gone into exile . So she tastes as she did , and her aroma is unchanged . 48 : 12 But days are coming , " declares the LORD , " when I will send men who pour from jars , and they will pour her out ; they will empty her jars and smash her jugs . 48 : 13 Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh , as the house of Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel . 48 : 14 " How can you say , ' We are warriors , men valiant in battle '? 48 : 15 Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded ; her finest young men will go down in the slaughter , " declares the King , whose name is the LORD Almighty . 48 : 16 " The fall of Moab is at hand ; her calamity will come quickly . 48 : 17 Mourn for her , all who live around her , all who know her fame ; say , ' How broken is the mighty scepter , how broken the glorious staff ! ' 48 : 18 " Come down from your glory and sit on the parched ground , O inhabitants of the Daughter of Dibon , for he who destroys Moab will come up against you and ruin your fortified cities . 48 : 19 Stand by the road and watch , you who live in Aroer . Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping , ask them , ' What has happened ? ' 48 : 20 Moab is disgraced , for she is shattered . Wail and cry out ! Announce by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed . 48 : 21 Judgment has come to the plateau -- to Holon , Jahzah and Mephaath , 48 : 22 to Dibon , Nebo and Beth Diblathaim , 48 : 23 to Kiriathaim , Beth Gamul and Beth Meon , 48 : 24 to Kerioth and Bozrah -- to all the towns of Moab , far and near . 48 : 25 Moab ' s horn is cut off ; her arm is broken , " declares the LORD . 48 : 26 " Make her drunk , for she has defied the LORD . Let Moab wallow in her vomit ; let her be an object of ridicule . 48 : 27 Was not Israel the object of your ridicule ? Was she caught among thieves , that you shake your head in scorn whenever you speak of her ? 48 : 28 Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks , you who live in Moab . Be like a dove that makes its nest at the mouth of a cave . 48 : 29 " We have heard of Moab ' s pride -- her overweening pride and conceit , her pride and arrogance and the haughtiness of her heart . 48 : 30 I know her insolence but it is futile , " declares the LORD , " and her boasts accomplish nothing . 48 : 31 Therefore I wail over Moab , for all Moab I cry out , I moan for the men of Kir Hareseth . 48 : 32 I weep for you , as Jazer weeps , O vines of Sibmah . Your branches spread as far as the sea ; they reached as far as the sea of Jazer . The destroyer has fallen on your ripened fruit and grapes . 48 : 33 Joy and gladness are gone from the orchards and fields of Moab . I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses ; no one treads them with shouts of joy . Although there are shouts , they are not shouts of joy . 48 : 34 " The sound of their cry rises from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz , from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shalishiyah , for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up . 48 : 35 In Moab I will put an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods , " declares the LORD . 48 : 36 " So my heart laments for Moab like a flute ; it laments like a flute for the men of Kir Hareseth . The wealth they acquired is gone . 48 : 37 Every head is shaved and every beard cut off ; every hand is slashed and every waist is covered with sackcloth . 48 : 38 on all the roofs in Moab and in the public squares there is nothing but mourning , for I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants , " declares the LORD . 48 : 39 " How shattered she is ! How they wail ! How Moab turns her back in shame ! Moab has become an object of ridicule , an object of horror to all those around her . " 48 : 40 This is what the LORD says : " Look ! An eagle is swooping down , spreading its wings over Moab . 48 : 41 Kerioth will be captured and the strongholds taken . In that day the hearts of Moab ' s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor . 48 : 42 Moab will be destroyed as a nation because she defied the LORD . 48 : 43 Terror and pit and snare await you , O people of Moab , " declares the LORD . 48 : 44 " Whoever flees from the terror will fall into a pit , whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare ; for I will bring upon Moab the year of her punishment , " declares the LORD . 48 : 45 " In the shadow of Heshbon the fugitives stand helpless , for a fire has gone out from Heshbon , a blaze from the midst of Sihon ; it burns the foreheads of Moab , the skulls of the noisy boasters . 48 : 46 Woe to you , O Moab ! The people of Chemosh are destroyed ; your sons are taken into exile and your daughters into captivity . 48 : 47 " Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come , " declares the LORD . Here ends the judgment on Moab . 49 : 1 Concerning the Ammonites : This is what the LORD says : " Has Israel no sons ? Has she no heirs ? Why then has Molech taken possession of Gad ? Why do his people live in its towns ? 49 : 2 But the days are coming , " declares the LORD , " when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites ; it will become a mound of ruins , and its surrounding villages will be set on fire . Then Israel will drive out those who drove her out , " says the LORD . 49 : 3 " Wail , O Heshbon , for Ai is destroyed ! Cry out , O inhabitants of Rabbah ! Put on sackcloth and mourn ; rush here and there inside the walls , for Molech will go into exile , together with his priests and officials . 49 : 4 Why do you boast of your valleys , boast of your valleys so fruitful ? O unfaithful daughter , you trust in your riches and say , ' Who will attack me ? ' 49 : 5 I will bring terror on you from all those around you , " declares the Lord , the LORD Almighty . " Every one of you will be driven away , and no one will gather the fugitives . 49 : 6 " Yet afterward , I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites , " declares the LORD . 49 : 7 Concerning Edom : This is what the LORD Almighty says : " Is there no longer wisdom in Teman ? Has counsel perished from the prudent ? Has their wisdom decayed ? 49 : 8 Turn and flee , hide in deep caves , you who live in Dedan , for I will bring disaster on Esau at the time I punish him . 49 : 9 If grape pickers came to you , would they not leave a few grapes ? If thieves came during the night , would they not steal only as much as they wanted ? 49 : 10 But I will strip Esau bare ; I will uncover his hiding places , so that he cannot conceal himself . His children , relatives and neighbors will perish , and he will be no more . 49 : 11 Leave your orphans ; I will protect their lives . Your widows too can trust in me . " 49 : 12 This is what the LORD says : " If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it , why should you go unpunished ? You will not go unpunished , but must drink it . 49 : 13 I swear by myself , " declares the LORD , " that Bozrah will become a ruin and an object of horror , of reproach and of cursing ; and all its towns will be in ruins forever . " 49 : 14 I have heard a message from the LORD : An envoy was sent to the nations to say , " Assemble yourselves to attack it ! Rise up for battle ! " 49 : 15 " Now I will make you small among the nations , despised among men . 49 : 16 The terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceived you , you who live in the clefts of the rocks , who occupy the heights of the hill . Though you build your nest as high as the eagle ' s , from there I will bring you down , " declares the LORD . 49 : 17 " Edom will become an object of horror ; all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds . 49 : 18 As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown , along with their neighboring towns , " says the LORD , " so no one will live there ; no man will dwell in it . 49 : 19 " Like a lion coming up from Jordan ' s thickets to a rich pastureland , I will chase Edom from its land in an instant . Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this ? Who is like me and who can challenge me ? And what shepherd can stand against me ? " 49 : 20 Therefore , hear what the LORD has planned against Edom , what he has purposed against those who live in Teman : The young of the flock will be dragged away ; he will completely destroy their pasture because of them . 49 : 21 At the sound of their fall the earth will tremble ; their cry will resound to the Red Sea . 49 : 22 Look ! An eagle will soar and swoop down , spreading its wings over Bozrah . In that day the hearts of Edom ' s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor . 49 : 23 Concerning Damascus : " Hamath and Arpad are dismayed , for they have heard bad news . They are disheartened , troubled like the restless sea . 49 : 24 Damascus has become feeble , she has turned to flee and panic has gripped her ; anguish and pain have seized her , pain like that of a woman in labor . 49 : 25 Why has the city of renown not been abandoned , the town in which I delight ? 49 : 26 Surely , her young men will fall in the streets ; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day , " declares the LORD Almighty . 49 : 27 " I will set fire to the walls of Damascus ; it will consume the fortresses of Ben - Hadad . " 49 : 28 Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor , which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked : This is what the LORD says : " Arise , and attack Kedar and destroy the people of the East . 49 : 29 Their tents and their flocks will be taken ; their shelters will be carried off with all their goods and camels . Men will shout to them , ' Terror on every side ! ' 49 : 30 " Flee quickly away ! Stay in deep caves , you who live in Hazor , " declares the LORD . " Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has plotted against you ; he has devised a plan against you . 49 : 31 " Arise and attack a nation at ease , which lives in confidence , " declares the LORD , " a nation that has neither gates nor bars ; its people live alone . 49 : 32 Their camels will become plunder , and their large herds will be booty . I will scatter to the winds those who are in distant places and will bring disaster on them from every side , " declares the LORD . 49 : 33 " Hazor will become a haunt of jackals , a desolate place forever . No one will live there ; no man will dwell in it . " 49 : 34 This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam , early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah : 49 : 35 This is what the LORD Almighty says : " See , I will break the bow of Elam , the mainstay of their might . 49 : 36 I will bring against Elam the four winds from the four quarters of the heavens ; I will scatter them to the four winds , and there will not be a nation where Elam ' s exiles do not go . 49 : 37 I will shatter Elam before their foes , before those who seek their lives ; I will bring disaster upon them , even my fierce anger , " declares the LORD . " I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them . 49 : 38 I will set my throne in Elam and destroy her king and officials , " declares the LORD . 49 : 39 " Yet I will restore the fortunes of Elam in days to come , " declares the LORD . 50 : 1 This is the word the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians : 50 : 2 " Announce and proclaim among the nations , lift up a banner and proclaim it ; keep nothing back , but say , ' Babylon will be captured ; Bel will be put to shame ( Marduk filled with terror . Her images will be put to shame and her idols filled with terror . ' 50 : 3 A nation from the north will attack her and lay waste her land . No one will live in it ; both men and animals will flee away . 50 : 4 " In those days , at that time , " declares the LORD , " the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the LORD their God . 50 : 5 They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it . They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten . 50 : 6 " My people have been lost sheep ; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains . They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place . 50 : 7 Whoever found them devoured them ; their enemies said , ' We are not guilty , for they sinned against the LORD , their true pasture , the LORD , the hope of their fathers . ' 50 : 8 " Flee out of Babylon ; leave the land of the Babylonians , and be like the goats that lead the flock . 50 : 9 For I will stir up and bring against Babylon an alliance of great nations from the land of the north . They will take up their positions against her , and from the north she will be captured . Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty - handed . 50 : 10 So Babylonia will be plundered ; all who plunder her will have their fill , " declares the LORD . 50 : 11 " Because you rejoice and are glad , you who pillage my inheritance , because you frolic like a heifer threshing grain and neigh like stallions , 50 : 12 your mother will be greatly ashamed ; she who gave you birth will be disgraced . She will be the least of the nations -- a wilderness , a dry land , a desert . 50 : 13 Because of the LORD ' S anger she will not be inhabited but will be completely desolate . All who pass Babylon will be horrified and scoff because of all her wounds . 50 : 14 " Take up your positions around Babylon , all you who draw the bow . Shoot at her ! Spare no arrows , for she has sinned against the LORD . 50 : 15 Shout against her on every side ! She surrenders , her towers fall , her walls are torn down . Since this is the vengeance of the LORD , take vengeance on her ; do to her as she has done to others . 50 : 16 Cut off from Babylon the sower , and the reaper with his sickle at harvest . Because of the sword of the oppressor let everyone return to his own people , let everyone flee to his own land . 50 : 17 " Israel is a scattered flock that lions have chased away . The first to devour him was the king of Assyria ; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon . " 50 : 18 Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : " I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria . 50 : 19 But I will bring Israel back to his own pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan ; his appetite will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead . 50 : 20 In those days , at that time , " declares the LORD , " search will be made for Israel ' s guilt , but there will be none , and for the sins of Judah , but none will be found , for I will forgive the remnant I spare . 50 : 21 " Attack the land of Merathaim and those who live in Pekod . Pursue , kill and completely destroy them , " declares the LORD . " Do everything I have commanded you . 50 : 22 The noise of battle is in the land , the noise of great destruction ! 50 : 23 How broken and shattered is the hammer of the whole earth ! How desolate is Babylon among the nations ! 50 : 24 I set a trap for you , O Babylon , and you were caught before you knew it ; you were found and captured because you opposed the LORD . 50 : 25 The LORD has opened his arsenal and brought out the weapons of his wrath , for the Sovereign LORD Almighty has work to do in the land of the Babylonians . 50 : 26 Come against her from afar . Break open her granaries ; pile her up like heaps of grain . Completely destroy her and leave her no remnant . 50 : 27 Kill all her young bulls ; let them go down to the slaughter ! Woe to them ! For their day has come , the time for them to be punished . 50 : 28 Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon declaring in Zion how the LORD our God has taken vengeance , vengeance for his temple . 50 : 29 " Summon archers against Babylon , all those who draw the bow . Encamp all around her ; let no one escape . Repay her for her deeds ; do to her as she has done . For she has defied the LORD , the Holy one of Israel . 50 : 30 Therefore , her young men will fall in the streets ; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day , " declares the LORD . 50 : 31 " See , I am against you , O arrogant one , " declares the Lord , the LORD Almighty , " for your day has come , the time for you to be punished . 50 : 32 The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up ; I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her . " 50 : 33 This is what the LORD Almighty says : " The people of Israel are oppressed , and the people of Judah as well . All their captors hold them fast , refusing to let them go . 50 : 34 Yet their Redeemer is strong ; the LORD Almighty is his name . He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land , but unrest to those who live in Babylon . 50 : 35 " A sword against the Babylonians ! " declares the LORD -- " against those who live in Babylon and against her officials and wise men ! 50 : 36 A sword against her false prophets ! They will become fools . A sword against her warriors ! They will be filled with terror . 50 : 37 A sword against her horses and chariots and all the foreigners in her ranks ! They will become women . A sword against her treasures ! They will be plundered . 50 : 38 A drought on her waters ! They will dry up . For it is a land of idols , idols that will go mad with terror . 50 : 39 " So desert creatures and hyenas will live there , and there the owl will dwell . It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation . 50 : 40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighboring towns , " declares the LORD , " so no one will live there ; no man will dwell in it . 50 : 41 " Look ! An army is coming from the north ; a great nation and many kings are being stirred up from the ends of the earth . 50 : 42 They are armed with bows and spears ; they are cruel and without mercy . They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses ; they come like men in battle formation to attack you , O Daughter of Babylon . 50 : 43 The king of Babylon has heard reports about them , and his hands hang limp . Anguish has gripped him , pain like that of a woman in labor . 50 : 44 Like a lion coming up from Jordan ' s thickets to a rich pastureland , I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant . Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this ? Who is like me and who can challenge me ? And what shepherd can stand against me ? " 50 : 45 Therefore , hear what the LORD has planned against Babylon , what he has purposed against the land of the Babylonians : The young of the flock will be dragged away ; he will completely destroy their pasture because of them . 50 : 46 At the sound of Babylon ' s capture the earth will tremble ; its cry will resound among the nations . 51 : 1 This is what the LORD says : " See , I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai . 51 : 2 I will send foreigners to Babylon to winnow her and to devastate her land ; they will oppose her on every side in the day of her disaster . 51 : 3 Let not the archer string his bow , nor let him put on his armor . Do not spare her young men ; completely destroy her army . 51 : 4 They will fall down slain in Babylon , fatally wounded in her streets . 51 : 5 For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God , the LORD Almighty , though their land is full of guilt before the Holy one of Israel . 51 : 6 " Flee from Babylon ! Run for your lives ! Do not be destroyed because of her sins . It is time for the LORD ' S vengeance ; he will pay her what she deserves . 51 : 7 Babylon was a gold cup in the LORD ' S hand ; she made the whole earth drunk . The nations drank her wine ; therefore they have now gone mad . 51 : 8 Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken . Wail over her ! Get balm for her pain ; perhaps she can be healed . 51 : 9 "' We would have healed Babylon , but she cannot be healed ; let us leave her and each go to his own land , for her judgment reaches to the skies , it rises as high as the clouds . ' 51 : 10 "' The LORD has vindicated us ; come , let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has done . ' 51 : 11 " Sharpen the arrows , take up the shields ! The LORD has stirred up the kings of the Medes , because his purpose is to destroy Babylon . The LORD will take vengeance , vengeance for his temple . 51 : 12 Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon ! Reinforce the guard , station the watchmen , prepare an ambush ! The LORD will carry out his purpose , his decree against the people of Babylon . 51 : 13 You who live by many waters and are rich in treasures , your end has come , the time for you to be cut off . 51 : 14 The LORD Almighty has sworn by himself : I will surely fill you with men , as with a swarm of locusts , and they will shout in triumph over you . 51 : 15 " He made the earth by his power ; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding . 51 : 16 When he thunders , the waters in the heavens roar ; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth . He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses . 51 : 17 " Every man is senseless and without knowledge ; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols . His images are a fraud ; they have no breath in them . 51 : 18 They are worthless , the objects of mockery ; when their judgment comes , they will perish . 51 : 19 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these , for he is the Maker of all things , including the tribe of his inheritance -- the LORD Almighty is his name . 51 : 20 " You are my war club , my weapon for battle -- with you I shatter nations , with you I destroy kingdoms , 51 : 21 with you I shatter horse and rider , with you I shatter chariot and driver , 51 : 22 with you I shatter man and woman , with you I shatter old man and youth , with you I shatter young man and maiden , 51 : 23 with you I shatter shepherd and flock , with you I shatter farmer and oxen , with you I shatter governors and officials . 51 : 24 " Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wrong they have done in Zion , " declares the LORD . 51 : 25 " I am against you , O destroying mountain , you who destroy the whole earth , " declares the LORD . " I will stretch out my hand against you , roll you off the cliffs , and make you a burned - out mountain . 51 : 26 No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone , nor any stone for a foundation , for you will be desolate forever , " declares the LORD . 51 : 27 " Lift up a banner in the land ! Blow the trumpet among the nations ! Prepare the nations for battle against her ; summon against her these kingdoms : Ararat , Minni and Ashkenaz . Appoint a commander against her ; send up horses like a swarm of locusts . 51 : 28 Prepare the nations for battle against her -- the kings of the Medes , their governors and all their officials , and all the countries they rule . 51 : 29 The land trembles and writhes , for the LORD ' S purposes against Babylon stand -- to lay waste the land of Babylon so that no one will live there . 51 : 30 Babylon ' s warriors have stopped fighting ; they remain in their strongholds . Their strength is exhausted ; they have become like women . Her dwellings are set on fire ; the bars of her gates are broken . 51 : 31 one courier follows another and messenger follows messenger to announce to the king of Babylon that his entire city is captured , 51 : 32 the river crossings seized , the marshes set on fire , and the soldiers terrified . " 51 : 33 This is what the LORD Almighty , the God of Israel , says : " The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled ; the time to harvest her will soon come . " 51 : 34 " Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us , he has thrown us into confusion , he has made us an empty jar . Like a serpent he has swallowed us and filled his stomach with our delicacies , and then has spewed us out . 51 : 35 May the violence done to our flesh be upon Babylon , " say the inhabitants of Zion . " May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia , " says Jerusalem . 51 : 36 Therefore , this is what the LORD says : " See , I will defend your cause and avenge you ; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry . 51 : 37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins , a haunt of jackals , an object of horror and scorn , a place where no one lives . 51 : 38 Her people all roar like young lions , they growl like lion cubs . 51 : 39 But while they are aroused , I will set out a feast for them and make them drunk , so that they shout with laughter -- then sleep forever and not awake , " declares the LORD . 51 : 40 " I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter , like rams and goats . 51 : 41 " How Sheshach will be captured , the boast of the whole earth seized ! What a horror Babylon will be among the nations ! 51 : 42 The sea will rise over Babylon ; its roaring waves will cover her . 51 : 43 Her towns will be desolate , a dry and desert land , a land where no one lives , through which no man travels . 51 : 44 I will punish Bel in Babylon and make him spew out what he has swallowed . The nations will no longer stream to him . And the wall of Babylon will fall . 51 : 45 " Come out of her , my people ! Run for your lives ! Run from the fierce anger of the LORD . 51 : 46 Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land ; one rumor comes this year , another the next , rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler . 51 : 47 For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon ; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her . 51 : 48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon , for out of the north destroyers will attack her , " declares the LORD . 51 : 49 " Babylon must fall because of Israel ' s slain , just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon . 51 : 50 You who have escaped the sword , leave and do not linger ! Remember the LORD in a distant land , and think on Jerusalem . " 51 : 51 " We are disgraced , for we have been insulted and shame covers our faces , because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORD ' S house . " 51 : 52 " But days are coming , " declares the LORD , " when I will punish her idols , and throughout her land the wounded will groan . 51 : 53 Even if Babylon reaches the sky and fortifies her lofty stronghold , I will send destroyers against her , " declares the LORD . 51 : 54 " The sound of a cry comes from Babylon , the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians . 51 : 55 The LORD will destroy Babylon ; he will silence her noisy din . Waves of enemies will rage like great waters ; the roar of their voices will resound . 51 : 56 A destroyer will come against Babylon ; her warriors will be captured , and their bows will be broken . For the LORD is a God of retribution ; he will repay in full . 51 : 57 I will make her officials and wise men drunk , her governors , officers and warriors as well ; they will sleep forever and not awake , " declares the King , whose name is the LORD Almighty . 51 : 58 This is what the LORD Almighty says : " Babylon ' s thick wall will be leveled and her high gates set on fire ; the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing , the nations ' labor is only fuel for the flames . " 51 : 59 This is the message Jeremiah gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah , the son of Mahseiah , when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign . 51 : 60 Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon -- all that had been recorded concerning Babylon . 51 : 61 He said to Seraiah , " When you get to Babylon , see that you read all these words aloud . 51 : 62 Then say , ' O LORD , you have said you will destroy this place , so that neither man nor animal will live in it ; it will be desolate forever . ' 51 : 63 When you finish reading this scroll , tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates . 51 : 64 Then say , ' So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring upon her . And her people will fall . '" The words of Jeremiah end here . 52 : 1 Zedekiah was twenty - one years old when he became king , and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years . His mother ' s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah ; she was from Libnah . 52 : 2 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD , just as Jehoiakim had done . 52 : 3 It was because of the LORD ' S anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah , and in the end he thrust them from his presence . Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon . 52 : 4 So in the ninth year of Zedekiah ' s reign , on the tenth day of the tenth month , Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army . They camped outside the city and built siege works all around it . 52 : 5 The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah . 52 : 6 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat . 52 : 7 Then the city wall was broken through , and the whole army fled . They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king ' s garden , though the Babylonians were surrounding the city . They fled toward the Arabah , 52 : 8 but the Babylonian army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho . All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered , 52 : 9 and he was captured . He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath , where he pronounced sentence on him . 52 : 10 There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes ; he also killed all the officials of Judah . 52 : 11 Then he put out Zedekiah ' s eyes , bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon , where he put him in prison till the day of his death . 52 : 12 on the tenth day of the fifth month , in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon , Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard , who served the king of Babylon , came to Jerusalem . 52 : 13 He set fire to the temple of the LORD , the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem . Every important building he burned down . 52 : 14 The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the imperial guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem . 52 : 15 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city , along with the rest of the craftsmen and those who had gone over to the king of Babylon . 52 : 16 But Nebuzaradan left behind the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields . 52 : 17 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars , the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the LORD and they carried all the bronze to Babylon . 52 : 18 They also took away the pots , shovels , wick trimmers , sprinkling bowls , dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service . 52 : 19 The commander of the imperial guard took away the basins , censers , sprinkling bowls , pots , lampstands , dishes and bowls used for drink offerings -- all that were made of pure gold or silver . 52 : 20 The bronze from the two pillars , the Sea and the twelve bronze bulls under it , and the movable stands , which King Solomon had made for the temple of the LORD , was more than could be weighed . 52 : 21 Each of the pillars was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference ; each was four fingers thick , and hollow . 52 : 22 The bronze capital on top of the one pillar was five cubits high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around . The other pillar , with its pomegranates , was similar . 52 : 23 There were ninety - six pomegranates on the sides ; the total number of pomegranates above the surrounding network was a hundred . 52 : 24 The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest , Zephaniah the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers . 52 : 25 Of those still in the city , he took the officer in charge of the fighting men , and seven royal advisers . He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land and sixty of his men who were found in the city . 52 : 26 Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah . 52 : 27 There at Riblah , in the land of Hamath , the king had them executed . So Judah went into captivity , away from her land . 52 : 28 This is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile : in the seventh year , 3 , 023 Jews ; 52 : 29 in Nebuchadnezzar ' s eighteenth year , 832 people from Jerusalem ; 52 : 30 in his twenty - third year , 745 Jews taken into exile by Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard . There were 4 , 600 people in all . 52 : 31 In the thirty - seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah , in the year Evil - Merodach became king of Babylon , he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison on the twenty - fifth day of the twelfth month . 52 : 32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon . 52 : 33 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king ' s table . Lamentations 1 : 1 How deserted lies the city , once so full of people ! How like a widow is she , who once was great among the nations ! She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave . 1 : 2 Bitterly she weeps at night , tears are upon her cheeks . Among all her lovers there is none to comfort her . All her friends have betrayed her ; they have become her enemies . 1 : 3 After affliction and harsh labor , Judah has gone into exile . She dwells among the nations ; she finds no resting place . All who pursue her have overtaken her in the midst of her distress . 1 : 4 The roads to Zion mourn , for no one comes to her appointed feasts . All her gateways are desolate , her priests groan , her maidens grieve , and she is in bitter anguish . 1 : 5 Her foes have become her masters ; her enemies are at ease . The LORD has brought her grief because of her many sins . Her children have gone into exile , captive before the foe . 1 : 6 All the splendor has departed from the Daughter of Zion . Her princes are like deer that find no pasture ; in weakness they have fled before the pursuer . 1 : 7 In the days of her affliction and wandering Jerusalem remembers all the treasures that were hers in days of old . When her people fell into enemy hands , there was no one to help her . Her enemies looked at her and laughed at her destruction . 1 : 8 Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean . All who honored her despise her , for they have seen her nakedness ; she herself groans and turns away . 1 : 9 Her filthiness clung to her skirts ; she did not consider her future . Her fall was astounding ; there was none to comfort her . " Look , O LORD , on my affliction , for the enemy has triumphed . " 1 : 10 The enemy laid hands on all her treasures ; she saw pagan nations enter her sanctuary -- those you had forbidden to enter your assembly . 1 : 11 All her people groan as they search for bread ; they barter their treasures for food to keep themselves alive . " Look , O LORD , and consider , for I am despised . " 1 : 12 " Is it nothing to you , all you who pass by ? Look around and see . Is any suffering like my suffering that was inflicted on me , that the LORD brought on me in the day of his fierce anger ? 1 : 13 " From on high he sent fire , sent it down into my bones . He spread a net for my feet and turned me back . He made me desolate , faint all the day long . 1 : 14 " My sins have been bound into a yoke ; by his hands they were woven together . They have come upon my neck and the Lord has sapped my strength . He has handed me over to those I cannot withstand . 1 : 15 " The Lord has rejected all the warriors in my midst ; he has summoned an army against me to crush my young men . In his winepress the Lord has trampled the Virgin Daughter of Judah . 1 : 16 " This is why I weep and my eyes overflow with tears . No one is near to comfort me , no one to restore my spirit . My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed . " 1 : 17 Zion stretches out her hands , but there is no one to comfort her . The LORD has decreed for Jacob that his neighbors become his foes ; Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them . 1 : 18 " The LORD is righteous , yet I rebelled against his command . Listen , all you peoples ; look upon my suffering . My young men and maidens have gone into exile . 1 : 19 " I called to my allies but they betrayed me . My priests and my elders perished in the city while they searched for food to keep themselves alive . 1 : 20 " See , O LORD , how distressed I am ! I am in torment within , and in my heart I am dispurbed , for I have been most rebellious . Outside , the sword bereaves ; inside , there is only death . 1 : 21 " People have heard my groaning , but there is no one to comfort me . All my enemies have heard of my distress ; they rejoice at what you have done . May you bring the day you have announced so they may become like me . 1 : 22 " Let all their wickedness come before you ; deal with them as you have dealt with me because of all my sins . My groans are many and my heart is faint . " 2 : 1 How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zion with the cloud of his anger ! He has hurled down the splendor of Israel from heaven to earth ; he has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger . 2 : 2 Without pity the Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob ; in his wrath he has torn down the strongholds of the Daughter of Judah . He has brought her kingdom and its princes down to the ground in dishonor . 2 : 3 In fierce anger he has cut off every horn of Israel . He has withdrawn his right hand at the approach of the enemy . He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire that consumes everything around it . 2 : 4 Like an enemy he has strung his bow ; his right hand is ready . Like a foe he has slain all who were pleasing to the eye ; he has poured out his wrath like fire on the tent of the Daughter of Zion . 2 : 5 The Lord is like an enemy ; he has swallowed up Israel . He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds . He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for the Daughter of Judah . 2 : 6 He has laid waste his dwelling like a garden ; he has destroyed his place of meeting . The LORD has made Zion forget her appointed feasts and her Sabbaths ; in his fierce anger he has spurned both king and priest . 2 : 7 The Lord has rejected his altar and abandoned his sanctuary . He has handed over to the enemy the walls of her palaces ; they have raised a shout in the house of the LORD as on the day of an appointed feast . 2 : 8 The LORD determined to tear down the wall around the Daughter of Zion . He stretched out a measuring line and did not withhold his hand from destroying . He made ramparts and walls lament ; together they wasted away . 2 : 9 Her gates have sunk into the ground ; their bars he has broken and destroyed . Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations , the law is no more , and her prophets no longer find visions from the LORD . 2 : 10 The elders of the Daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence ; they have sprinkled dust on their heads and put on sackcloth . The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground . 2 : 11 My eyes fail from weeping , I am in torment within , my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed , because children and infants faint in the streets of the city . 2 : 12 They say to their mothers , " Where is bread and wine ? " as they faint like wounded men in the streets of the city , as their lives ebb away in their mothers ' arms . 2 : 13 What can I say for you ? With what can I compare you , O Daughter of Jerusalem ? To what can I liken you , that I may comfort you , O Virgin Daughter of Zion ? Your wound is as deep as the sea . Who can heal you ? 2 : 14 The visions of your prophets were false and worthless ; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity . The oracles they gave you were false and misleading . 2 : 15 All who pass your way clap their hands at you ; they scoff and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem : " Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty , the joy of the whole earth ? " 2 : 16 All your enemies open their mouths wide against you ; they scoff and gnash their teeth and say , " We have swallowed her up . This is the day we have waited for ; we have lived to see it . " 2 : 17 The LORD has done what he planned ; he has fulfilled his word , which he decreed long ago . He has overthrown you without pity , he has let the enemy gloat over you , he has exalted the horn of your foes . 2 : 18 The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord . O wall of the Daughter of Zion , let your tears flow like a river day and night ; give yourself no relief , your eyes no rest . 2 : 19 Arise , cry out in the night , as the watches of the night begin ; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord . Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children , who faint from hunger at the head of every street . 2 : 20 " Look , O LORD , and consider : Whom have you ever treated like this ? Should women eat their offspring , the children they have cared for ? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord ? 2 : 21 " Young and old lie together in the dust of the streets ; my young men and maidens have fallen by the sword . You have slain them in the day of your anger ; you have slaughtered them without pity . 2 : 22 " As you summon to a feast day , so you summoned against me terrors on every side . In the day of the LORD ' S anger no one escaped or survived ; those I cared for and reared , my enemy has destroyed . " 3 : 1 I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath . 3 : 2 He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light ; 3 : 3 indeed , he has turned his hand against me again and again , all day long . 3 : 4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones . 3 : 5 He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship . 3 : 6 He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead . 3 : 7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape ; he has weighed me down with chains . 3 : 8 Even when I call out or cry for help , he shuts out my prayer . 3 : 9 He has barred my way with blocks of stone ; he has made my paths crooked . 3 : 10 Like a bear lying in wait , like a lion in hiding , 3 : 11 he dragged me from the path and mangled me and left me without help . 3 : 12 He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows . 3 : 13 He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver . 3 : 14 I became the laughingstock of all my people ; they mock me in song all day long . 3 : 15 He has filled me with bitter herbs and sated me with gall . 3 : 16 He has broken my teeth with gravel ; he has trampled me in the dust . 3 : 17 I have been deprived of peace ; I have forgotten what prosperity is . 3 : 18 So I say , " My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the LORD . " 3 : 19 I remember my affliction and my wandering , the bitterness and the gall . 3 : 20 I well remember them , and my soul is downcast within me . 3 : 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope : 3 : 22 Because of the LORD ' S great love we are not consumed , for his compassions never fail . 3 : 23 They are new every morning ; great is your faithfulness . 3 : 24 I say to myself , " The LORD is my portion ; therefore I will wait for him . " 3 : 25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him , to the one who seeks him ; 3 : 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD . 3 : 27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young . 3 : 28 Let him sit alone in silence , for the LORD has laid it on him . 3 : 29 Let him bury his face in the dust -- there may yet be hope . 3 : 30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him , and let him be filled with disgrace . 3 : 31 For men are not cast off by the Lord forever . 3 : 32 Though he brings grief , he will show compassion , so great is his unfailing love . 3 : 33 For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men . 3 : 34 To crush underfoot all prisoners in the land , 3 : 35 to deny a man his rights before the Most High , 3 : 36 to deprive a man of justice -- would not the Lord see such things ? 3 : 37 Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it ? 3 : 38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come ? 3 : 39 Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins ? 3 : 40 Let us examine our ways and test them , and let us return to the LORD . 3 : 41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven , and say : 3 : 42 " We have sinned and rebelled and you have not forgiven . 3 : 43 " You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us ; you have slain without pity . 3 : 44 You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through . 3 : 45 You have made us scum and refuse among the nations . 3 : 46 " All our enemies have opened their mouths wi ` e against us . 3 : 47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls , ruin and destruction . " 3 : 48 Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed . 3 : 49 My eyes will flow unceasingly , without relief , 3 : 50 until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees . 3 : 51 What I see brings grief to my soul because of all the women of my city . 3 : 52 Those who were my enemies without cause hunted me like a bird . 3 : 53 They tried to end my life in a pit and threw stones at me ; 3 : 54 the waters closed over my head , and I thought I was about to be cut off . 3 : 55 I called on your name , O LORD , from the depths of the pit . 3 : 56 You heard my plea : " Do not close your ears to my cry for relief . " 3 : 57 You came near when I called you , and you said , " Do not fear . " 3 : 58 O Lord , you took up my case ; you redeemed my life . 3 : 59 You have seen , O LORD , the wrong done to me . Uphold my cause ! 3 : 60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance , all their plots against me . 3 : 61 O LORD , you have heard their insults , all their plots against me -- 3 : 62 what my enemies whisper and mutter against me all day long . 3 : 63 Look at them ! Sitting or standing , they mock me in their songs . 3 : 64 Pay them back what they deserve , O LORD , for what their hands have done . 3 : 65 Put a veil over their hearts , and may your curse be on them ! 3 : 66 Pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens of the LORD . 4 : 1 How the gold has lost its luster , the fine gold become dull ! The sacred gems are scattered at the head of every street . 4 : 2 How the precious sons of Zion , once worth their weight in gold , are now considered as pots of clay , the work of a potter ' s hands ! 4 : 3 Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young , but my people have become heartless like ostriches in the desert . 4 : 4 Because of thirst the infant ' s tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth ; the children beg for bread , but no one gives it to them . 4 : 5 Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets . Those nurtured in purple now lie on ash heaps . 4 : 6 The punishment of my people is greater than that of Sodom , which was overthrown in a moment without a hand turned to help her . 4 : 7 Their princes were brighter than snow and whiter than milk , their bodies more ruddy than rubies , their appearance like sapphires . 4 : 8 But now they are blacker than soot ; they are not recognized in the streets . Their skin has shriveled on their bones ; it has become as dry as a stick . 4 : 9 Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of famine ; racked with hunger , they waste away for lack of food from the field . 4 : 10 With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children , who became their food when my people were destroyed . 4 : 11 The LORD has given full vent to his wrath ; he has poured out his fierce anger . He kindled a fire in Zion that consumed her foundations . 4 : 12 The kings of the earth did not believe , nor did any of the world ' s people , that enemies and foes could enter the gates of Jerusalem . 4 : 13 But it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests , who shed within her the blood of the righteous . 4 : 14 Now they grope through the streets like men who are blind . They are so defiled with blood that no one dares to touch their garments . 4 : 15 " Go away ! You are unclean ! " men cry to them . " Away ! Away ! Don ' t touch us ! " When they flee and wander about , people among the nations say , " They can stay here no longer . " 4 : 16 The LORD himself has scattered them ; he no longer watches over them . The priests are shown no honor , the elders no favor . 4 : 17 Moreover , our eyes failed , looking in vain for help ; from our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us . 4 : 18 Men stalked us at every step , so we could not walk in our streets . Our end was near , our days were numbered , for our end had come . 4 : 19 Our pursuers were swifter than eagles in the sky ; they chased us over the mountains and lay in wait for us in the desert . 4 : 20 The LORD ' S anointed , our very life breath , was caught in their traps . We thought that under his shadow we would live among the nations . 4 : 21 Rejoice and be glad , O Daughter of Edom , you who live in the land of Uz . But to you also the cup will be passed ; you will be drunk and stripped naked . 4 : 22 O Daughter of Zion , your punishment will end ; he will not prolong your exile . But , O Daughter of Edom , he will punish your sin and expose your wickedness . 5 : 1 Remember , O LORD , what has happened to us ; look , and see our disgrace . 5 : 2 Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens , our homes to foreigners . 5 : 3 We have become orphans and fatherless , our mothers like widows . 5 : 4 We must buy the water we drink ; our wood can be had only at a price . 5 : 5 Those who pursue us are at our heels ; we are weary and find no rest . 5 : 6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread . 5 : 7 Our fathers sinned and are no more , and we bear their punishment . 5 : 8 Slaves rule over us , and there is none to free us from their hands . 5 : 9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert . 5 : 10 Our skin is hot as an oven , feverish from hunger . 5 : 11 Women have been ravished in Zion , and virgins in the towns of Judah . 5 : 12 Princes have been hung up by their hands ; elders are shown no respect . 5 : 13 Young men toil at the millstones ; boys stagger under loads of wood . 5 : 14 The elders are gone from the city gate ; the young men have stopped their music . 5 : 15 Joy is gone from our hearts ; our dancing has turned to mourning . 5 : 16 The crown has fallen from our head . Woe to us , for we have sinned ! 5 : 17 Because of this our hearts are faint , because of these things our eyes grow dim 5 : 18 for Mount Zion , which lies desolate , with jackals prowling over it . 5 : 19 You , O LORD , reign forever ; your throne endures from generation to generation . 5 : 20 Why do you always forget us ? Why do you forsake us so long ? 5 : 21 Restore us to yourself , O LORD , that we may return ; renew our days as of old Ezekiel 1 : 1 In the thirtieth year , in the fourth month on the fifth day , while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River , the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God . 1 : 2 on the fifth of the month -- it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin -- 1 : 3 the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest , the son of Buzi , by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians . There the hand of the LORD was upon him . 1 : 4 I looked , and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north -- an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light . The center of the fire looked like glowing metal , 1 : 5 and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures . In appearance their form was that of a man , 1 : 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings . 1 : 7 Their legs were straight ; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze . 1 : 8 Under their wings on their four sides they had the hands of a man . All four of them had faces and wings , 1 : 9 and their wings touched one another . Each one went straight ahead ; they did not turn as they moved . 1 : 10 Their faces looked like this : Each of the four had the face of a man , and on the right side each had the face of a lion , and on the left the face of an ox ; each also had the face of an eagle . 1 : 11 Such were their faces . Their wings were spread out upward ; each had two wings , one touching the wing of another creature on either side , and two wings covering its body . 1 : 12 Each one went straight ahead . Wherever the spirit would go , they would go , without turning as they went . 1 : 13 The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches . Fire moved back and forth among the creatures ; it was bright , and lightning flashed out of it . 1 : 14 The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning . 1 : 15 As I looked at the living creatures , I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces . 1 : 16 This was the appearance and structure of the wheels : They sparkled like chrysolite , and all four looked alike . Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel . 1 : 17 As they moved , they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced ; the wheels did not turn about as the creatures went . 1 : 18 Their rims were high and awesome , and all four rims were full of eyes all around . 1 : 19 When the living creatures moved , the wheels beside them moved ; and when the living creatures rose from the ground , the wheels also rose . 1 : 20 Wherever the spirit would go , they would go , and the wheels would rise along with them , because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels . 1 : 21 When the creatures moved , they also moved ; when the creatures stood still , they also stood still ; and when the creatures rose from the ground , the wheels rose along with them , because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels . 1 : 22 Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked like an expanse , sparkling like ice , and awesome . 1 : 23 Under the expanse their wings were stretched out one toward the other , and each had two wings covering its body . 1 : 24 When the creatures moved , I heard the sound of their wings , like the roar of rushing waters , like the voice of the Almighty , like the tumult of an army . When they stood still , they lowered their wings . 1 : 25 Then there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood with lowered wings . 1 : 26 Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire , and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man . 1 : 27 I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal , as if full of fire , and that from there down he looked like fire ; and brilliant light surrounded him . 1 : 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day , so was the radiance around him . This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD . When I saw it , I fell facedown , and I heard the voice of one speaking . 2 : 1 He said to me , " Son of man , stand up on your feet and I will speak to you . " 2 : 2 As he spoke , the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet , and I heard him speaking to me . 2 : 3 He said : " Son of man , I am sending you to the Israelites , to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me ; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day . 2 : 4 The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn . Say to them , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says . ' 2 : 5 And whether they listen or fail to listen -- for they are a rebellious house -- they will know that a prophet has been among them . 2 : 6 And you , son of man , do not be afraid of them or their words . Do not be afraid , though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions . Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them , though they are a rebellious house . 2 : 7 You must speak my words to them , whether they listen or fail to listen , for they are rebellious . 2 : 8 But you , son of man , listen to what I say to you . Do not rebel like that rebellious house ; open your mouth and eat what I give you . " 2 : 9 Then I looked , and I saw a hand stretched out to me . In it was a scroll , 2 : 10 which he unrolled before me . on both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe . 3 : 1 And he said to me , " Son of man , eat what is before you , eat this scroll ; then go and speak to the house of Israel . " 3 : 2 So I opened my mouth , and he gave me the scroll to eat . 3 : 3 Then he said to me , " Son of man , eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it . " So I ate it , and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth . 3 : 4 He then said to me : " Son of man , go now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them . 3 : 5 You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language , but to the house of Israel -- 3 : 6 not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language , whose words you cannot understand . Surely if I had sent you to them , they would have listened to you . 3 : 7 But the house of Israel is not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me , for the whole house of Israel is hardened and obstinate . 3 : 8 But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are . 3 : 9 I will make your forehead like the hardest stone , harder than flint . Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them , though they are a rebellious house . " 3 : 10 And he said to me , " Son of man , listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you . 3 : 11 Go now to your countrymen in exile and speak to them . Say to them , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says , ' whether they listen or fail to listen . " 3 : 12 Then the Spirit lifted me up , and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound -- May the glory of the LORD be praised in his dwelling place ! -- 3 : 13 the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them , a loud rumbling sound . 3 : 14 The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away , and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit , with the strong hand of the LORD upon me . 3 : 15 I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Abib near the Kebar River . And there , where they were living , I sat among them for seven days -- overwhelmed . 3 : 16 At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me : 3 : 17 " Son of man , I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel ; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me . 3 : 18 When I say to a wicked man , ' You will surely die , ' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life , that wicked man will die for his sin , and I will hold you accountable for his blood . 3 : 19 But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways , he will die for his sin ; but you will have saved yourself . 3 : 20 " Again , when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil , and I put a stumbling block before him , he will die . Since you did not warn him , he will die for his sin . The righteous things he did will not be remembered , and I will hold youaccountable for his blood . 3 : 21 But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin , he will surely live because he took warning , and you will have saved yourself . " 3 : 22 The hand of the LORD was upon me there , and he said to me , " Get up and go out to the plain , and there I will speak to you . " 3 : 23 So I got up and went out to the plain . And the glory of the LORD was standing there , like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River , and I fell facedown . 3 : 24 Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet . He spoke to me and said : " Go , shut yourself inside your house . 3 : 25 And you , son of man , they will tie with ropes ; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people . 3 : 26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them , though they are a rebellious house . 3 : 27 But when I speak to you , I will open your mouth and you shall say to them , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says . ' Whoever will listen let him listen , and whoever will refuse let him refuse ; for they are a rebellious house . 4 : 1 " Now , son of man , take a clay tablet , put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it . 4 : 2 Then lay siege to it : Erect siege works against it , build a ramp up to it , set up camps against it and put battering rams around it . 4 : 3 Then take an iron pan , place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it . It will be under siege , and you shall besiege it . This will be a sign to the house of Israel . 4 : 4 " Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the house of Israel upon yourself . You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side . 4 : 5 I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin . So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the house of Israel . 4 : 6 " After you have finished this , lie down again , this time on your right side , and bear the sin of the house of Judah . I hare assigned you 40 days , a day for each year . 4 : 7 Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her . 4 : 8 I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege . 4 : 9 " Take wheat and barley , beans and lentils , millet and spelt ; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself . You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side . 4 : 10 Weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day and eat it at set times . 4 : 11 Also measure out a sixth of a hin of water and drink it at set times . 4 : 12 Eat the food as you would a barley cake ; bake it in the sight of the people , using human excrement for fuel . " 4 : 13 The LORD said , " In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them . " 4 : 14 Then I said , " Not so , Sovereign LORD ! I have never defiled myself . From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead or torn by wild animals . No unclean meat has ever entered my mouth . " 4 : 15 " Very well , " he said , " I will let you bake your bread over cow manure instead of human excrement . " 4 : 16 He then said to me : " Son of man , I will cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem . The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair , 4 : 17 for food and water will be scarce . They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of their sin . 5 : 1 " Now , son of man , take a sharp sword and use it as a barber ' s razor to shave your head and your beard . Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair . 5 : 2 When the days of your siege come to an end , burn a third of the hair with fire inside the city . Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city . And scatter a third to the wind . For I will pursue them with drawn sword . 5 : 3 But take a few strands of hair and tuck them away in the folds of your garment . 5 : 4 Again , take a few of these and throw them into the fire and burn them up . A fire will spread from there to the whole house of Israel . 5 : 5 " This is what the Sovereign LORD says : This is Jerusalem , which I have set in the center of the nations , with countries all around her . 5 : 6 Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her . She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees . 5 : 7 " Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : You have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws . You have not even conformed to the standards of the nations around you . 5 : 8 " Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : I myself am against you , Jerusalem , and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations . 5 : 9 Because of all your detestable idols , I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again . 5 : 10 Therefore in your midst fathers will eat their children , and children will eat their fathers . I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds . 5 : 11 Therefore as surely as I live , declares the Sovereign LORD , because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your vile images and detestable practices , I myself will withdraw my favor ; I will not look on you with pity or spare you . 5 : 12 A third of your people will die of the plague or perish by famine inside you ; a third will fall by the sword outside your walls ; and a third I will scatter to the winds and pursue with drawn sword . 5 : 13 " Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside , and I will be avenged . And when I have spent my wrath upon them , they will know that I the LORD have spoken in my zeal . 5 : 14 " I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you , in the sight of all who pass by . 5 : 15 You will be a reproach and a taunt , a warning and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke . I the LORD have spoken . 5 : 16 When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine , I will shoot to destroy you . I will bring more and more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food . 5 : 17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you , and they will leave you childless . Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you , and I will bring the sword against you . I the LORD have spoken . " 6 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 6 : 2 " Son of man , set your face against the mountains of Israel ; prophesy against them 6 : 3 and say : ' O mountains of Israel , hear the word of the Sovereign LORD . This is what the Sovereign LORD says to the mountains and hills , to the ravines and valleys : I am about to bring a sword against you , and I will destroy your high places . 6 : 4 Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed ; and I will slay your people in front of your idols . 6 : 5 I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols , and I will scatter your bones around your altars . 6 : 6 Wherever you live , the towns will be laid waste and the high places demolished , so that your altars will be laid waste and devastated , your idols smashed and ruined , your incense altars broken down , and what you have made wiped out . 6 : 7 Your people will fall slain among you , and you will know that I am the LORD . 6 : 8 "' But I will spare some , for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations . 6 : 9 Then in the nations where they have been carried captive , those who escape will remember me -- how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts , which have turned away from me , and by their eyes , which have lusted after their idols . They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their detestable practices . 6 : 10 And they will know that I am the LORD ; I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them . 6 : 11 "' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Strike your hands together and stamp your feet and cry out " Alas ! " because of all the wicked and detestable practices of the house of Israel , for they will fall by the sword , famine and plague . 6 : 12 He that is far away will die of the plague , and he that is near will fall by the sword , and he that survives and is spared will die of famine . So will I spend my wrath upon them . 6 : 13 And they will know that I am the LORD , when their people lie slain among their idols around their altars , on every high hill and on all the mountaintops , under every spreading tree and every leafy oak -- places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols . 6 : 14 And I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land a desolate waste from the desert to Diblah -- wherever they live . Then they will know that I am the LORD . '" 7 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 7 : 2 " Son of man , this is what the Sovereign LORD says to the land of Israel : The end ! The end has come upon the four corners of the land . 7 : 3 The end is now upon you and I will unleash my anger against you . I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices . 7 : 4 I will not look on you with pity or spare you ; I will surely repay you for your conduct and the detestable practices among you . Then you will know that I am the LORD . 7 : 5 " This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Disaster ! An unheard - of disaster is coming . 7 : 6 The end has come ! The end has come ! It has roused itself against you . It has come ! 7 : 7 Doom has come upon you -- you who dwell in the land . The time has come , the day is near ; there is panic , not joy , upon the mountains . 7 : 8 I am about to pour out my wrath on you and spend my anger against you ; I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices . 7 : 9 I will not look on you with pity or spare you ; I will repay you in accordance with your conduct and the detestable practices among you . Then you will know that it is I the LORD who strikes the blow . 7 : 10 " The day is here ! It has coma ! Doom has burst forth , the rod has budded , arrogance has blossomed ! 7 : 11 Violence has grown into a rod to punish wickedness ; none of the people will be left , none of that crowd -- no wealth , nothing of value . 7 : 12 The time has come , the day has arrived . Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller grieve , for wrath is upon the whole crowd . 7 : 13 The seller will not recover the land he has sold as long as both of them live , for the vision concerning the whole crowd will not be reversed . Because of their sins , not one of them will preserve his life . 7 : 14 Though they blow the trumpet and get everything ready , no one will go into battle , for my wrath is upon the whole crowd . 7 : 15 " Outside is the sword , inside are plague and famine ; those in the country will die by the sword , and those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague . 7 : 16 All who survive and escape will be in the mountains , moaning like doves of the valleys , each because of his sins . 7 : 17 Every hand will go limp , and every knee will become as weak as water . 7 : 18 They will put on sackcloth and be clothed with terror . Their faces will be covered with shame and their heads will be shaved . 7 : 19 They will throw their silver into the streets , and their gold will be an unclean thing . Their silver and gold will not be able to save them in the day of the LORD ' S wrath . They will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it , for it has made them stumble into sin . 7 : 20 They were proud of their beautiful jewelry and used it to make their detestable idols and vile images . Therefore I will turn these into an unclean thing for them . 7 : 21 I will hand it all over as plunder to foreigners and as loot to the wicked of the earth , and they will defile it . 7 : 22 I will turn my face away from them , and they will desecrate my treasured place ; robbers will enter it and desecrate it . 7 : 23 " Prepare chains , because the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of violence . 7 : 24 I will bring the most wicked of the nations to take possession of their houses ; I will put an end to the pride of the mighty , and their sanctuaries will be desecrated . 7 : 25 When terror comes , they will seek peace , but there will be none . 7 : 26 Calamity upon calamity will come , and rumor upon rumor . They will try to get a vision from the prophet ; the teaching of the law by the priest will be lost , as will the counsel of the elders . 7 : 27 The king will mourn , the prince will be clothed with despair , and the hands of the people of the land will tremble . I will deal with them according to their conduct , and by their own standards I will judge them . Then they will know that I am the LORD . " 8 : 1 In the sixth year , in the sixth month on the fifth day , while I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me , the hand of the Sovereign LORD came upon me there . 8 : 2 I looked , and I saw a figure like that of a man . From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire , and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal . 8 : 3 He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head . The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem , to the entrance to the north gate of the inner court , where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood . 8 : 4 And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel , as in the vision I had seen in the plain . 8 : 5 Then he said to me , " Son of man , look toward the north . " So I looked , and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar I saw this idol of jealousy . 8 : 6 And he said to me , " Son of man , do you see what they are doing -- the utterly detestable things the house of Israel is doing here , things that will drive me far from my sanctuary ? But you will see things that are even more detestable . " 8 : 7 Then he brought me to the entrance to the court . I looked , and I saw a hole in the wall . 8 : 8 He said to me , " Son of man , now dig into the wall . " So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there . 8 : 9 And he said to me , " Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here . " 8 : 10 So I went in and looked , and I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things and detestable animals and all the idols of the house of Israel . 8 : 11 In front of them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel , and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them . Each had a censer in his hand , and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising . 8 : 12 He said to me , " Son of man , have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness , each at the shrine of his own idol ? They say , ' The LORD does not see us ; the LORD has forsaken the land . '" 8 : 13 Again , he said , " You will see them doing things that are even more detestable . " 8 : 14 Then he brought me to the entrance to the north gate of the house of the LORD , and I saw women sitting there , mourning for Tammuz . 8 : 15 He said to me , " Do you see this , son of man ? You will see things that are even more detestable than this . " 8 : 16 He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the LORD , and there at the entrance to the temple , between the portico and the altar , were about twenty - five men . With their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east , they were bowing down to the sun in the east . 8 : 17 He said to me , " Have you seen this , son of man ? Is it a trivial matter for the house of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here ? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually provoke me to anger ? Look at them putting the branch to their nose ! 8 : 18 Therefore I will deal with them in anger ; I will not look on them with pity or spare them . Although they shout in my ears , I will not listen to them . " 9 : 1 Then I heard him call out in a loud voice , " Bring the guards of the city here , each with a weapon in his hand . " 9 : 2 And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate , which faces north , each with a deadly weapon in his hand . With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side . They came in and stood beside the bronze altar . 9 : 3 Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim , where it had been , and moved to the threshold of the temple . Then the LORD called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side 9 : 4 and said to him , " Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it . " 9 : 5 As I listened , he said to the others , " Follow him through the city and kill , without showing pity or compassion . 9 : 6 Slaughter old men , young men and maidens , women and children , but do not touch anyone who has the mark . Begin at my sanctuary . " So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple . 9 : 7 Then he said to them , " Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain . Go ! " So they went out and began killing throughout the city . 9 : 8 While they were killing and I was left alone , I fell facedown , crying out , " Ah , Sovereign LORD ! Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem ? " 9 : 9 He answered me , " The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great ; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice . They say , ' The LORD has forsaken the land ; the LORD does not see . ' 9 : 10 So I will not look on them with pity or spare them , but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done . " 9 : 11 Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word , saying , " I have done as you commanded . " 10 : 1 I looked , and I saw the likeness of a throne of sapphire above the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim . 10 : 2 The LORD said to the man clothed in linen , " Go in among the wheels beneath the cherubim . Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city . " And as I watched , he went in . 10 : 3 Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in , and a cloud filled the inner court . 10 : 4 Then the glory of the LORD rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple . The cloud filled the temple , and the court was full of the radiance of the glory of the LORD . 10 : 5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far away as the outer court , like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks . 10 : 6 When the LORD commanded the man in linen , " Take fire from among the wheels , from among the cherubim , " the man went in and stood beside a wheel . 10 : 7 Then one of the cherubim reached out his hand to the fire that was among them . He took up some of it and put it into the hands of the man in linen , who took it and went out . 10 : 8 ( Under the wings of the cherubim could be seen what looked like the hands of a man . ) 10 : 9 I looked , and I saw beside the cherubim four wheels , one beside each of the cherubim ; the wheels sparkled like chrysolite . 10 : 10 As for their appearance , the four of them looked alike ; each was like a wheel intersecting a wheel . 10 : 11 As they moved , they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim faced ; the wheels did not turn about as the cherubim went . The cherubim went in whatever direction the head faced , without turning as they went . 10 : 12 Their entire bodies , including their backs , their hands and their wings , were completely full of eyes , as were their four wheels . 10 : 13 I heard the wheels being called " the whirling wheels . " 10 : 14 Each of the cherubim had four faces : one face was that of a cherub , the second the face of a man , the third the face of a lion , and the fourth the face of an eagle . 10 : 15 Then the cherubim rose upward . These were the living creatqres I had seen by the Kebar River . 10 : 16 When the cherubim moved , the wheels beside them moved ; and when the cherubim spread their wings to rise from the ground , the wheels did not leave their side . 10 : 17 When the cherubim stood still , they also stood still ; and when the cherubim rose , they rose with them , because the spirit of the living creatures was in them . 10 : 18 Then the glory of the LORD departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim . 10 : 19 While I watched , the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground , and as they went , the wheels went with them . They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the LORD ' S house , and the glory of the God of Israel was above them . 10 : 20 These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Kebar River , and I realized that they were cherubim . 10 : 21 Each had four faces and four wings , and under their wings was what looked like the hands of a man . 10 : 22 Their faces had the same appearance as those I had seen by the Kebar River . Each one went straight ahead . EZE 11 : 1 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the LORD that faces east . There at the entrance to the gate were twenty - five men , and I saw among them Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah , leaders of the people . 11 : 2 The LORD said to me , " Son of man , these are the men who are plotting evil and giving wicked advice in this city . 11 : 3 They say , ' Will it not soon be time to build houses ? This city is a cooking pot , and we are the meat . ' 11 : 4 Therefore prophesy against them ; prophesy , son of man . " 11 : 5 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon me , and he told me to say : " This is what the LORD says : That is what you are saying , O house of Israel , but I know what is going through your mind . 11 : 6 You have killed many people in this city and filled its streets with the dead . 11 : 7 " Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : The bodies you have thrown there are the meat and this city is the pot , but I will drive you out of it . 11 : 8 You fear the sword , and the sword is what I will bring against you , declares the Sovereign LORD . 11 : 9 I will drive you out of the city and hand you over to foreigners and inflict punishment on you . 11 : 10 You will fall by the sword , and I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel . Then you will know that I am the LORD . 11 : 11 This city will not be a pot for you , nor will you be the meat in it ; I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel . 11 : 12 And you will know that I am the LORD , for you have not followed my decrees or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you . " 11 : 13 Now as I was prophesying , Pelatiah son of Benaiah died . Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice , " Ah , Sovereign LORD ! Will you completely destroy the remnant of Israel ? " 11 : 14 The word of the LORD came to me : 11 : 15 " Son of man , your brothers -- your brothers who are your blood relatives and the whole house of Israel -- are those of whom the people of Jerusalem have said , ' They are far away from the LORD ; this land was given to us as our possession . ' 11 : 16 " Therefore say : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries , yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone . ' 11 : 17 " Therefore say : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered , and I will give you back the land of Israel again . ' 11 : 18 " They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols . 11 : 19 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them ; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh . 11 : 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws . They will be my people , and I will be their God . 11 : 21 But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols , I will bring down on their own heads what they have done , declares the Sovereign LORD . " 11 : 22 Then the cherubim , with the wheels beside them , spread their wings , and the glory of the God of Israel was above them . 11 : 23 The glory of the LORD went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it . 11 : 24 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia in the vision given by the Spirit of God . Then the vision I had seen went up from me , 11 : 25 and I told the exiles everything the LORD had shown me . 12 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 12 : 2 " Son of man , you are living among a rebellious people . They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear , for they are a rebellious people . 12 : 3 " Therefore , son of man , pack your belongings for exile and in the daytime , as they watch , set out and go from where you are to another place . Perhaps they will understand , though they are a rebellious house . 12 : 4 During the daytime , while they watch , bring out your belongings packed for exile . Then in the evening , while they are watching , go out like those who go into exile . 12 : 5 While they watch , dig through the wall and take your belongings out through it . 12 : 6 Put them on your shoulder as they are watching and carry them out at dusk . Cover your face so that you cannot see the land , for I have made you a sign to the house of Israel . " 12 : 7 So I did as I was commanded . During the day I brought out my things packed for exile . Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands . I took my belongings out at dusk , carrying them on my shoulders while they watched . 12 : 8 In the morning the word of the LORD came to me : 12 : 9 " Son of man , did not that rebellious house of Israel ask you , ' What are you doing ? ' 12 : 10 " Say to them , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem and the whole house of Israel who are there . ' 12 : 11 Say to them , ' I am a sign to you . ' " As I have done , so it will be done to them . They will go into exile as captives . 12 : 12 " The prince among them will put his things on his shoulder at dusk and leave , and a hole will be dug in the wall for him to go through . He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land . 12 : 13 I will spread my net for him , and he will be caught in my snare ; I will bring him to Babylonia , the land of the Chaldeans , but he will not see it , and there he will die . 12 : 14 I will scatter to the winds all those around him -- his staff and all his troops -- and I will pursue them with drawn sword . 12 : 15 " They will know that I am the LORD , when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries . 12 : 16 But I will spare a few of them from the sword , famine and plague , so that in the nations where they go they may acknowledge all their detestable practices . Then they will know that I am the LORD . " 12 : 17 The word of the LORD came to me : 12 : 18 " Son of man , tremble as you eat your food , and shudder in fear as you drink your water . 12 : 19 Say to the people of the land : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says about those living in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel : They will eat their food in anxiety and drink their water in despair , for their land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who live there . 12 : 20 The inhabited towns will be laid waste and the land will be desolate . Then you will know that I am the LORD . '" 12 : 21 The word of the LORD came to me : 12 : 22 " Son of man , what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel : ' The days go by and every vision comes to nothing '? 12 : 23 Say to them , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : I am going to put an end to this proverb , and they will no longer quote it in Israel . ' Say to them , ' The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled . 12 : 24 For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations among the people of Israel . 12 : 25 But I the LORD will speak what I will , and it shall be fulfilled without delay . For in your days , you rebellious house , I will fulfill whatever I say , declares the Sovereign LORD . '" 12 : 26 The word of the LORD came to me : 12 : 27 " Son of man , the house of Israel is saying , ' The vision he sees is for many years from now , and he prophesies about the distant future . ' 12 : 28 " Therefore say to them , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : None of my words will be delayed any longer ; whatever I say will be fulfilled , declares the Sovereign LORD . '" 13 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 13 : 2 " Son of man , prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying . Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination : ' Hear the word of the LORD ! 13 : 3 This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing ! 13 : 4 Your prophets , O Israel , are like jackals among ruins . 13 : 5 You have not gone up to the breaks in the wall to repair it for the house of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the LORD . 13 : 6 Their visions are false and their divinations a lie . They say , " The LORD declares , " when the LORD has not sent them ; yet they expect their words to be fulfilled . 13 : 7 Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say , " The LORD declares , " though I have not spoken ? 13 : 8 "' Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : Because of your false words and lying visions , I am against you , declares the Sovereign LORD . 13 : 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations . They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of the house of Israel , nor will they enter the land of Israel . Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD . 13 : 10 "' Because they lead my people astray , saying , " Peace , " when there is no peace , and because , when a flimsy wall is built , they cover it with whitewash , 13 : 11 therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall . Rain will come in torrents , and I will send hailstones hurtling down , and violent winds will burst forth . 13 : 12 When the wall collapses , will people not ask you , " Where is the whitewash you covered it with ? " 13 : 13 "' Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind , and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury . 13 : 14 I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare . When it falls , you will be destroyed in it ; and you will know that I am the LORD . 13 : 15 So I will spend my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash . I will say to you , " The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it , 13 : 16 those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace , declares the Sovereign LORD . "' 13 : 17 " Now , son of man , set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination . Prophesy against them 13 : 18 and say , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Woe to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists and make veils of various lengths for their heads in order to ensnare people . Will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own ? 13 : 19 You have profaned me among my people for a few handfuls of barley and scraps of bread . By lying to my people , who listen to lies , you have killed those who should not have died and have spared those who should not live . 13 : 20 "' Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms ; I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds . 13 : 21 I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands , and they will no longer fall prey to your power . Then you will know that I am the LORD . 13 : 22 Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies , when I had brought them no grief , and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives , 13 : 23 therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination . I will save my people from your hands . And then you will know that I am the LORD . '" 14 : 1 Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me . 14 : 2 Then the word of the LORD came to me : 14 : 3 " Son of man , these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces . Should I let them inquire of me at all ? 14 : 4 Therefore speak to them and tell them , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet , I the LORD will answer him myself in keeping with his great idolatry . 14 : 5 I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel , who have all deserted me for their idols . ' 14 : 6 " Therefore say to the house of Israel , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Repent ! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices ! 14 : 7 "' When any Israelite or any alien living in Israel separates himself from me and sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet to inquire of me , I the LORD will answer him myself . 14 : 8 I will set my face against that man and make him an example and a byword . I will cut him off from my people . Then you will know that I am the LORD . 14 : 9 "' And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy , I the LORD have enticed that prophet , and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel . 14 : 10 They will bear their guilt -- the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him . 14 : 11 Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me , nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins . They will be my people , and I will be their God , declares the Sovereign LORD . '" 14 : 12 The word of the LORD came to me : 14 : 13 " Son of man , if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and their animals , 14 : 14 even if these three men -- Noah , Daniel and Job -- were in it , they could save only themselves by their righteousness , declares the Sovereign LORD . 14 : 15 " Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts , 14 : 16 as surely as I live , declares the Sovereign LORD , even if these three men were in it , they could not save their own sons or daughters . They alone would be saved , but the land would be desolate . 14 : 17 " Or if I bring a sword against that country and say , ' Let the sword pass throughout the land , ' and I kill its men and their animals , 14 : 18 as surely as I live , declares the Sovereign LORD , even if these three men were in it , they could not save their own sons or daughters . They alone would be saved . 14 : 19 " Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath upon it through bloodshed , killing its men and their animals , 14 : 20 as surely as I live , declares the Sovereign LORD , even if Noah , Daniel and Job were in it , they could save neither son nor daughter . They would save only themselves by their righteousness . 14 : 21 " For this is what the Sovereign LORD says : How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments -- sword and famine and wild beasts and plague -- to kill its men and their animals ! 14 : 22 Yet there will be some survivors -- sons and daughters who will be brought out of it . They will come to you , and when you see their conduct and their actions , you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have brought upon Jerusalem -- every disaster I have brought upon it . 14 : 23 You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions , for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause , declares the Sovereign LORD . " 15 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 15 : 2 " Son of man , how is the wood of a vine better than that of a branch on any of the trees in the forest ? 15 : 3 Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful ? Do they make pegs from it to hang things on ? 15 : 4 And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle , is it then useful for anything ? 15 : 5 If it was not useful for anything when it was whole , how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred ? 15 : 6 " Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire , so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem . 15 : 7 I will set my face against them . Although they have come out of the fire , the fire will yet consume them . And when I set my face against them , you will know that I am the LORD . 15 : 8 I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful , declares the Sovereign LORD . " 16 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 16 : 2 " Son of man , confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices 16 : 3 and say , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Jerusalem : Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites ; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite . 16 : 4 on the day you were born your cord was not cut , nor were you washed with water to make you clean , nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths . 16 : 5 No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you . Rather , you were thrown out into the open field , for on the day you were born you were despised . 16 : 6 "' Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood , and as you lay there in your blood I said to you , " Live ! " 16 : 7 I made you grow like a plant of the field . You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels . Your breasts were formed and your hair grew , you who were naked and bare . 16 : 8 "' Later I passed by , and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love , I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness . I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you , declares the Sovereign LORD , and you became mine . 16 : 9 "' I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you . 16 : 10 I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on you . I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments . 16 : 11 I adorned you with jewelry : I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck , 16 : 12 and I put a ring on your nose , earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head . 16 : 13 So you were adorned with gold and silver ; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth . Your food was fine flour , honey and olive oil . You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen . 16 : 14 And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty , because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect , declares the Sovereign LORD . 16 : 15 "' But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute . You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his . 16 : 16 You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places , where you carried on your prostitution . Such things should not happen , nor should they ever occur . 16 : 17 You also took the fine jewelry I gave you , the jewelry made of my gold and silver , and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them . 16 : 18 And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them , and you offered my oil and incense before them . 16 : 19 Also the food I provided for you -- the fine flour , olive oil and honey I gave you to eat -- you offered as fragrant incense before them . That is what happened , declares the Sovereign LORD . 16 : 20 "' And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols . Was your prostitution not enough ? 16 : 21 You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols . 16 : 22 In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth , when you were naked and bare , kicking about in your blood . 16 : 23 "' Woe ! Woe to you , declares the Sovereign LORD . In addition to all your other wickedness , 16 : 24 you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrine in every public square . 16 : 25 At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty , offering your body with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by . 16 : 26 You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians , your lustful neighbors , and provoked me to anger with your increasing promiscuity . 16 : 27 So I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your territory ; I gave you over to the greed of your enemies , the daughters of the Philistines , who were shocked by your lewd conduct . 16 : 28 You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians too , because you were insatiable ; and even after that , you still were not satisfied . 16 : 29 Then you increased your promiscuity to include Babylonia , a land of merchants , but even with this you were not satisfied . 16 : 30 "' How weak - willed you are , declares the Sovereign LORD , when you do all these things , acting like a brazen prostitute ! 16 : 31 When you built your mounds at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square , you were unlike a prostitute , because you scorned payment . 16 : 32 "' You adulterous wife ! You prefer strangers to your own husband ! 16 : 33 Every prostitute receives a fee , but you give gifts to all your lovers , bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors . 16 : 34 So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others ; no one runs after you for your favors . You are the very opposite , for you give payment and none is given to you . 16 : 35 "' Therefore , you prostitute , hear the word of the LORD ! 16 : 36 This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers , and because of all your detestable idols , and because you gave them your children ' s blood , 16 : 37 therefore I am going to gather all your lovers , with whom you found pleasure , those you loved as well as those you hated . I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them , and they will see all your nakedness . 16 : 38 I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood ; I will bring upon you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger . 16 : 39 Then I will hand you over to your lovers , and they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines . They will strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry and leave you naked and bare . 16 : 40 They will bring a mob against you , who will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords . 16 : 41 They will burn down your houses and inflict punishment on you in the sight of many women . I will put a stop to your prostitution , and you will no longer pay your lovers . 16 : 42 Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn away from you ; I will be calm and no longer angry . 16 : 43 "' Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things , I will surely bring down on your head what you have done , declares the Sovereign LORD . Did you not add lewdness to all your other detestable practices ? 16 : 44 "' Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you : " Like mother , like daughter . " 16 : 45 You are a true daughter of your mother , who despised her husband and her children ; and you are a true sister of your sisters , who despised their husbands and their children . Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite . 16 : 46 Your older sister was Samaria , who lived to the north of you with her daughters ; and your younger sister , who lived to the south of you with her daughters , was Sodom . 16 : 47 You not only walked in their ways and copied their detestable practices , but in all your ways you soon became more depraved than they . 16 : 48 As surely as I live , declares the Sovereign LORD , your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done . 16 : 49 "' Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom : She and her daughters were arrogant , overfed and unconcerned ; they did not help the poor and needy . 16 : 50 They were haughty and did detestable things before me . Therefore I did awey with them as you have seen . 16 : 51 Samaria did not commit half the sins you did . You have done more detestable things than they , and have made your sisters seem righteous by all these things you have done . 16 : 52 Bear your disgrace , for you have furnished some justification for your sisters . Because your sins were more vile than theirs , they appear more righteous than you . So then , be ashamed and bear your disgrace , for you have made your sisters appear righteous . 16 : 53 "' However , I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and of Samaria and her daughters , and your fortunes along with them , 16 : 54 so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in giving them comfort . 16 : 55 And your sisters , Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters , will return to what they were before ; and you and your daughters will return to what you were before . 16 : 56 You would not even mention your sister Sodom in the day of your pride , 16 : 57 before your wickedness was uncovered . Even so , you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom and all her neighbors and the daughters of the Philistines -- all those around you who despise you . 16 : 58 You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your detestable practices , declares the LORD . 16 : 59 "' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : I will deal with you as you deserve , because you have despised my oath by breaking the covenant . 16 : 60 Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth , and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you . 16 : 61 Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters , both those who are older than you and those who are younger . I will give them to you as daughters , but not on the basis of my covenant with you . 16 : 62 So I will establish my covenant with you , and you will know that I am the LORD . 16 : 63 Then , when I make atonement for you for all you have done , you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your humiliation , declares the Sovereign LORD . '" 17 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 17 : 2 " Son of man , set forth an allegory and tell the house of Israel a parable . 17 : 3 Say to them , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : A great eagle with powerful wings , long feathers and full plumage of varied colors came to Lebanon . Taking hold of the top of a cedar , 17 : 4 he broke off its topmost shoot and carried it away to a land of merchants , where he planted it in a city of traders . 17 : 5 "' He took some of the seed of your land and put it in fertile soil . He planted it like a willow by abundant water , 17 : 6 and it sprouted and became a low , spreading vine . Its branches turned toward him , but its roots remained under it . So it became a vine and produced branches and put out leafy boughs . 17 : 7 "' But there was another great eagle with powerful wings and full plumage . The vine now sent out its roots toward him from the plot where it was planted and stretched out its branches to him for water . 17 : 8 It had been planted in good soil by abundant water so that it would produce branches , bear fruit and become a splendid vine . ' 17 : 9 " Say to them , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Will it thrive ? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it withers ? All its new growth will wither . It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up by the roots . 17 : 10 Even if it is transplanted , will it thrive ? Will it not wither completely when the east wind strikes it -- wither away in the plot where it grew ? '" 17 : 11 Then the word of the LORD came to me : 17 : 12 " Say to this rebellious house , ' Do you not know what these things mean ? ' Say to them : ' The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles , bringing them back with him to Babylon . 17 : 13 Then he took a member of the royal family and made a treaty with him , putting him under oath . He also carried away the leading men of the land , 17 : 14 so that the kingdom would be brought low , unable to rise again , surviving only by keeping his treaty . 17 : 15 But the king rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt to get horses and a large army . Will he succeed ? Will he who does such things escape ? Will he break the treaty and yet escape ? 17 : 16 "' As surely as I live , declares the Sovereign LORD , he shall die in Babylon , in the land of the king who put him on the throne , whose oath he despised and whose treaty he broke . 17 : 17 Pharaoh with his mighty army and great horde will be of no help to him in war , when ramps are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives . 17 : 18 He despised the oath by breaking the covenant . Because he had given his hand in pledge and yet did all these things , he shall not escape . 17 : 19 "' Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : As surely as I live , I will bring down on his head my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke . 17 : 20 I will spread my net for him , and he will be caught in my snare . I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment upon him there because he was unfaithful to me . 17 : 21 All his fleeing troops will fall by the sword , and the survivors will be scattered to the winds . Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken . 17 : 22 "' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it ; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain . 17 : 23 on the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it ; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar . Birds of every kind will nest in it ; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches . 17 : 24 All the trees of the field will know that I the LORD bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall . I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish . "' I the LORD have spoken , and I will do it . '" 18 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 18 : 2 " What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel : "' The fathers eat sour grapes , and the children ' s teeth are set on edge '? 18 : 3 " As surely as I live , declares the Sovereign LORD , you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel . 18 : 4 For every living soul belongs to me , the father as well as the son -- both alike belong to me . The soul who sins is the one who will die . 18 : 5 " Suppose there is a righteous man who does what is just and right . 18 : 6 He does not eat at the mountain shrines or look to the idols of the house of Israel . He does not defile his neighbor ' s wife or lie with a woman during her period . 18 : 7 He does not oppress anyone , but returns what he took in pledge for a loan . He does not commit robbery but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked . 18 : 8 He does not lend at usury or take excessive interest . He withholds his hand from doing wrong and judges fairly between man and man . 18 : 9 He follows my decrees and faithfully keeps my laws . That man is righteous ; he will surely live , declares the Sovereign LORD . 18 : 10 " Suppose he has a violent son , who sheds blood or does any of these other things 18 : 11 ( though the father has done none of them ) : " He eats at the mountain shrines . He defiles his neighbor ' s wife . 18 : 12 He oppresses the poor and needy . He commits robbery . He does not return what he took in pledge . He looks to the idols . He does detestable things . 18 : 13 He lends at usury and takes excessive interest . Will such a man live ? He will not ! Because he has done all these detestable things , he will surely be put to death and his blood will be on his own head . 18 : 14 " But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits , and though he sees them , he does not do such things : 18 : 15 " He does not eat at the mountain shrines or look to the idols of the house of Israel . He does not defile his neighbor ' s wife . 18 : 16 He does not oppress anyone or require a pledge for a loan . He does not commit robbery but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked . 18 : 17 He withholds his hand from sin and takes no usury or excessive interest . He keeps my laws and follows my decrees . He will not die for his father ' s sin ; he will surely live . 18 : 18 But his father will die for his own sin , because he practiced extortion , robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people . 18 : 19 " Yet you ask , ' Why does the son not share the guilt of his father ? ' Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees , he will surely live . 18 : 20 The soul who sins is the one who will die . The son will not share the guilt of the father , nor will the father share the guilt of the son . The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him , and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him . 18 : 21 " But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right , he will surely live ; he will not die . 18 : 22 None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him . Because of the righteous things he has done , he will live . 18 : 23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked ? declares the Sovereign LORD . Rather , am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live ? 18 : 24 " But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does , will he live ? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered . Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed , he will die . 18 : 25 " Yet you say , ' The way of the Lord is not just . ' Hear , O house of Israel : Is my way unjust ? Is it not your ways that are unjust ? 18 : 26 If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin , he will die for it ; because of the sin he has committed he will die . 18 : 27 But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right , he will save his life . 18 : 28 Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them , he will surely live ; he will not die . 18 : 29 Yet the house of Israel says , ' The way of the Lord is not just . ' Are my ways unjust , O house of Israel ? Is it not your ways that are unjust ? 18 : 30 " Therefore , O house of Israel , I will judge you , each one according to his ways , declares the Sovereign LORD . Repent ! Turn away from all your offenses ; then sin will not be your downfall . 18 : 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed , and get a new heart and a new spirit . Why will you die , O house of Israel ? 18 : 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone , declares the Sovereign LORD . Repent and live ! 19 : 1 " Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel 19 : 2 and say : "' What a lioness was your mother among the lions ! She lay down among the young lions and reared her cubs . 19 : 3 She brought up one of her cubs , and he became a strong lion . He learned to tear the prey and he devoured men . 19 : 4 The nations heard about him , and he was trapped in their pit . They led him with hooks to the land of Egypt . 19 : 5 "' When she saw her hope unfulfilled , her expectation gone , she took another of her cubs and made him a strong lion . 19 : 6 He prowled among the lions , for he was now a strong lion . He learned to tear the prey and he devoured men . 19 : 7 He broke down their strongholds and devastated their towns . The land and all who were in it were terrified by his roaring . 19 : 8 Then the nations came against him , those from regions round about . They spread their net for him , and he was trapped in their pit . 19 : 9 With hooks they pulled him into a cage and brought him to the king of Babylon . They put him in prison , so his roar was heard no longer on the mountains of Israel . 19 : 10 "' Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard planted by the water ; it was fruitful and full of branches because of abundant water . 19 : 11 Its branches were strong , fit for a ruler ' s scepter . It towered high above the thick foliage , conspicuous for its height and for its many branches . 19 : 12 But it was uprooted in fury and thrown to the ground . The east wind made it shrivel , it was stripped of its fruit ; its strong branches withered and fire consumed them . 19 : 13 Now it is planted in the desert , in a dry and thirsty land . 19 : 14 Fire spread from one of its main branches and consumed its fruit . No strong branch is left on it fit for a ruler ' s scepter . ' This is a lament and is to be used as a lament . " 20 : 1 In the seventh year , in the fifth month on the tenth day , some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD , and they sat down in front of me . 20 : 2 Then the word of the LORD came to me : 20 : 3 " Son of man , speak to the elders of Israel and say to them , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Have you come to inquire of me ? As surely as I live , I will not let you inquire of me , declares the Sovereign LORD . ' 20 : 4 " Will you judge them ? Will you judge them , son of man ? Then confront them with the detestable practices of their fathers 20 : 5 and say to them : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : on the day I chose Israel , I swore with uplifted hand to the descendants of the house of Jacob and revealed myself to them in Egypt . With uplifted hand I said to them , " I am the LORD your God . " 20 : 6 on that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of Egypt into a land I had searched out for them , a land flowing with milk and honey , the most beautiful of all lands . 20 : 7 And I said to them , " Each of you , get rid of the vile images you have set your eyes on , and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt . I am the LORD your God . " 20 : 8 "' But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me ; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on , nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt . So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt . 20 : 9 But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations they lived among and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites by bringing them out of Egypt . 20 : 10 Therefore I led them out of Egypt and brought them into the desert . 20 : 11 I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws , for the man who obeys them will live by them . 20 : 12 Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us , so they would know that I the LORD made them holy . 20 : 13 "' Yet the people of Israel rebelled against me in the desert . They did not follow my decrees but rejected my laws -- although the man who obeys them will live by them -- and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths . So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and destroy them in the desert . 20 : 14 But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out . 20 : 15 Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the desert that I would not bring them into the land I had given them -- a land flowing with milk and honey , most beautiful of all lands -- 20 : 16 because they rejected my laws and did not follow my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths . For their hearts were devoted to their idols . 20 : 17 Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or put an end to them in the desert . 20 : 18 I said to their children in the desert , " Do not follow the statutes of your fathers or keep their laws or defile yourselves with their idols . 20 : 19 I am the LORD your God ; follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws . 20 : 20 Keep my Sabbaths holy , that they may be a sign between us . Then you will know that I am the LORD your God . " 20 : 21 "' But the children rebelled against me : They did not follow my decrees , they were not careful to keep my laws -- although the man who obeys them will live by them -- and they desecrated my Sabbaths . So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in the desert . 20 : 22 But I withheld my hand , and for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out . 20 : 23 Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the desert that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries , 20 : 24 because they had not obeyed my laws but had rejected my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths , and their eyes lusted after their fathers ' idols . 20 : 25 I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and laws they could not live by ; 20 : 26 I let them become defiled through their gifts -- the sacrifice of every firstborn -- that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the LORD . ' 20 : 27 " Therefore , son of man , speak to the people of Israel and say to them , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : In this also your fathers blasphemed me by forsaking me : 20 : 28 When I brought them into the land I had sworn to give them and they saw any high hill or any leafy tree , there they offered their sacrifices , made offerings that provoked me to anger , presented their fragrant incense and poured out their drink offerings . 20 : 29 Then I said to them : What is this high place you go to ? '" ( It is called Bamah to this day . ) 20 : 30 " Therefore say to the house of Israel : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Will you defile yourselves the way your fathers did and lust after their vile images ? 20 : 31 When you offer your gifts -- the sacrifice of your sons in the fire -- you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day . Am I to let you inquire of me , O house of Israel ? As surely as I live , declares the Sovereign LORD , I will not let you inquire of me . 20 : 32 "' You say , " We want to be like the nations , like the peoples of the world , who serve wood and stone . " But what you have in mind will never happen . 20 : 33 As surely as I live , declares the Sovereign LORD , I will rule over you with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath . 20 : 34 I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered -- with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath . 20 : 35 I will bring you into the desert of the nations and there , face to face , I will execute judgment upon you . 20 : 36 As I judged your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt , so I will judge you , declares the Sovereign LORD . 20 : 37 I will take note of you as you pass under my rod , and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant . 20 : 38 I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me . Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living , yet they will not enter the land of Israel . Then you will know that I am the LORD . 20 : 39 "' As for you , O house of Israel , this is what the Sovereign LORD says : Go and serve your idols , every one of you ! But afterward you will surely listen to me and no longer profane my holy name with your gifts and idols . 20 : 40 For on my holy mountain , the high mountain of Israel , declares the Sovereign LORD , there in the land the entire house of Israel will serve me , and there I will accept them . There I will require your offerings and your choice gifts , along with all your holy sacrifices . 20 : 41 I will accept you as fragrant incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered , and I will show myself holy among you in the sight of the nations . 20 : 42 Then you will know that I am the LORD , when I bring you into the land of Israel , the land I had sworn with uplifted hand to give to your fathers . 20 : 43 There you will remember your conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves , and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil you have done . 20 : 44 You will know that I am the LORD , when I deal with you for my name ' s sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices , O house of Israel , declares the Sovereign LORD . '" 20 : 45 The word of the LORD came to me : 20 : 46 " Son of man , set your face toward the south ; preach against the south and prophesy against the forest of the southland . 20 : 47 Say to the southern forest : ' Hear the word of the LORD . This is what the Sovereign LORD says : I am about to set fire to you , and it will consume all your trees , both green and dry . The blazing flame will not be quenched , and every face from south to north will be scorched by it . 20 : 48 Everyone will see that I the LORD have kindled it ; it will not be quenched . '" 20 : 49 Then I said , " Ah , Sovereign LORD ! They are saying of me , ' Isn ' t he just telling parables ? '" EZE 21 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 21 : 2 " Son of man , set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuary . Prophesy against the land of Israel 21 : 3 and say to her : ' This is what the LORD says : I am against you . I will draw my sword from its scabbard and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked . 21 : 4 Because I am going to cut off the righteous and the wicked , my sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north . 21 : 5 Then all people will know that I the LORD have drawn my sword from its scabbard ; it will not return again . ' 21 : 6 " Therefore groan , son of man ! Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief . 21 : 7 And when they ask you , ' Why are you groaning ? ' you shall say , ' Because of the news that is coming . Every heart will melt and every hand go limp ; every spirit will become faint and every knee become as weak as water . ' It is coming ! It will surely take place , declares the Sovereign LORD . " 21 : 8 The word of the LORD came to me : 21 : 9 " Son of man , prophesy and say , ' This is what the Lord says : "' A sword , a sword , sharpened and polished -- 21 : 10 sharpened for the slaughter , polished to flash like lightning ! "' Shall we rejoice in the scepter of my son Judah ? The sword despises every such stick . 21 : 11 "' The sword is appointed to be polished , to be grasped with the hand ; it is sharpened and polished , made ready for the hand of the slayer . 21 : 12 Cry out and wail , son of man , for it is against my people ; it is against all the princes of Israel . They are thrown to the sword along with my people . Therefore beat your breast . 21 : 13 "' Testing will surely come . And what if the scepter of Judah , which the sword despises , does not continue ? declares the Sovereign LORD . ' 21 : 14 " So then , son of man , prophesy and strike your hands together . Let the sword strike twice , even three times . It is a sword for slaughter -- a sword for great slaughter , closing in on them from every side . 21 : 15 So that hearts may melt and the fallen be many , I have stationed the sword for slaughter at all their gates . Oh ! It is made to flash like lightning , it is grasped for slaughter . 21 : 16 O sword , slash to the right , then to the left , wherever your blade is turned . 21 : 17 I too will strike my hands together , and my wrath will subside . I the LORD have spoken . " 21 : 18 The word of the LORD came to me : 21 : 19 " Son of man , mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take , both starting from the same country . Make a signpost where the road branches off to the city . 21 : 20 Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites and another against Judah and fortified Jerusalem . 21 : 21 For the king of Babylon will stop at the fork in the road , at the junction of the two roads , to seek an omen : He will cast lots with arrows , he will consult his idols , he will examine the liver . 21 : 22 Into his right hand will come the lot for Jerusalem , where he is to set up battering rams , to give the command to slaughter , to sound the battle cry , to set battering rams against the gates , to build a ramp and to erect siege works . 21 : 23 It will seem like a false omen to those who have sworn allegiance to him , but he will remind them of their guilt and take them captive . 21 : 24 " Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : ' Because you people have brought to mind your guilt by your open rebellion , revealing your sins in all that you do -- because you have done this , you will be taken captive . 21 : 25 "' O profane and wicked prince of Israel , whose day has come , whose time of punishment has reached its climax , 21 : 26 this is what the Sovereign LORD says : Take off the turban , remove the crown . It will not be as it was : The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low . 21 : 27 A ruin ! A ruin ! I will make it a ruin ! It will not be restored until he comes to whom it rightfully belongs ; to him I will give it . ' 21 : 28 " And you , son of man , prophesy and say , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says about the Ammonites and their insults : "' A sword , a sword , drawn for the slaughter , polished to consume and to flash like lightning ! 21 : 29 Despite false visions concerning you and lying divinations about you , it will be laid on the necks of the wicked who are to be slain , whose day has come , whose time of punishment has reached its climax . 21 : 30 Return the sword to its scabbard . In the place where you were created , in the land of your ancestry , I will judge you . 21 : 31 I will pour out my wrath upon you and breathe out my fiery anger against you ; I will hand you over to brutal men , men skilled in destruction . 21 : 32 You will be fuel for the fire , your blood will be shed in your land , you will be remembered no more ; for I the LORD have spoken . '" 22 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 22 : 2 " Son of man , will you judge her ? Will you judge this city of bloodshed ? Then confront her with all her detestable practices 22 : 3 and say : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : O city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst and defiles herself by making idols , 22 : 4 you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made . You have brought your days to a close , and the end of your years has come . Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries . 22 : 5 Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you , O infamous city , full of turmoil . 22 : 6 "' See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood . 22 : 7 In you they have treated father and mother with contempt ; in you they have oppressed the alien and mistreated the fatherless and the widow . 22 : 8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths . 22 : 9 In you are slanderous men bent on shedding blood ; in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts . 22 : 10 In you are those who dishonor their fathers ' bed ; in you are those who violate women during their period , when they are ceremonially unclean . 22 : 11 In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor ' s wife , another shamefully defiles his daughter - in - law , and another violates his sister , his own father ' s daughter . 22 : 12 In you men accept bribes to shed blood ; you take usury and excessive interest and make unjust gain from your neighbors by extortion . And you have forgotten me , declares the Sovereign LORD . 22 : 13 "' I will surely strike my hands together at the unjust gain you have made and at the blood you have shed in your midst . 22 : 14 Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you ? I the LORD have spoken , and I will do it . 22 : 15 I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you through the countries ; and I will put an end to your uncleanness . 22 : 16 When you have been defiled in the eyes of the nations , you will know that I am the LORD . '" 22 : 17 Then the word of the LORD came to me : 22 : 18 " Son of man , the house of Israel has become dross to me ; all of them are the copper , tin , iron and lead left inside a furnace . They are but the dross of silver . 22 : 19 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : ' Because you have all become dross , I will gather you into Jerusalem . 22 : 20 As men gather silver , copper , iron , lead and tin into a furnace to melt it with a fiery blast , so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you . 22 : 21 I will gather you and I will blow on you with my fiery wrath , and you will be melted inside her . 22 : 22 As silver is melted in a furnace , so you will be melted inside her , and you will know that I the LORD have poured out my wrath upon you . '" 22 : 23 Again the word of the LORD came to me : 22 : 24 " Son of man , say to the land , ' You are a land that has had no rain or showers in the day of wrath . ' 22 : 25 There is a conspiracy of her princes within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey ; they devour people , take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her . 22 : 26 Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things ; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common ; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean ; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths , so that I am profaned among them . 22 : 27 Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey ; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain . 22 : 28 Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations . They say , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says '-- when the LORD has not spoken . 22 : 29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery ; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien , denying them justice . 22 : 30 " I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it , but I found none . 22 : 31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger , bringing down on their own heads all they have done , declares the Sovereign LORD . " 23 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 23 : 2 " Son of man , there were two women , daughters of the same mother . 23 : 3 They became prostitutes in Egypt , engaging in prostitution from their youth . In that land their breasts were fondled and their virgin bosoms caressed . 23 : 4 The older was named Oholah , and her sister was Oholibah . They were mine and gave birth to sons and daughters . Oholah is Samaria , and Oholibah is Jerusalem . 23 : 5 " Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was still mine ; and she lusted after her lovers , the Assyrians -- warriors 23 : 6 clothed in blue , governors and commanders , all of them handsome young men , and mounted horsemen . 23 : 7 She gave herself as a prostitute to all the elite of the Assyrians and defiled herself with all the idols of everyone she lusted after . 23 : 8 She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt , when during her youth men slept with her , caressed her virgin bosom and poured out their lust upon her . 23 : 9 " Therefore I handed her over to her lovers , the Assyrians , for whom she lusted . 23 : 10 They stripped her naked , took away her sons and daughters and killed her with the sword . She became a byword among women , and punishment was inflicted on her . 23 : 11 " Her sister Oholibah saw this , yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister . 23 : 12 She too lusted after the Assyrians -- governors and commanders , warriors in full dress , mounted horsemen , all handsome young men . 23 : 13 I saw that she too defiled herself ; both of them went the same way . 23 : 14 " But she carried her prostitution still further . She saw men portrayed on a wall , figures of Chaldeans portrayed in red , 23 : 15 with belts around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads ; all of them looked like Babylonian chariot officers , natives of Chaldea . 23 : 16 As soon as she saw them , she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea . 23 : 17 Then the Babylonians came to her , to the bed of love , and in their lust they defiled her . After she had been defiled by them , she turned away from them in disgust . 23 : 18 When she carried on her prostitution openly and exposed her nakedness , I turned away from her in disgust , just as I had turned away from her sister . 23 : 19 Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth , when she was a prostitute in Egypt . 23 : 20 There she lusted after her lovers , whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses . 23 : 21 So you longed for the lewdness of your youth , when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled . 23 : 22 " Therefore , Oholibah , this is what the Sovereign LORD says : I will stir up your lovers against you , those you turned away from in disgust , and I will bring them against you from every side -- 23 : 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans , the men of Pekod and Shoa and Koa , and all the Assyrians with them , handsome young men , all of them governors and commanders , chariot officers and men of high rank , all mounted on horses . 23 : 24 They will come against you with weapons , chariots and wagons and with a throng of people ; they will take up positions against you on every side with large and small shields and with helmets . I will turn you over to them for punishment , and they will punish you according to their standards . 23 : 25 I will direct my jealous anger against you , and they will deal with you in fury . They will cut off your noses and your ears , and those of you who are left will fall by the sword . They will take away your sons and daughters , and those of you who are left will be consumed by fire . 23 : 26 They will also strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry . 23 : 27 So I will put a stop to the lewdness and prostitution you began in Egypt . You will not look on these things with longing or remember Egypt anymore . 23 : 28 " For this is what the Sovereign LORD says : I am about to hand you over to those you hate , to those you turned away from in disgust . 23 : 29 They will deal with you in hatred and take away everything you have worked for . They will leave you naked and bare , and the shame of your prostitution will be exposed . Your lewdness and promiscuity 23 : 30 have brought this upon you , because you lusted after the nations and defiled yourself with their idols . 23 : 31 You have gone the way of your sister ; so I will put her cup into your hand . 23 : 32 " This is what the Sovereign LORD says : " You will drink your sister ' s cup , a cup large and deep ; it will bring scorn and derision , for it holds so much . 23 : 33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow , the cup of ruin and desolation , the cup of your sister Samaria . 23 : 34 You will drink it and drain it dry ; you will dash it to pieces and tear your breasts . I have spoken , declares the Sovereign LORD . 23 : 35 " Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : Since you have forgotten me and thrust me behind your back , you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution . " 23 : 36 The LORD said to me : " Son of man , will you judge Oholah and Oholibah ? Then confront them with their detestable practices , 23 : 37 for they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands . They committed adultery with their idols ; they even sacrificed their children , whom they bore to me , as food for them . 23 : 38 They have also done this to me : At that same time they defiled my sanctuary and desecrated my Sabbaths . 23 : 39 on the very day they sacrificed their children to their idols , they entered my sanctuary and desecrated it . That is what they did in my house . 23 : 40 " They even sent messengers for men who came from far away , and when they arrived you bathed yourself for them , painted your eyes and put on your jewelry . 23 : 41 You sat on an elegant couch , with a table spread before it on which you had placed the incense and oil that belonged to me . 23 : 42 " The noise of a carefree crowd was around her ; Sabeans were brought from the desert along with men from the rabble , and they put bracelets on the arms of the woman and her sister and beautiful crowns on their heads . 23 : 43 Then I said about the one worn out by adultery , ' Now let them use her as a prostitute , for that is all she is . ' 23 : 44 And they slept with her . As men sleep with a prostitute , so they slept with those lewd women , Oholah and Oholibah . 23 : 45 But righteous men will sentence them to the punishment of women who commit adultery and shed blood , because they are adulterous and blood is on their hands . 23 : 46 " This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Bring a mob against them and give them over to terror and plunder . 23 : 47 The mob will stone them and cut them down with their swords 9 they will kill thistant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory . They will proclaim my glory among the nations . 24 : 1 In the ninth year , in the tenth month on the tenth day , the word of the LORD came to me : 24 : 2 " Son of man , record this date , this very date , because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day . 24 : 3 Tell this rebellious house a parable and say to them : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : "' Put on the cooking pot ; put it on and pour water into it . 24 : 4 Put into it the pieces of meat , all the choice pieces -- the leg and the shoulder . Fill it with the best of these bones ; 24 : 5 take the pick of the flock . Pile wood beneath it for the bones ; bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it . 24 : 6 "' For this is what the Sovereign LORD says : "' Woe to the city of bloodshed , to the pot now encrusted , whose deposit will not go away ! Empty it piece by piece without casting lots for them . 24 : 7 "' For the blood she shed is in her midst : She poured it on the bare rock ; she did not pour it on the ground , where the dust would cover it . 24 : 8 To stir up wrath and take revenge I put her blood on the bare rock , so that it would not be covered . 24 : 9 "' Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : "' Woe to the city of bloodshed ! I , too , will pile the wood high . 24 : 10 So heap on the wood and kindle the fire . Cook the meat well , mixing in the spices ; and let the bones be charred . 24 : 11 Then set the empty pot on the coals till it becomes hot and its copper glows so its impurities may be melted and its deposit burned away . 24 : 12 It has frustrated all efforts ; its heavy deposit has not been removed , not even by fire . 24 : 13 "' Now your impurity is lewdness . Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed from your impurity , you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided . 24 : 14 "' I the LORD have spoken . The time has come for me to act . I will not hold back ; I will not have pity , nor will I relent . You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions , declares the Sovereign LORD . '" 24 : 15 The word of the LORD came to me : 24 : 16 " Son of man , with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes . Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears . 24 : 17 Groan quietly ; do not mourn for the dead . Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet ; do not cover the lower part of your face or eat the customary food of mourners . " 24 : 18 So I spoke to the people in the morning , and in the evening my wife died . The next morning I did as I had been commanded . 24 : 19 Then the people asked me , " Won ' t you tell us what these things have to do with us ? " 24 : 20 So I said to them , " The word of the LORD came to me : 24 : 21 Say to the house of Israel , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : I am about to desecrate my sanctuary -- the stronghold in which you take pride , the delight of your eyes , the object of your affection . The sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword . 24 : 22 And you will do as I have done . You will not cover the lower part of your face or eat the customary food of mourners . 24 : 23 You will keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet . You will not mourn or weep but will waste away because of your sins and groan among yourselves . 24 : 24 Ezekiel will be a sign to you ; you will do just as he has done . When this happens , you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD . ' 24 : 25 " And you , son of man , on the day I take away their stronghold , their joy and glory , the delight of their eyes , their heart ' s desire , and their sons and daughters as well -- 24 : 26 on that day a fugitive will come to tell you the news . 24 : 27 At that time your mouth will be opened ; you will speak with him and will no longer be silent . So you will be a sign to them , and they will know that I am the LORD . " 25 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 25 : 2 " Son of man , set your face against the Ammonites and prophesy against them . 25 : 3 Say to them , ' Hear the word of the Sovereign LORD . This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Because you said " Aha ! " over my sanctuary when it was desecrated and over the land of Israel when it was laid waste and over the people of Judah when they went into exile , 25 : 4 therefore I am going to give you to the people of the East as a possession . They will set up their camps and pitch their tents among you ; they will eat your fruit and drink your milk . 25 : 5 I will turn Rabbah into a pasture for camels and Ammon into a resting place for sheep . Then you will know that I am the LORD . 25 : 6 For this is what the Sovereign LORD says : Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet , rejoicing with all the malice of your heart against the land of Israel , 25 : 7 therefore I will stretch out my hand against you and give you as plunder to the nations . I will cut you off from the nations and exterminate you from the countries . I will destroy you , and you will know that I am the LORD . '" 25 : 8 " This is what the Sovereign LORD says : ' Because Moab and Seir said , " Look , the house of Judah has become like all the other nations , " 25 : 9 therefore I will expose the flank of Moab , beginning at its frontier towns -- Beth Jeshimoth , Baal Meon and Kiriathaim -- the glory of that land . 25 : 10 I will give Moab along with the Ammonites to the people of the East as a possession , so that the Ammonites will not be remembered among the nations ; 25 : 11 and I will inflict punishment on Moab . Then they will know that I am the LORD . '" 25 : 12 " This is what the Sovereign LORD says : ' Because Edom took revenge on the house of Judah and became very guilty by doing so , 25 : 13 therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : I will stretch out my hand against Edom and kill its men and their animals . I will lay it waste , and from Teman to Dedan they will fall by the sword . 25 : 14 I will take vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel , and they will deal with Edom in accordance with my anger and my wrath ; they will know my vengeance , declares the Sovereign LORD . '" 25 : 15 " This is what the Sovereign LORD says : ' Because the Philistines acted in vengeance and took revenge with malice in their hearts , and with ancient hostility sought to destroy Judah , 25 : 16 therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines , and I will cut off the Kerethites and destroy those remaining along the coast . 25 : 17 I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath . Then they will know that I am the LORD , when I take vengeance on them . '" 26 : 1 In the eleventh year , on the first day of the month , the word of the LORD came to me : 26 : 2 " Son of man , because Tyre has said of Jerusalem , ' Aha ! The gate to the nations is broken , and its doors have swung open to me ; now that she lies in ruins I will prosper , ' 26 : 3 therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : I am against you , O Tyre , and I will bring many nations against you , like the sea casting up its waves . 26 : 4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers ; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock . 26 : 5 Out in the sea she will become a place to spread fishnets , for I have spoken , declares the Sovereign LORD . She will become plunder for the nations , 26 : 6 and her settlements on the mainland will be ravaged by the sword . Then they will know that I am the LORD . 26 : 7 " For this is what the Sovereign LORD says : From the north I am going to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon , king of kings , with horses and chariots , with horsemen and a great army . 26 : 8 He will ravage your settlements on the mainland with the sword ; he will set up siege works against you , build a ramp up to your walls and raise his shields against you . 26 : 9 He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and demolish your towers with his weapons . 26 : 10 His horses will be so many that they will cover you with dust . Your walls will tremble at the noise of the war horses , wagons and chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city whose walls have been broken through . 26 : 11 The hoofs of his horses will trample all your streets ; he will kill your people with the sword , and your strong pillars will fall to the ground . 26 : 12 They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise ; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones , timber and rubble into the sea . 26 : 13 I will put an end to your noisy songs , and the music of your harps will be heard no more . 26 : 14 I will make you a bare rock , and you will become a place to spread fishnets . You will never be rebuilt , for I the LORD have spoken , declares the Sovereign LORD . 26 : 15 " This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Tyre : Will not the coastlands tremble at the sound of your fall , when the wounded groan and the slaughter takes place in you ? 26 : 16 Then all the princes of the coast will step down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and take off their embroidered garments . Clothed with terror , they will sit on the ground , trembling every moment , appalled at you . 26 : 17 Then they will take up a lament concerning you and say to you : "' How you are destroyed , O city of renown , peopled by men of the sea ! You were a power on the seas , you and your citizens ; you put your terror on all who lived there . 26 : 18 Now the coastlands tremble on the day of your fall ; the islands in the sea are terrified at your collapse . ' 26 : 19 " This is what the Sovereign LORD says : When I make you a desolate city , like cities no longer inhabited , and when I bring the ocean depths over you and its vast waters cover you , 26 : 20 then I will bring you down with those who go down to the pit , to the people of long ago . I will make you dwell in the earth below , as in ancient ruins , with those who go down to the pit , and you will not return or take your place in the land of the living . 26 : 21 I will bring you to a horrible end and you will be no more . You will be sought , but you will never again be found , declares the Sovereign LORD . " 27 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 27 : 2 " Son of man , take up a lament concerning Tyre . 27 : 3 Say to Tyre , situated at the gateway to the sea , merchant of peoples on many coasts , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : "' You say , O Tyre , " I am perfect in beauty . " 27 : 4 Your domain was on the high seas ; your builders brought your beauty to perfection . 27 : 5 They made all your timbers of pine trees from Senir ; they took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you . 27 : 6 Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars ; of cypress wood from the coasts of Cyprus they made your deck , inlaid with ivory . 27 : 7 Fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail and served as your banner ; your awnings were of blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah . 27 : 8 Men of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen ; your skilled men , O Tyre , were aboard as your seamen . 27 : 9 Veteran craftsmen of Gebal were on board as shipwrights to caulk your seams . All the ships of the sea and their sailors came alongside to trade for your wares . 27 : 10 "' Men of Persia , Lydia and Put served as soldiers in your army . They hung their shields and helmets on your walls , bringing you splendor . 27 : 11 Men of Arvad and Helech manned your walls on every side ; men of Gammad were in your towers . They hung their shields around your walls ; they brought your beauty to perfection . 27 : 12 "' Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of goods ; they exchanged silver , iron , tin and lead for your merchandise . 27 : 13 "' Greece , Tubal and Meshech traded with you ; they exchanged slaves and articles of bronze for your wares . 27 : 14 "' Men of Beth Togarmah exchanged work horses , war horses and mules for your merchandise . 27 : 15 "' The men of Rhodes traded with you , and many coastlands were your customers ; they paid you with ivory tusks and ebony . 27 : 16 "' Aram did business with you because of your many products ; they exchanged turquoise , purple fabric , embroidered work , fine linen , coral and rubies for your merchandise . 27 : 17 "' Judah and Israel traded with you ; they exchanged wheat from Minnith and confections , honey , oil and balm for your wares . 27 : 18 "' Damascus , because of your many products and great wealth of goods , did business with you in wine from Helbon and wool from Zahar . 27 : 19 "' Danites and Greeks from Uzal bought your merchandise ; they exchanged wrought iron , cassia and calamus for your wares . 27 : 20 "' Dedan traded in saddle blankets with you . 27 : 21 "' Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your customers ; they did business with you in lambs , rams and goats . 27 : 22 "' The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you ; for your merchandise they exchanged the finest of all kinds of spices and precious stones , and gold . 27 : 23 "' Haran , Canneh and Eden and merchants of Sheba , Asshur and Kilmad traded with you . 27 : 24 In your marketplace they traded with you beautiful garments , blue fabric , embroidered work and multicolored rugs with cords twisted and tightly knotted . 27 : 25 "' The ships of Tarshish serve as carriers for your wares . You are filled with heavy cargo in the heart of the sea . 27 : 26 Your oarsmen take you out to the high seas . But the east wind will break you to pieces in the heart of the sea . 27 : 27 Your wealth , merchandise and wares , your mariners , seamen and shipwrights , your merchants and all your soldiers , and everyone else on board will sink into the heart of the sea on the day of your shipwreck . 27 : 28 The shorelands will quake when your seamen cry out . 27 : 29 All who handle the oars will abandon their ships ; the mariners and all the seamen will stand on the shore . 27 : 30 They will raise their voice and cry bitterly over you ; they will sprinkle dust on their heads and roll in ashes . 27 : 31 They will shave their heads because of you and will put on sackcloth . They will weep over you with anguish of soul and with bitter mourning . 27 : 32 As they wail and mourn over you , they will take up a lament concerning you : " Who was ever silenced like Tyre , surrounded by the sea ? " 27 : 33 When your merchandise went out on the seas , you satisfied many nations ; with your great wealth and your wares you enriched the kings of the earth . 27 : 34 Now you are shattered by the sea in the depths of the waters ; your wares and all your company have gone down with you . 27 : 35 All who live in the coastlands are appalled at you ; their kings shudder with horror and their faces are distorted with fear . 27 : 36 The merchants among the nations hiss at you ; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more . '" 28 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 28 : 2 " Son of man , say to the ruler of Tyre , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : "' In the pride of your heart you say , " I am a god ; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas . " But you are a man and not a god , though you think you are as wise as a god . 28 : 3 Are you wiser than Daniel ? Is no secret hidden from you ? 28 : 4 By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself and amassed gold and silver in your treasuries . 28 : 5 By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth , and because of your wealth your heart has grown proud . 28 : 6 "' Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : "' Because you think you are wise , as wise as a god , 28 : 7 I am going to bring foreigners against you , the most ruthless of nations ; they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom and pierce your shining splendor . 28 : 8 They will bring you down to the pit , and you will die a violent death in the heart of the seas . 28 : 9 Will you then say , " I am a god , " in the presence of those who kill you ? You will be but a man , not a god , in the hands of those who slay you . 28 : 10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners . I have spoken , declares the Sovereign LORD . '" 28 : 11 The word of the LORD came to me : 28 : 12 " Son of man , take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : "' You were the model of perfection , full of wisdom and perfect in beauty . 28 : 13 You were in Eden , the garden of God ; every precious stone adorned you : ruby , topaz and emerald , chrysolite , onyx and jasper , sapphire , turquoise and beryl . Your settings and mountings were made of gold ; on the day you were created they were prepared . 28 : 14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub , for so I ordained you . You were on the holy mount of God ; you walked among the fiery stones . 28 : 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you . 28 : 16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence , and you sinned . So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God , and I expelled you , O guardian cherub , from among the fiery stones . 28 : 17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty , and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor . So I threw you to the earth ; I made a spectacle of you before kings . 28 : 18 By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries . So I made a fire come out from you , and it consumed you , and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching . 28 : 19 All the nations who knew you are appalled at you ; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more . '" 28 : 20 The word of the LORD came to me : 28 : 21 " Son of man , set your face against Sidon ; prophesy against her 28 : 22 and say : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : "' I am against you , O Sidon , and I will gain glory within you . They will know that I am the LORD , when I inflict punishment on her and show myself holy within her . 28 : 23 I will send a plague upoj her and make blood flow in her streets . The slain will fall within her , with the sword against her on every side . Then they will know that I am the LORD . 28 : 24 "' No longer will the people of Israel have malicious neighbors who are painful briers and sharp thorns . Then they will know that I am the Sovereign LORD . 28 : 25 "' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : When I gather the people of Israel from the nations where they have been scattered , I will show myself holy among them in the sight of the nations . Then they will live in their own land , which I gave to my servant Jacob . 28 : 26 They will live there in safety and will build houses and plant vineyards ; they will live in safety when I inflict punishment on all their neighbors who maligned them . Then they will know that I am the LORD their God . '" 29 : 1 In the tenth year , in the tenth month on the twelfth day , the word of the LORD came to me : 29 : 2 " Son of man , set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt . 29 : 3 Speak to him and say : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : "' I am against you , Pharaoh king of Egypt , you great monster lying among your streams . You say , " The Nile is mine ; I made it for myself . " 29 : 4 But I will put hooks in your jaws and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales . I will pull you out from among your streams , with all the fish sticking to your scales . 29 : 5 I will leave you in the desert , you and all the fish of your streams . You will fall on the open field and not be gathered or picked up . I will give you as food to the beasts of the eartl and the birds of the air . 29 : 6 Then all who live in Egypt will know that I am the LORD . "' You have been a staff of reed for the house of Israel . 29 : 7 When they grasped you with their hands , you splintered and you tore open their shoulders ; when they leaned on you , you broke and their backs were wrenched . 29 : 8 "' Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : I will bring a sword against you and kill your men and their animals . 29 : 9 Egypt will become a desolate wasteland . Then they will know that I am the LORD . "' Because you said , " The Nile is mine ; I made it , " 29 : 10 therefore I am against you and against your streams , and I will make the land of Egypt a ruin and a desolate waste from Migdol to Aswan , as far as the border of Cush . 29 : 11 No foot of man or animal will pass through it ; no one will live there for forty years . 29 : 12 I will make the land of Egypt desolate among devastated lands , and her cities will lie desolate forty years among ruined cities . And I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries . 29 : 13 "' Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says : At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations where they were scattered . 29 : 14 I will bring them back from captivity and return them to Upper Egypt , the land of their ancestry . There they will be a lowly kingdom . 29 : 15 It will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself above the other nations . I will make it so weak that it will never again rule over the nations . 29 : 16 Egypt will no longer be a source of confidence for the people of Israel but will be a reminder of their sin in turning to her for help . Then they will know that I am the Sovereign LORD . '" 29 : 17 In the twenty - seventh year , in the first month on the first day , the word of the LORD came to me : 29 : 18 " Son of man , Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon drove his army in a hard campaign against Tyre ; every head was rubbed bare and every shoulder made raw . Yet he and his army got no reward from the campaign he led against Tyre . 29 : 19 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : I am going to give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon , and he will carry off its wealth . He will loot and plunder the land as pay for his army . 29 : 20 I have given him Egypt as a reward for his efforts because he and his army did it for me , declares the Sovereign LORD . 29 : 21 on that day I will make a horn grow for the house of Israel , and I will open your mouth among them . Then they will know that I am the LORD . " 30 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 30 : 2 " Son of man , prophesy and say : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : "' Wail and say , " Alas for that day ! " 30 : 3 For the day is near , the day of the LORD is near -- a day of clouds , a time of doom for the nations . 30 : 4 A sword will come against Egypt , and anguish will come upon Cush . When the slain fall in Egypt , her wealth will be carried away and her foundations torn down . 30 : 5 Cush and Put , Lydia and all Arabia , Libya and the people of the covenant land will fall by the sword along with Egypt . 30 : 6 "' This is what the LORD says : "' The allies of Egypt will fall and her proud strength will fail . From Migdol to Aswan they will fall by the sword within her , declares the Sovereign LORD . 30 : 7 "' They will be desolate among desolate lands , and their cities will lie among ruined cities . 30 : 8 Then they will know that I am the LORD , when I set fire to Egypt and all her helpers are crushed . 30 : 9 "' on that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten Cush out of her complacency . Anguish will take hold of them on the day of Egypt ' s doom , for it is sure to come . 30 : 10 "' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : "' I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon . 30 : 11 He and his army -- the most ruthless of nations -- will be brought in to destroy the land . They will draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain . 30 : 12 I will dry up the streams of the Nile and sell the land to evil men ; by the hand of foreigners I will lay waste the land and everything in it . I the LORD have spoken . 30 : 13 "' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : "' I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images in Memphis . No longer will there be a prince in Egypt , and I will spread fear throughout the land . 30 : 14 I will lay waste Upper Egypt , set fire to Zoan and inflict punishment on Thebes . 30 : 15 I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium , the stronghold of Egypt , and cut off the hordes of Thebes . 30 : 16 I will set fire to Egypt ; Pelusium will writhe in agony . Thebes will be taken by storm ; Memphis will be in constant distress . 30 : 17 The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis will fall by the sword , and the cities themselves will go into captivity . 30 : 18 Dark will be the day at Tahpanhes when I break the yoke of Egypt ; there her proud strength will come to an end . She will be covered with clouds , and her villages will go into captivity . 30 : 19 So I will inflict punishment on Egypt , and they will know that I am the LORD . '" 30 : 20 In the eleventh year , in the first month on the seventh day , the word of the LORD came to me : 30 : 21 " Son of man , I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt . It has not been bound up for healing or put in a splint so as to become strong enough to hold a sword . 30 : 22 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt . I will break both his arms , the good arm as well as the broken one , and make the sword fall from his hand . 30 : 23 I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries . 30 : 24 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand , but I will break the arms of Pharaoh , and he will groan before him like a mortally wounded man . 30 : 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon , but the arms of Pharaoh will fall limp . Then they will know that I am the LORD , when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he brandishes it against Egypt . 30 : 26 I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries . Then they will know that I am the LORD . " 31 : 1 In the eleventh year , in the third month on the first day , the word of the LORD came to me : 31 : 2 " Son of man , say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes : "' Who can be compared with you in majesty ? 31 : 3 Consider Assyria , once a cedar in Lebanon , with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest ; it towered on high , its top above the thick foliage . 31 : 4 The waters nourished it , deep springs made it grow tall ; their streams flowed all around its base and sent their channels to all the trees of the field . 31 : 5 So it towered higher than all the trees of the field ; its boughs increased and its branches grew long , spreading because of abundant waters . 31 : 6 All the birds of the air nested in its boughs , all the beasts of the field gave birth under its branches ; all the great nations lived in its shade . 31 : 7 It was majestic in beauty , with its spreading boughs , for its roots went down to abundant waters . 31 : 8 The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it , nor could the pine trees equal its boughs , nor could the plane trees compare with its branches -- no tree in the garden of God could match its beauty . 31 : 9 I made it beautiful with abundant branches , the envy of all the trees of Eden in the garden of God . 31 : 10 "' Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : Because it towered on high , lifting its top above the thick foliage , and because it was proud of its height , 31 : 11 I handed it over to the ruler of the nations , for him to deal with according to its wickedness . I cast it aside , 31 : 12 and the most ruthless of foreign nations cut it down and left it . Its boughs fell on the mountains and in all the valleys ; its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land . All the nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left it . 31 : 13 All the birds of the air settled on the fallen tree , and all the beasts of the field were among its branches . 31 : 14 Therefore no other trees by the waters are ever to tower proudly on high , lifting their tops above the thick foliage . No other trees so well - watered are ever to reach such a height ; they are all destined for death , for the earth below , among mortal men , with those who go down to the pit . 31 : 15 "' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : on the day it was brought down to the grave I covered the deep springs with mourning for it ; I held back its streams , and its abundant waters were restrained . Because of it I clothed Lebanon with gloom , and all the trees of the field withered away . 31 : 16 I made the nations tremble at the sound of its fall when I brought it down to the grave with those who go down to the pit . Then all the trees of Eden , the choicest and best of Lebanon , all the trees that were well - watered , were consoled in the earth below . 31 : 17 Those who lived in its shade , its allies among the nations , had also gone down to the grave with it , joining those killed by the sword . 31 : 18 "' Which of the trees of Eden can be compared with you in splendor and majesty ? Yet you , too , will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth below ; you will lie among the uncircumcised , with those killed by the sword . "' This is Pharaoh and all his hordes , declares the Sovereign LORD . '" 32 : 1 In the twelfth year , in the twelfth month on the first day , the word of the LORD came to me : 32 : 2 " Son of man , take up a lament concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him : "' You are like a lion among the nations ; you are like a monster in the seas thrashing about in your streams , churning the water with your feet and muddying the streams . 32 : 3 "' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : "' With a great throng of people I will cast my net over you , and they will haul you up in my net . 32 : 4 I will throw you on the land and hurl you on the open field . I will let all the birds of the air settle on you and all the beasts of the earth gorge themselves on you . 32 : 5 I will spread your flesh on the mountains and fill the valleys with your remains . 32 : 6 I will drench the land with your flowing blood all the way to the mountains , and the ravines will be filled with your flesh . 32 : 7 When I snuff you out , I will cover the heavens and darken their stars ; I will cover the sun with a cloud , and the moon will not give its light . 32 : 8 All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you ; I will bring darkness over your land , declares the Sovereign LORD . 32 : 9 I will trouble the hearts of many peoples when I bring about your destruction among the nations , among lands you have not known . 32 : 10 I will cause many peoples to be appalled at you , and their kings will shudder with horror because of you when I brandish my sword before them . on the day of your downfall each of them will tremble every moment for his life . 32 : 11 "' For this is what the Sovereign LORD says : "' The sword of the king of Babylon will come against you . 32 : 12 I will cause your hordes to fall by the swords of mighty men -- the most ruthless of all nations . They will shatter the pride of Egypt , and all her hordes will be overthrown . 32 : 13 I will destroy all her cattle from beside abundant waters no longer to be stirred by the foot of man or muddied by the hoofs of cattle . 32 : 14 Then I will let her waters settle and make her streams flow like oil , declares the Sovereign LORD . 32 : 15 When I make Egypt desolate and strip the land of everything in it , when I strike down all who live there , then they will know that I am the LORD . ' 32 : 16 " This is the lament they will chant for her . The daughters of the nations will chant it ; for Egypt and all her hordes they will chant it , declares the Sovereign LORD . " 32 : 17 In the twelfth year , on the fifteenth day of the month , the word of the LORD came to me : 32 : 18 " Son of man , wail for the hordes of Egypt and consign to the earth below both her and the daughters of mighty nations , with those who go down to the pit . 32 : 19 Say to them , ' Are you more favored than others ? Go down and be laid among the uncircumcised . ' 32 : 20 They will fall among those killed by the sword . The sword is drawn ; let her be dragged off with all her hordes . 32 : 21 From within the grave the mighty leaders will say of Egypt and her allies , ' They have come down and they lie with the uncircumcised , with those killed by the sword . ' 32 : 22 " Assyria is there with her whole army ; she is surrounded by the graves of all her slain , all who have fallen by the sword . 32 : 23 Their graves are in the depths of the pit and her army lies around her grave . All who had spread terror in the land of the living are slain , fallen by the sword . 32 : 24 " Elam is there , with all her hordes around her grave . All of them are slain , fallen by the sword . All who had spread terror in the land of the living went down uncircumcised to the earth below . They bear their shame with those who go down to the pit . 32 : 25 A bed is made for her among the slain , with all her hordes around her grave . All of them are uncircumcised , killed by the sword . Because their terror had spread in the land of the living , they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit ; they are laid among the slain . 32 : 26 " Meshech and Tubal are there , with all their hordes around their graves . All of them are uncircumcised , killed by the sword because they spread their terror in the land of the living . 32 : 27 Do they not lie with the other uncircumcised warriors who have fallen , who went down to the grave with their weapons of war , whose swords were placed under their heads ? The punishment for their sins rested on their bones , though the terror of these warriors had stalked through the land of the living . 32 : 28 " You too , O Pharaoh , will be broken and will lie among the uncircumcised , with those killed by the sword . 32 : 29 " Edom is there , her kings and all her princes ; despite their power , they are laid with those killed by the sword . They lie with the uncircumcised , with those who go down to the pit . 32 : 30 " All the princes of the north and all the Sidonians are there ; they went down with the slain in disgrace despite the terror caused by their power . They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit . 32 : 31 " Pharaoh -- he and all his army -- will see them and he will be consoled for all his hordes that were killed by the sword , declares the Sovereign LORD . 32 : 32 Although I had him spread terror in the land of the living , Pharaoh and all his hordes will be laid among the uncircumcised , with those killed by the sword , declares the Sovereign LORD . " 33 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 33 : 2 " Son of man , speak to your countrymen and say to them : ' When I bring the sword against a land , and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman , 33 : 3 and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people , 33 : 4 then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life , his blood will be on his own head . 33 : 5 Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning , his blood will be on his own head . If he had taken warning , he would have saved himself . 33 : 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them , that man will be taken away because of his sin , but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood . ' 33 : 7 " Son of man , I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel ; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me . 33 : 8 When I say to the wicked , ' O wicked man , you will surely die , ' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways , that wicked man will die for his sin , and I will hold you accountable for his blood . 33 : 9 But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so , he will die for his sin , but you will have saved yourself . 33 : 10 " Son of man , say to the house of Israel , ' This is what you are saying : " Our offenses ane sins weigh us down , and we are wasting away because of them . How then can we live ? "' 33 : 11 Say to them , ' As surely as I live , declares the Sovereign LORD , I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked , but rathar that they turn from their ways and live . Turn ! Turn from your evil ways ! Why will you die , O house of Israel ? ' 33 : 12 " Therefore , son of man , say to your countrymen , ' The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him when he disobeys , and the wickedness of the wicked man will not cause him to fall when he turns from it . The righteous man , if he sins , will not be allowed to live because of his former righteousness . ' 33 : 13 If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live , but then he trusts in his righteousness and does evil , none of the righteous things he has done will be remembered ; he will die for the evil he has done . 33 : 14 And if I say to the wicked man , ' You will surely die , ' but he then turns away from his sin and does what is just and right -- 33 : 15 if he gives back what he took in pledge for a loan , returns what he has stolen , follows the decrees that give life , and does no evil , he will surely live ; he will not die . 33 : 16 None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him . He has done what is just and right ; he will surely live . 33 : 17 " Yet your countrymen say , ' The way of the Lord is not just . ' But it is their way that is not just . 33 : 18 If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil , he will die for it . 33 : 19 And if a wicked man turns away from his wickedness and does what is just and right , he will live by doing so . 33 : 20 Yet , O house of Israel , you say , ' The way of the Lord is not just . ' But I will judge each of you according to his own ways . " 33 : 21 In the twelfth year of our exile , in the tenth month on the fifth day , a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said , " The city has fallen ! " 33 : 22 Now the evening before the man arrived , the hand of the LORD was upon me , and he opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning . So my mouth was opened and I was no longer silent . 33 : 23 Then the word of the LORD came to me : 33 : 24 " Son of man , the people living in those ruins in the land of Israel are saying , ' Abraham was only one man , yet he possessed the land . But we are many ; surely the land has been given to us as our possession . ' 33 : 25 Therefore say to them , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Since you eat meat with the blood still in it and look to your idols and shed blood , should you then possess the land ? 33 : 26 You rely on your sword , you do detestable things , and each of you defiles his neighbor ' s wife . Should you then possess the land ? ' 33 : 27 " Say this to them : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : As surely as I live , those who are left in the ruins will fall by the sword , those out in the country I will give to the wild animals to be devoured , and those in strongholds and caves will die of a plague . 33 : 28 I will make the land a desolate waste , and her proud strength will come to an end , and the mountains of Israel will become desolate so that no one will cross them . 33 : 29 Then they will know that I am the LORD , when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all the detestable things they have done . ' 33 : 30 " As for you , son of man , your countrymen are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses , saying to each other , ' Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD . ' 33 : 31 My people come to you , as they usually do , and sit before you to listen to your words , but they do not put them into practice . With their mouths they express devotion , but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain . 33 : 32 Indeed , to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well , for they hear your words but do not put them into practice . 33 : 33 " When all this comes true -- and it surely will -- then they will know that a prophet has been among them . " 34 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 34 : 2 " Son of man , prophesy against the shepherds of Israel ; prophesy and say to them : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves ! Should not shepherds take care of the flock ? 34 : 3 You eat the curds , clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals , but you do not take care of the flock . 34 : 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured . You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost . You have ruled them harshly and brutally . 34 : 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd , and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals . 34 : 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill . They were scattered over the whole earth , and no one searched or looked for them . 34 : 7 "' Therefore , you shepherds , hear the word of the LORD : 34 : 8 As surely as I live , declares the Sovereign LORD , because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals , and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock , 34 : 9 therefore , O shepherds , hear the word of the LORD : 34 : 10 This is what the Sovereign LORD says : I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock . I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves . I will rescue my flock from their mouths , and it will no longer be food for them . 34 : 11 "' For this is what the Sovereign LORD says : I myself will search for my sheep and look after them . 34 : 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them , so will I look after my sheep . I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness . 34 : 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries , and I will bring them into their own land . I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel , in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land . 34 : 14 I will tend them in a good pasture , and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land . There they will lie down in good grazing land , and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel . 34 : 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down , declares the Sovereign LORD . 34 : 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays . I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak , but the sleek and the strong I will destroy . I will shepherd the flock with justice . 34 : 17 "' As for you , my flock , this is what the Sovereign LORD says : I will judge between one sheep and another , and between rams and goats . 34 : 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture ? Iust you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet ? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water ? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet ? 34 : 19 Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet ? 34 : 20 "' Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says to them : See , I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep . 34 : 21 Because you shove with flank and shoulder , butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away , 34 : 22 I will save my flock , and they will no longer be plundered . I will judge between one sheep and another . 34 : 23 I will place over them one shepherd , my servant David , and he will tend them ; he will tend them and be their shepherd . 34 : 24 I the LORD will be their God , and my servant David will be prince among them . I the LORD have spoken . 34 : 25 "' I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety . 34 : 26 I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill . I will send down showers in season ; there will be showers of blessing . 34 : 27 The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops ; the people will be secure in their land . They will know that I am the LORD , when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them . 34 : 28 They will no longer be plundered by the nations , nor will wild animals devour them . They will live in safety , and no one will make them afraid . 34 : 29 I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops , and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations . 34 : 30 Then they will know that I , the LORD their God , am with them and that they , the house of Israel , are my people , declares the Sovereign LORD . 34 : 31 You my sheep , the sheep of my pasture , are people , and I am your God , declares the Sovereign LORD . '" 35 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 35 : 2 " Son of man , set your face against Mount Seir ; prophesy against it 35 : 3 and say : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : I am against you , Mount Seir , and I will stretch out my hand against you and make you a desolate waste . 35 : 4 I will turn your towns into ruins and you will be desolate . Then you will know that I am the LORD . 35 : 5 "' Because you harbored an ancient hostility and delivered the Israelites over to the sword at the time of their calamity , the time their punishment reached its climax , 35 : 6 therefore as surely as I live , declares the Sovereign LORD , I will give you over to bloodshed and it will pursue you . Since you did not hate bloodshed , bloodshed will pursue you . 35 : 7 I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste and cut off from it all who come and go . 35 : 8 I will fill your mountains with the slain ; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines . 35 : 9 I will make you desolate forever ; your towns will not be inhabited . Then you will know that I am the LORD . 35 : 10 "' Because you have said , " These two nations and countries will be ours and we will take possession of them , " even though I the LORD was there , 35 : 11 therefore as surely as I live , declares the Sovereign LORD , I will treat you in accordance with the anger and jealousy you showed in your hatred of them and I will make myself known among them when I judge you . 35 : 12 Then you will know that I the LORD have heard all the contemptible things you have said against the mountains of Israel . You said , " They have been laid waste and have been given over to us to devour . " 35 : 13 You boasted against me and spoke against me without restraint , and I heard it . 35 : 14 This is what the Sovereign LORD says : While the whole earth rejoices , I will make you desolate . 35 : 15 Because you rejoiced when the inheritance of the house of Israel became desolate , that is how I will treat you . You will be desolate , O Mount Seir , you and all of Edom . Then they will know that I am the LORD . '" 36 : 1 " Son of man , prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say , ' O mountains of Israel , hear the word of the LORD . 36 : 2 This is what the Sovereign LORD says : The enemy said of you , " Aha ! The ancient heights have become our possession . "' 36 : 3 Therefore prophesy and say , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Because they ravaged and hounded you from every side so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations and the object of people ' s malicious talk and slander , 36 : 4 therefore , O mountains of Israel , hear the word of the Sovereign LORD : This is what the Sovereign LORD says to the mountains and hills , to the ravines and valleys , to the desolate ruins and the deserted towns that have been plundered and ridiculed by the rest of the nations around you -- 36 : 5 this is what the Sovereign LORD says : In my burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations , and against all Edom , for with glee and with malice in their hearts they made my land their own possession so that they might plunder its pastureland . ' 36 : 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills , to the ravines and valleys : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : I speak in my jealous wrath because you have suffered the scorn of the nations . 36 : 7 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : I swear with uplifted hand that the nations around you will also suffer scorn . 36 : 8 "' But you , O mountains of Israel , will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel , for they will soon come home . 36 : 9 I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor ; you will be plowed and sown , 36 : 10 and I will multiply the number of people upon you , even the whole house of Israel . The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt . 36 : 11 I will increase the number of men and animals upon you , and they will be fruitful and become numerous . I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before . Then you will know that I am the LORD . 36 : 12 I will cause people , my people Israel , to walk upon you . They will possess you , and you will be their inheritance ; you will never again deprive them of their children . 36 : 13 "' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Because people say to you , " You devour men and deprive your nation of its children , " 36 : 14 therefore you will no longer devour men or make your nation childless , declares the Sovereign LORD . 36 : 15 No longer will I make you hear the taunts of the nations , and no longer will you suffer the scorn of the peoples or cause your nation to fall , declares the Sovereign LORD . '" 36 : 16 Again the word of the LORD came to me : 36 : 17 " Son of man , when the people of Israel were living in their own land , they defiled it by their conduct and their actions . Their conduct was like a woman ' s monthly uncleanness in my sight . 36 : 18 So I poured out my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their idols . 36 : 19 I dispersed them among the nations , and they were scattered through the countries ; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions . 36 : 20 And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name , for it was said of them , ' These are the LORD ' S people , and yet they had to leave his land . ' 36 : 21 I had concern for my holy name , which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone . 36 : 22 " Therefore say to the house of Israel , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : It is not for your sake , O house of Israel , that I am going to do these things , but for the sake of my holy name , which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone . 36 : 23 I will show the holiness of my great name , which has been profaned among the nations , the name you have profaned among them . Then the nations will know that I am the LORD , declares the Sovereign LORD , when I show myself holy through you before their eyes . 36 : 24 "' For I will take you out of the nations ; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land . 36 : 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you , and you will be clean ; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols . 36 : 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you ; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh . 36 : 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws . 36 : 28 You will live in the land I gave your forefathers ; you will be my people , and I will be your God . 36 : 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness . I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you . 36 : 30 I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field , so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine . 36 : 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds , and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices . 36 : 32 I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake , declares the Sovereign LORD . Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct , O house of Israel ! 36 : 33 "' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : on the day I cleanse you from all your sins , I will resettle your towns , and the ruins will be rebuilt . 36 : 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it . 36 : 35 They will say , " This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden ; the cities that were lying in ruins , desolate and destroyed , are now fortified and inhabited . " 36 : 36 Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the LORD have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate . I the LORD have spoken , and I will do it . ' 36 : 37 " This is what the Sovereign LORD says : once again I will yield to the plea of the house of Israel and do this for them : I will make their people as numerous as sheep , 36 : 38 as numerous as the flocks for offerings at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts . So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people . Then they will know that I am the LORD . " 37 : 1 The hand of the LORD was upon me , and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley ; it was full of bones . 37 : 2 He led me back and forth among them , and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley , bones that were very dry . 37 : 3 He asked me , " Son of man , can these bones live ? " I said , " O Sovereign LORD , you alone know . " 37 : 4 Then he said to me , " Prophesy to these bones and say to them , ' Dry bones , hear the word of the LORD ! 37 : 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones : I will make breath enter you , and you will come to life . 37 : 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin ; I will put breath in you , and you will come to life . Then you will know that I am the LORD . '" 37 : 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded . And as I was prophesying , there was a noise , a rattling sound , and the bones came together , bone to bone . 37 : 8 I looked , and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them , but there was no breath in them . 37 : 9 Then he said to me , " Prophesy to the breath ; prophesy , son of man , and say to it , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Come from the four winds , O breath , and breathe into these slain , that they may live . '" 37 : 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me , and breath entered them ; they came to life and stood up on their feet -- a vast army . 37 : 11 Then he said to me : " Son of man , these bones are the whole house of Israel . They say , ' Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone ; we are cut off . ' 37 : 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : O my people , I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them ; I will bring you back to the land of Israel . 37 : 13 Then you , my people , will know that I am the LORD , when I open your graves and bring you up from them . 37 : 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live , and I will settle you in your own land . Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken , and I have done it , declares the LORD . '" 37 : 15 The word of the LORD came to me : 37 : 16 " Son of man , take a stick of wood and write on it , ' Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him . ' Then take another stick of wood , and write on it , ' Ephraim ' s stick , belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him . ' 37 : 17 Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand . 37 : 18 " When your countrymen ask you , ' Won ' t you tell us what you mean by this ? ' 37 : 19 say to them , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : I am going to take the stick of Joseph -- which is in Ephraim ' s hand -- and of the Israelite tribes associated with him , and join it to Judah ' s stick , making them a single stick of wood , and they will become one in my hand . ' 37 : 20 Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on 37 : 21 and say to them , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone . I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land . 37 : 22 I will make them one nation in the land , on the mountains of Israel . There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms . 37 : 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses , for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding , and I will cleanse them . They will be my people , and I will be their God . 37 : 24 "' My servant David will be king over them , and they will all have one shepherd . They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees . 37 : 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob , the land where your fathers lived . They and their children and their children ' s children will live there forever , and David my servant will be their prince forever . 37 : 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them ; it will be an everlasting covenant . I will establish them and increase their numbers , and I will put my sanctuary among them forever . 37 : 27 My dwelling place will be with them ; I will be their God , and they will be my people . 37 : 28 Then the nations will know that I the LORD make Israel holy , when my sanctuary is among them forever . '" 38 : 1 The word of the LORD came to me : 38 : 2 " Son of man , set your face against Gog , of the land of Magog , the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal ; prophesy against him 38 : 3 and say : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : I am against you , O Gog , chief prince of Meshech and Tubal . 38 : 4 I will turn you around , put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army -- your horses , your horsemen fully armed , and a great horde with large and small shields , all of them brandishing their swords . 38 : 5 Persia , Cush and Put will be with them , all with shields and helmets , 38 : 6 also Gomer with all its troops , and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops -- the many nations with you . 38 : 7 "' Get ready ; be prepared , you and all the hordes gathered about you , and take command of them . 38 : 8 After many days you will be called to arms . In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war , whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel , which had long been desolate . They had been brought out from the nations , and now all of them live in safety . 38 : 9 You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up , advancing like a storm ; you will be like a cloud covering the land . 38 : 10 "' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : on that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme . 38 : 11 You will say , " I will invade a land of unwalled villages ; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people -- all of them living without walls and without gates and bars . 38 : 12 I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations , rich in livestock and goods , living at the center of the land . " 38 : 13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages will say to you , " Have you come to plunder ? Have you gathered your hordes to loot , to carry off silver and gold , to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder ? "' 38 : 14 " Therefore , son of man , prophesy and say to Gog : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : In that day , when my people Israel are living in safety , will you not take notice of it ? 38 : 15 You will come from your place in the far north , you and many nations with you , all of them riding on horses , a great horde , a mighty army . 38 : 16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land . In days to come , O Gog , I will bring you against my land , so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes . 38 : 17 "' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Are you not the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel ? At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them . 38 : 18 This is what will happen in that day : When Gog attacks the land of Israel , my hot anger will be aroused , declares the Sovereign LORD . 38 : 19 In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel . 38 : 20 The fish of the sea , the birds of the air , the beasts of the field , every creature that moves along the ground , and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence . The mountains will be overturned , the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground . 38 : 21 I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains , declares the Sovereign LORD . Every man ' s sword will be against his brother . 38 : 22 I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed ; I will pour down torrents of rain , hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him . 38 : 23 And so I will show my greatness and my holiness , and I will make myself known in the sight of iany nations . Then they will know that I am the LORD . ' 39 : 1 " Son of man , prophesy against Gog and say : ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : I am against you , O Gog , chief prince of Meshech and Tubal . 39 : 2 I will turn you around and drag you along . I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel . 39 : 3 Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows drop from your right hand . 39 : 4 on the mountains of Israel you will fall , you and all your troops and the nations with you . I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals . 39 : 5 You will fall in the open field , for I have spoken , declares the Sovereign LORD . 39 : 6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands , and they will know that I am the LORD . 39 : 7 "' I will make known my holy name among my people Israel . I will no longer let my holy name be profaned , and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy one in Israel . 39 : 8 It is coming ! It will surely take place , declares the Sovereign LORD . This is the day I have spoken of . 39 : 9 "' Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up -- the small and large shields , the bows and arrows , the war clubs and spears . For seven years they will use them for fuel . 39 : 10 They will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut it from the forests , because they will use the weapons for fuel . And they will plunder those who plundered them and loot those who looted them , declares the Sovereign LORD . 39 : 11 "' on that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel , in the valley of those who travel east toward the Sea . It will block the way of travelers , because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there . So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog . 39 : 12 "' For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land . 39 : 13 All the people of the land will bury them , and the day I am glorified will be a memorable day for them , declares the Sovereign LORD . 39 : 14 "' Men will be regularly employed to cleanse the land . Some will go throughout the land and , in addition to them , others will bury those that remain on the ground . At the end of the seven months they will begin their search . 39 : 15 As they go through the land and one of them sees a human bone , he will set up a marker beside it until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog . 39 : 16 ( Also a town called Hamonah will be there . ) And so they will cleanse the land . ' 39 : 17 " Son of man , this is what the Sovereign LORD says : Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals : ' Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you , the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel . There you will eat flesh and drink blood . 39 : 18 You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as if they were rams and lambs , goats and bulls -- all of them fattened animals from Bashan . 39 : 19 At the sacrifice I am preparing for you , you will eat fat till you are glutted and drink blood till you are drunk . 39 : 20 At my table you will eat your fill of horses and riders , mighty men and soldiers of every kind , ' declares the Sovereign LORD . 39 : 21 " I will display my glory among the nations , and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay upon them . 39 : 22 From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God . 39 : 23 And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin , because they were unfaithful to me . So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies , and they all fell by the sword . 39 : 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses , and I hid my face from them . 39 : 25 " Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says : I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel , and I will be zealous for my holy name . 39 : 26 They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid . 39 : 27 When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies , I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations . 39 : 28 Then they will know that I am the LORD their God , for though I sent them into exile among the nations , I will gather them to their own land , not leaving any behind . 39 : 29 I will no longer hide my face from them , for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel , declares the Sovereign LORD . " 40 : 1 In the twenty - fifth year of our exile , at the beginning of the year , on the tenth of the month , in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city -- on that very day the hand of the LORD was upon me and he took me there . 40 : 2 In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain , on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city . 40 : 3 He took me there , and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze ; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand . 40 : 4 The man said to me , " Son of man , look with your eyes and hear with your ears and pay attention to everything I am going to show you , for that is why you have been brought here . Tell the house of Israel everything you see . " 40 : 5 I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area . The length of the measuring rod in the man ' s hand was six long cubits , each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth . He measured the wall ; it was one measuring rod thick and one rod high . 40 : 6 Then he went to the gate facing east . He climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate ; it was one rod deep . 40 : 7 The alcoves for the guards were one rod long and one rod wide , and the projecting walls between the alcoves were five cubits thick . And the threshold of the gate next to the portico facing the temple was one rod deep . 40 : 8 Then he measured the portico of the gateway ; 40 : 9 it was eight cubits deep and its jambs were two cubits thick . The portico of the gateway faced the temple . 40 : 10 Inside the east gate were three alcoves on each side ; the three had the same measurements , and the faces of the projecting walls on each side had the same measurements . 40 : 11 Then he measured the width of the entrance to the gateway ; it was ten cubits and its length was thirteen cubits . 40 : 12 In front of each alcove was a wall one cubit high , and the alcoves were six cubits square . 40 : 13 Then he measured the gateway from the top of the rear wall of one alcove to the top of the opposite one ; the distance was twenty - five cubits from one parapet opening to the opposite one . 40 : 14 He measured along the faces of the projecting walls all around the inside of the gateway -- sixty cubits . The measurement was up to the portico facing the courtyard . 40 : 15 The distance from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its portico was fifty cubits . 40 : 16 The alcoves and the projecting walls inside the gateway were surmounted by narrow parapet openings all around , as was the portico ; the openings all around faced inward . The faces of the projecting walls were decorated with palm trees . 40 : 17 Then he brought me into the outer court . There I saw some rooms and a pavement that had been constructed all around the court ; there were thirty rooms along the pavement . 40 : 18 It abutted the sides of the gateways and was as wide as they were long ; this was the lower pavement . 40 : 19 Then he measured the distance from the inside of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner court ; it was a hundred cubits on the east side as well as on the north . 40 : 20 Then he measured the length and width of the gate facing north , leading into the outer court . 40 : 21 Its alcoves -- three on each side -- its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as those of the first gateway . It was fifty cubits long and twenty - five cubits wide . 40 : 22 Its openings , its portico and its palm tree decorations had the same measurements as those of the gate facing east . Seven steps led up to it , with its portico opposite them . 40 : 23 There was a gate to the inner court facing the north gate , just as there was on the east . He measured from one gate to the opposite one ; it was a hundred cubits . 40 : 24 Then he led me to the south side and I saw a gate facing south . He measured its jambs and its portico , and they had the same measurements as the others . 40 : 25 The gateway and its portico had narrow openings all around , like the openings of the others . It was fifty cubits long and twenty - five cubits wide . 40 : 26 Seven steps led up to it , with its portico opposite them ; it had palm tree decorations on the faces of the projecting walls on each side . 40 : 27 The inner court also had a gate facing south , and he measured from this gate to the outer gate on the south side ; it was a hundred cubits . 40 : 28 Then he brought me into the inner court through the south gate , and he measured the south gate ; it had the same measurements as the others . 40 : 29 Its alcoves , its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as the others . The gateway and its portico had openings all around . It was fifty cubits long and twenty - five cubits wide . 40 : 30 ( The porticoes of the gateways around the inner court were twenty - five cubits wide and five cubits deep . ) 40 : 31 Its portico faced the outer court ; palm trees decorated its jambs , and eight steps led up to it . 40 : 32 Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side , and he measured the gateway ; it had the same measurements as the others . 40 : 33 Its alcoves , its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as the others . The gateway and its portico had openings all around . It was fifty cubits long and twenty - five cubits wide . 40 : 34 Its portico faced the outer court ; palm trees decorated the jambs on either side , and eight steps led up to it . 40 : 35 Then he brought me to the north gate and measured it . It had the same measurements as the others , 40 : 36 as did its alcoves , its projecting walls and its portico , and it had openings all around . It was fifty cubits long and twenty - five cubits wide . 40 : 37 Its portico faced the outer court ; palm trees decorated the jambs on either side , and eight steps led up to it . 40 : 38 A room with a doorway was by the portico in each of the inner gateways , where the burnt offerings were washed . 40 : 39 In the portico of the gateway were two tables on each side , on which the burnt offerings , sin offerings and guilt offerings were slaughtered . 40 : 40 By the outside wall of the portico of the gateway , near the steps at the entrance to the north gateway were two tables , and on the other side of the steps were two tables . 40 : 41 So there were four tables on one side of the gateway and four on the other -- eight tables in all -- on which the sacrifices were slaughtered . 40 : 42 There were also four tables of dressed stone for the burnt offerings , each a cubit and a half long , a cubit and a half wide and a cubit high . on them were placed the utensils for slaughtering the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices . 40 : 43 And double - pronged hooks , each a handbreadth long , were attached to the wall all around . The tables were for the flesh of the offerings . 40 : 44 Outside the inner gate , within the inner court , were two rooms , one at the side of the north gate and facing south , and another at the side of the south gate and facing north . 40 : 45 He said to me , " The room facing south is for the priests who have charge of the temple , 40 : 46 and the room facing north is for the priests who have charge of the altar . These are the sons of Zadok , who are the only Levites who may draw near to the LORD to minister before him . " 40 : 47 Then he measured the court : It was square -- a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide . And the altar was in front of the temple . 40 : 48 He brought me to the portico of the temple and measured the jambs of the portico ; they were five cubits wide on either side . The width of the entrance was fourteen cubits and its projecting walls were three cubits wide on either side . 40 : 49 The portico was twenty cubits wide , and twelve cubits from front to back . It was reached by a flight of stairs , and there were pillars on each side of the jambs . 41 : 1 Then the man brought me to the outer sanctuary and measured the jambs ; the width of the jambs was six cubits on each side . 41 : 2 The entrance was ten cubits wide , and the projecting walls on each side of it were five cubits wide . He also measured the outer sanctuary ; it was forty cubits long and twenty cubits wide . 41 : 3 Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the jambs of the entrance ; each was two cubits wide . The entrance was six cubits wide , and the projecting walls on each side of it were seven cubits wide . 41 : 4 And he measured the length of the inner sanctuary ; it was twenty cubits , and its width was twenty cubits across the end of the outer sanctuary . He said to me , " This is the Most Holy Place . " 41 : 5 Then he measured the wall of the temple ; it was six cubits thick , and each side room around the temple was four cubits wide . 41 : 6 The side rooms were on three levels , one above another , thirty on each level . There were ledges all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms , so that the supports were not inserted into the wall of the temple . 41 : 7 The side rooms all around the temple were wider at each successive level . The structure surrounding the temple was built in ascending stages , so that the rooms widened as one went upward . A stairway went up from the lowest floor to the top floor through the middle floor . 41 : 8 I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it , forming the foundation of the side rooms . It was the length of the rod , six long cubits . 41 : 9 The outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits thick . The open area between the side rooms of the temple 41 : 10 and the priests ' rooms was twenty cubits wide all around the temple . 41 : 11 There were entrances to the side rooms from the open area , one on the north and another on the south ; and the base adjoining the open area was five cubits wide all around . 41 : 12 The building facing the temple courtyard on the west side was seventy cubits wide . The wall of the building was five cubits thick all around , and its length was ninety cubits . 41 : 13 Then he measured the temple ; it was a hundred cubits long , and the temple courtyard and the building with its walls were also a hundred cubits long . 41 : 14 The width of the temple courtyard on the east , including the front of the temple , was a hundred cubits . 41 : 15 Then he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard at the rear of the temple , including its galleries on each side ; it was a hundred cubits . The outer sanctuary , the inner sanctuary and the portico facing the court , 41 : 16 as well as the thresholds and the narrow windows and galleries around the three of them -- everything beyond and including the threshold was covered with wood . The floor , the wall up to the windows , and the windows were covered . 41 : 17 In the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary and on the walls at regular intervals all around the inner and outer sanctuary 41 : 18 were carved cherubim and palm trees . Palm trees alternated with cherubim . Each cherub had two faces : 41 : 19 the face of a man toward the palm tree on one side and the face of a lion toward the palm tree on the other . They were carved all around the whole temple . 41 : 20 From the floor to the area above the entrance , cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the outer sanctuary . 41 : 21 The outer sanctuary had a rectangular doorframe , and the one at the front of the Most Holy Place was similar . 41 : 22 There was a wooden altar three cubits high and two cubits square ; its corners , its base and its sides were of wood . The man said to me , " This is the table that is before the LORD . " 41 : 23 Both the outer sanctuary and the Most Holy Place had double doors . 41 : 24 Each door had two leaves -- two hinged leaves for each door . 41 : 25 And on the doors of the outer sanctuary were carved cherubim and palm trees like those carved on the walls , and there was a wooden overhang on the front of the portico . 41 : 26 on the sidewalls of the portico were narrow windows with palm trees carved on each side . The side rooms of the temple also had overhangs . 42 : 1 Then the man led me northward into the outer court and brought me to the rooms opposite the temple courtyard and opposite the outer wall on the north side . 42 : 2 The building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide . 42 : 3 Both in the section twenty cubits from the inner court and in the section opposite the pavement of the outer court , gallery faced gallery at the three levels . 42 : 4 In front of the rooms was an inner passageway ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits long . Their doors were on the north . 42 : 5 Now the upper rooms were narrower , for the galleries took more space from them than from the rooms on the lower and middle floors of the building . 42 : 6 The rooms on the third floor had no pillars , as the courts had ; so they were smaller in floor space than those on the lower and middle floors . 42 : 7 There was an outer wall parallel to the rooms and the outer court ; it extended in front of the rooms for fifty cubits . 42 : 8 While the row of rooms on the side next to the outer court was fifty cubits long , the row on the side nearest the sanctuary was a hundred cubits long . 42 : 9 The lower rooms had an entrance on the east side as one enters them from the outer court . 42 : 10 on the south side along the length of the wall of the outer court , adjoining the temple courtyard and opposite the outer wall , were rooms 42 : 11 with a passageway in front of them . These were like the rooms on the north ; they had the same length and width , with similar exits and dimensions . Similar to the doorways on the north 42 : 12 were the doorways of the rooms on the south . There was a doorway at the beginning of the passageway that was parallel to the corresponding wall extending eastward , by which one enters the rooms . 42 : 13 Then he said to me , " The north and south rooms facing the temple courtyard are the priests ' rooms , where the priests who approach the LORD will eat the most holy offerings . There they will put the most holy offerings -- the grain offerings , the sin offerings and the guilt offerings -- for the place is holy . 42 : 14 once the priests enter the holy precincts , they are not to go into the outer court until they leave behind the garments in which they minister , for these are holy . They are to put on other clothes before they go near the places that are for the people . " 42 : 15 When he had finished measuring what was inside the temple area , he led me out by the east gate and measured the area all around : 42 : 16 He measured the east side with the measuring rod ; it was five hundred cubits . 42 : 17 He measured the north side ; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod . 42 : 18 He measured the south side ; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod . 42 : 19 Then he turned to the west side and measured ; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod . 42 : 20 So he measured the area on all four sides . It had a wall around it , five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide , to separate the holy from the common . 43 : 1 Then the man brought me to the gate facing east , 43 : 2 and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east . His voice was like the roar of rushing waters , and the land was radiant with his glory . 43 : 3 The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when he came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the Kebar River , and I fell facedown . 43 : 4 The glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east . 43 : 5 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court , and the glory of the LORD filled the temple . 43 : 6 While the man was standing beside me , I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple . 43 : 7 He said : " Son of man , this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet . This is where I will live among the Israelites forever . The house of Israel will never again defile my holy name -- neither they nor their kings -- by their prostitution and the lifeless idols of their kings at their high places . 43 : 8 When they placed their threshold next to my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts , with only a wall between me and them , they defiled my holy name by their detestable practices . So I destroyed them in my anger . 43 : 9 Now let them put away from me their prostitution and the lifeless idols of their kings , and I will live among them forever . 43 : 10 " Son of man , describe the temple to the people of Israel , that they may be ashamed of their sins . Let them consider the plan , 43 : 11 and if they are ashamed of all they have done , make known to them the design of the temple -- its arrangement , its exits and entrances -- its whole design and all its regulations and laws . Write these down before them so that they may be faithful to its design and follow all its regulations . 43 : 12 " This is the law of the temple : All the surrounding area on top of the mountain will be most holy . Such is the law of the temple . 43 : 13 " These are the measurements of the altar in long cubits , that cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth : Its gutter is a cubit deep and a cubit wide , with a rim of one span around the edge . And this is the height of the altar : 43 : 14 From the gutter on the ground up to the lower ledge it is two cubits high and a cubit wide , and from the smaller ledge up to the larger ledge it is four cubits high and a cubit wide . 43 : 15 The altar hearth is four cubits high , and four horns project upward from the hearth . 43 : 16 The altar hearth is square , twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide . 43 : 17 The upper ledge also is square , fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide , with a rim of half a cubit and a gutter of a cubit all around . The steps of the altar face east . " 43 : 18 Then he said to me , " Son of man , this is what the Sovereign LORD says : These will be the regulations for sacrificing burnt offerings and sprinkling blood upon the altar when it is built : 43 : 19 You are to give a young bull as a sin offering to the priests , who are Levites , of the family of Zadok , who come near to minister before me , declares the Sovereign LORD . 43 : 20 You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the upper ledge and all around the rim , and so purify the altar and make atonement for it . 43 : 21 You are to take the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the designated part of the temple area outside the sanctuary . 43 : 22 " Oj the second day you are to offer a male goat without defect for a sin offering , and the altar is to be purified as it was purified with the bull . 43 : 23 When you have finished purifying it , you are to offer a young bull and a ram from the flock , both without defect . 43 : 24 You are to offer them before the LORD , and the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the LORD . 43 : 25 " For seven days you are to provide a male goat daily for a sin offering ; you are also to provide a young bull and a ram from the flock , both without defect . 43 : 26 For seven days they are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it ; thus they will dedicate it . 43 : 27 At the end of these days , from the eighth day on , the priests are to present your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar . Then I will accept you , declares the Sovereign LORD . " 44 : 1 Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary , the one facing east , and it was shut . 44 : 2 The LORD said to me , " This gate is to remain shut . It must not be opened ; no one may enter through it . It is to remain shut because the LORD , the God of Israel , has entered through it . 44 : 3 The prince himself is the only one who may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the LORD . He is to enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way . " 44 : 4 Then the man brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple . I looked and saw the glory of the LORD filling the temple of the LORD , and I fell facedown . 44 : 5 The LORD said to me , " Son of man , look carefully , listen closely and give attention to everything I tell you concerning all the regulations regarding the temple of the LORD . Give attention to the entrance of the temple and all the exits of the sanctuary . 44 : 6 Say to the rebellious house of Israel , ' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : Enough of your detestable practices , O house of Israel ! 44 : 7 In addition to all your other detestable practices , you brought foreigners uncircumcised in heart and flesh into my sanctuary , desecrating my temple while you offered me food , fat and blood , and you broke my covenant . 44 : 8 Instead of carrying out your duty in regard to my holy things , you put others in charge of my sanctuary . 44 : 9 This is what the Sovereign LORD says : No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh is to enter my sanctuary , not even the foreigners who live among the Israelites . 44 : 10 "' The Levites who went far from me when Israel went astray and who wandered from me after their idols must bear the consequences of their sin . 44 : 11 They may serve in my sanctuary , having charge of the gates of the temple and serving in it ; they may slaughter the burnt offerings and sacrifices for the people and stand before the people and serve them . 44 : 12 But because they served them in the presence of their idols and made the house of Israel fall into sin , therefore I have sworn with uplifted hand that they must bear the consequences of their sin , declares the Sovereign LORD . 44 : 13 They are not to come near to serve me as priests or come near any of my holy things or my most holy offerings ; they must bear the shame of their detestable practices . 44 : 14 Yet I will put them in charge of the duties of the temple and all the work that is to be done in it . 44 : 15 "' But the priests , who are Levites and descendants of Zadok and who faithfully carried out the duties of my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me , are to come near to minister before me ; they are to stand before me to offer sacrifices of fat and blood , declares the Sovereign LORD . 44 : 16 They alone are to enter my sanctuary ; they alone are to come near my table to minister before me and perform my service . 44 : 17 "' When they enter the gates of the inner court , they are to wear linen clothes ; they must not wear any woolen garment while ministering at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple . 44 : 18 They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists . They must not wear anything that makes them perspire . 44 : 19 When they go out into the outer court where the people are , they are to take off the clothes they have been ministering in and are to leave them in the sacred rooms , and put on other clothes , so that they do not consecrate the people by means of their garments . 44 : 20 "' They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long , but they are to keep the hair of their heads trimmed . 44 : 21 No priest is to drink wine when he enters the inner court . 44 : 22 They must not marry widows or divorced women ; they may marry only virgins of Israelite descent or widows of priests . 44 : 23 They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean . 44 : 24 "' In any dispute , the priests are to serve as judges and decide it according to my ordinances . They are to keep my laws and my decrees for all my appointed feasts , and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy . 44 : 25 "' A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person ; however , if the dead person was his father or mother , son or daughter , brother or unmarried sister , then he may defile himself . 44 : 26 After he is cleansed , he must wait seven days . 44 : 27 on the day he goes into the inner court of the sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary , he is to offer a sin offering for himself , declares the Sovereign LORD . 44 : 28 "' I am to be the only inheritance the priests have . You are to give them no possession in Israel ; I will be their possession . 44 : 29 They will eat the grain offerings , the sin offerings and the guilt offerings ; and everything in Israel devoted to the LORD will belong to them . 44 : 30 The best of all the firstfruits and of all your special gifts will belong to the priests . You are to give them the first portion of your ground meal so that a blessing may rest on your household . 44 : 31 The priests must not eat anything , bird or animal , found dead or torn by wild animals . 45 : 1 "' When you allot the land as an inheritance , you are to present to the LORD a portion of the land as a sacred district , 25 , 000 cubits long and 20 , 000 cubits wide ; the entire area will be holy . 45 : 2 Of this , a section 500 cubits square is to be for the sanctuary , with 50 cubits around it for open land . 45 : 3 In the sacred district , measure off a section 25 , 000 cubits long and 10 , 000 cubits wide . In it will be the sanctuary , the Most Holy Place . 45 : 4 It will be the sacred portion of the land for the priests , who minister in the sanctuary and who draw near to minister before the LORD . It will be a place for their houses as well as a holy place for the sanctuary . 45 : 5 An area 25 , 000 cubits long and 10 , 000 cubits wide will belong to the Levites , who serve in the temple , as their possession for towns to live in . 45 : 6 "' You are to give the city as its property an area 5 , 000 cubits wide and 25 , 000 cubits long , adjoining the sacred portion ; it will belong to the whole house of Israel . 45 : 7 "' The prince will have the land bordering each side of the area formed by the sacred district and the property of the city . It will extend westward from the west side and eastward from the east side , running lengthwise from the western to the eastern border parallel to one of the tribal portions . 45 : 8 This land will be his possession in Israel . And my princes will no longer oppress my people but will allow the house of Israel to possess the land according to their tribes . 45 : 9 "' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : You have gone far enough , O princes of Israel ! Give up your violence and oppression and do what is just and right . Stop dispossessing my people , declares the Sovereign LORD . 45 : 10 You are to use accurate scales , an accurate ephah and an accurate bath . 45 : 11 The ephah and the bath are to be the same size , the bath containing a tenth of a homer and the ephah a tenth of a homer ; the homer is to be the standard measure for both . 45 : 12 The shekel is to consist of twenty gerahs . Twenty shekels plus twenty - five shekels plus fifteen shekels equal one mina . 45 : 13 "' This is the special gift you are to offer : a sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat and a sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley . 45 : 14 The prescribed portion of oil , measured by the bath , is a tenth of a bath from each cor ( which consists of ten baths or one homer , for ten baths are equivalent to a homer ) . 45 : 15 Also one sheep is to be taken from every flock of two hundred from the well - watered pastures of Israel . These will be used for the grain offerings , burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to make atonement for the people , declares the Sovereign LORD . 45 : 16 All the people of the land will participate in this special gift for the use of the prince in Israel . 45 : 17 It will be the duty of the prince to provide the burnt offerings , grain offerings and drink offerings at the festivals , the New Moons and the Sabbaths -- at all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel . He will provide the sin offerings , grain offerings , burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel . 45 : 18 "' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : In the first month on the first day you are to take a young bull without defect and purify the sanctuary . 45 : 19 The priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple , on the four corners of the upper ledge of the altar and on the gateposts of the inner court . 45 : 20 You are to do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance ; so you are to make atonement for the temple . 45 : 21 "' In the first month on the fourteenth day you are to observe the Passover , a feast lasting seven days , during which you shall eat bread made without yeast . 45 : 22 on that day the prince is to provide a bull as a sin offering for himself and for all the people of the land . 45 : 23 Every day during the seven days of the Feast he is to provide seven bulls and seven rams without defect as a burnt offering to the LORD , and a male goat for a sin offering . 45 : 24 He is to provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull and an ephah for each ram , along with a hin of oil for each ephah . 45 : 25 "' During the seven days of the Feast , which begins in the seventh month on the fifteenth day , he is to make the same provision for sin offerings , burnt offerings , grain offerings and oil . 46 : 1 "' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : The gate of the inner court facing east is to be shut on the six working days , but on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon it is to be opened . 46 : 2 The prince is to enter from the outside through the portico of the gateway and stand by the gatepost . The priests are to sacrifice his burnt offering and his fellowship offerings . He is to worship at the threshold of the gateway and then go out , but the gate will not be shut until evening . 46 : 3 on the Sabbaths and New Moons the people of the land are to worship in the presence of the LORD at the entrance to that gateway . 46 : 4 The burnt offering the prince brings to the LORD on the Sabbath day is to be six male lambs and a ram , all without defect . 46 : 5 The grain offering given with the ram is to be an ephah , and the grain offering with the lambs is to be as much as he pleases , along with a hin of oil for each ephah . 46 : 6 on the day of the New Moon he is to offer a young bull , six lambs and a ram , all without defect . 46 : 7 He is to provide as a grain offering one ephah with the bull , one ephah with the ram , and with the lambs as much as he wants to give , along with a hin of oil with each ephah . 46 : 8 When the prince enters , he is to go in through the portico of the gateway , and he is to come out the same way . 46 : 9 "' When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts , whoever enters by the north gate to worship is to go out the south gate ; and whoever enters by the south gate is to go out the north gate . No one is to return through the gate by which he entered , but each is to go out the opposite gate . 46 : 10 The prince is to be among them , going in when they go in and going out when they go out . 46 : 11 "' At the festivals and the appointed feasts , the grain offering is to be an ephah with a bull , an ephah with a ram , and with the lambs as much as one pleases , along with a hin of oil for each ephah . 46 : 12 When the prince provides a freewill offering to the LORD -- whether a burnt offering or fellowship offerings -- the gate facing east is to be opened for him . He shall offer his burnt offering or his fellowship offerings as he does on the Sabbath day . Then he shall go out , and after he has gone out , the gate will be shut . 46 : 13 "' Every day you are to provide a year - old lamb without defect for a burnt offering to the LORD ; morning by morning you shall provide it . 46 : 14 You are also to provide with it morning by morning a grain offering , consisting of a sixth of an ephah with a third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour . The presenting of this grain offering to the LORD is a lasting ordinance . 46 : 15 So the lamb and the grain offering and the oil shall be provided morning by morning for a regular burnt offering . 46 : 16 "' This is what the Sovereign LORD says : If the prince makes a gift from his inheritance to one of his sons , it will also belong to his descendants ; it is to be their property by inheritance . 46 : 17 If , however , he makes a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants , the servant may keep it until the year of freedom ; then it will revert to the prince . His inheritance belongs to his sons only ; it is theirs . 46 : 18 The prince must not take any of the inheritance of the people , driving them off their property . He is to give his sons their inheritance out of his own property , so that none of my people will be separated from his property . '" 46 : 19 Then the man brought me through the entrance at the side of the gate to the sacred rooms facing north , which belonged to the priests , and showed me a place at the western end . 46 : 20 He said to me , " This is the place where the priests will cook the guilt offering and the sin offering and bake the grain offering , to avoid bringing them into the outer court and consecrating the people . " 46 : 21 He then brought me to the outer court and led me around to its four corners , and I saw in each corner another court . 46 : 22 In the four corners of the outer court were enclosed courts , forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide ; each of the courts in the four corners was the same size . 46 : 23 Around the inside of each of the four courts was a ledge of stone , with places for fire built all around under the ledge . 46 : 24 He said to me , " These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple will cook the sacrifices of the people . " 47 : 1 The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple , and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east ( for the temple faced east ) . The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple , south of the altar . 47 : 2 He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east , and the water was flowing from the south side . 47 : 3 As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand , he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle - deep . 47 : 4 He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee - deep . He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist . 47 : 5 He measured off another thousand , but now it was a river that I could not cross , because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in -- a river that no one could cross . 47 : 6 He asked me , " Son of man , do you see this ? " Then he led me back to the bank of the river . 47 : 7 When I arrived there , I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river . 47 : 8 He said to me , " This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah , where it enters the Sea . When it empties into the Sea , the water there becomes fresh . 47 : 9 Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows . There will be large numbers of fish , because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh ; so where the river flows everything will live . 47 : 10 Fishermen will stand along the shore ; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets . The fish will be of many kinds -- like the fish of the Great Sea . 47 : 11 But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh ; they will be left for salt . 47 : 12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river . Their leaves will not wither , nor will their fruit fail . Every month they will bear , because the water from the sanctuary flows to them . Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing . " 47 : 13 This is what the Sovereign LORD says : " These are the boundaries by which you are to divide the land for an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel , with two portions for Joseph . 47 : 14 You are to divide it equally among them . Because I swore with uplifted hand to give it to your forefathers , this land will become your inheritance . 47 : 15 " This is to be the boundary of the land : on the north side it will run from the Great Sea by the Hethlon road past Lebo Hamath to Zedad , 47 : 16 Berothah and Sibraim ( which lies on the border between Damascus and Hamath ) , as far as Hazer Hatticon , which is on the border of Hauran . 47 : 17 The boundary will extend from the sea to Hazar Enan , along the northern border of Damascus , with the border of Hamath to the north . This will be the north boundary . 47 : 18 on the east side the boundary will run between Hauran and Damascus , along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel , to the eastern sea and as far as Tamar . This will be the east boundary . 47 : 19 on the south side it will run from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribah Kadesh , thej along the Wadi $ of Egypt to the Great Sea . This will be the south boundary . 47 : 20 on the west side , the Great Sea will be the boundary to a point opposite Lebo Hamath . This will be the west boundary . 47 : 21 " You are to distribute this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel . 47 : 22 You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens who have settled among you and who have children . You are to consider them as native - born Israelites ; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel . 47 : 23 In whatever tribe the alien settles , there you are to give him his inheritance , " declares the Sovereign LORD . 48 : 1 " These are the tribes , listed by name : At the northern frontier , Dan will have one portion ; it will follow the Hethlon road to Lebo Hamath ; Hazar Enan and the northern border of Damascus next to Hamath will be part of its border from the east side to the west side . 48 : 2 " Asher will have one portion ; it will border the territory of Dan from east to west . 48 : 3 " Naphtali will have one portion ; it will border the territory of Asher from east to west . 48 : 4 " Manasseh will have one portion ; it will border the territory of Japhtali from east to west . 48 : 5 " Ephraim will have one portion ; it will border the territory of Manasseh from east to west . 48 : 6 " Reuben will have one portion ; it will border the territory of Ephraim from east to west . 48 : 7 " Judah will have one portion ; it will border the territory of Reuben from east to west . 48 : 8 " Bordering the territory of Judah from east to west will be the portion you are to present as a special gift . It will be 25 , 000 cubits wide , and its length from east to west will equal one of the tribal portions ; the sanctuary will be in the center of it . 48 : 9 " The special portion you are to offer to the LORD will be 25 , 000 cubits long and 10 , 000 cubits wide . 48 : 10 This will be the sacred portion for the priests . It will be 25 , 000 cubits long on the north side , 10 , 000 cubits wide on the west side , 10 , 000 cubits wide on the east side and 25 , 000 cubits long on the south side . In the center of it will be the sanctuary of the LORD . 48 : 11 This will be for the consecrated priests , the Zadokites , who were faithful in serving me and did not go astray as the Levites did when the Israelites went astray . 48 : 12 It will be a special gift to them from the sacred portion of the land , a most holy portion , bordering the territory of the Levites . 48 : 13 " Alongside the territory of the priests , the Levites will have an allotment 25 , 000 cubits long and 10 , 000 cubits wide . Its total length will be 25 , 000 cubits and its width 10 , 000 cubits . 48 : 14 They must not sell or exchange any of it . This is the best of the land and must not pass into other hands , because it is holy to the LORD . 48 : 15 " The remaining area , 5 , 000 cubits wide and 25 , 000 cubits long , will be for the common use of the city , for houses and for pastureland . The city will be in the center of it 48 : 16 and will have these measurements : the north side 4 , 500 cubits , the south side 4 , 500 cubits , the east side 4 , 500 cubits , and the west side 4 , 500 cubits . 48 : 17 The pastureland for the city will be 250 cubits on the north , 250 cubits on the south , 250 cubits on the east , and 250 cubits on the west . 48 : 18 What remains of the area , bordering on the sacred portion and running the length of it , will be 10 , 000 cubits on the east side and 10 , 000 cubits on the west side . Its produce will supply food for the workers of the city . 48 : 19 The workers from the city who farm it will come from all the tribes of Israel . 48 : 20 The entire portion will be a square , 25 , 000 cubits on each side . As a special gift you will set aside the sacred portion , along with the property of the city . 48 : 21 " What remains on both sides of the area formed by the sacred portion and the city property will belong to the prince . It will extend eastward from the 25 , 000 cubits of the sacred portion to the eastern border , and westward from the 25 , 000 cubits to the western border . Both these areas running the length of the tribal portions will belong to the prince , and the sacred portion with the temple sanctuary will be in the center of them . 48 : 22 So the property of the Levites and the property of the city will lie in the center of the area that belongs to the prince . The area belonging to the prince will lie between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin . 48 : 23 " As for the rest of the tribes : Benjamin will have one portion ; it will extend from the east side to the west side . 48 : 24 " Simeon will have one portion ; it will border the territory of Benjamin from east to west . 48 : 25 " Issachar will have one portion ; it will border the territory of Simeon from east to west . 48 : 26 " Zebulun will have one portion ; it will border the territory of Issachar from east to west . 48 : 27 " Gad will have one portion ; it will border the territory of Zebulun from east to west . 48 : 28 " The southern boundary of Gad will run south from Tamar to the waters of Meribah Kadesh , then along the Wadi of Egypt to the Great Sea . 48 : 29 " This is the land you are to allot as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel , and these will be their portions , " declares the Sovereign LORD . 48 : 30 " These will be the exits of the city : Beginning on the north side , which is 4 , 500 cubits long , 48 : 31 the gates of the city will be named after the tribes of Israel . The three gates on the north side will be the gate of Reuben , the gate of Judah and the gate of Levi . 48 : 32 on the east side , which is 4 , 500 cubits long , will be three gates : the gate of Joseph , the gate of Benjamin and the gate of Dan . 48 : 33 on the south side , which measures 4 , 500 cubits , will be three gates : the gate of Simeon , the gate of Issachar and the gate of Zebulun . 48 : 34 on the west side , which is 4 , 500 cubits long , will be three gates : the gate of Gad , the gate of Asher and the gate of Naphtali . Daniel 1 : 1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah , Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it . 1 : 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand , along with some of the articles from the temple of God . These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god . 1 : 3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz , chief of his court officials , to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility -- 1 : 4 young men without any physical defect , handsome , showing aptitude for every kind of learning , well informed , quick to understand , and qualified to serve in the king ' s palace . He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians . 1 : 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king ' s table . They were to be trained for three years , and after that they were to enter the king ' s service . 1 : 6 Among these were some from Judah : Daniel , Hananiah , Mishael and Azariah . 1 : 7 The chief official gave them new names : to Daniel , the name Belteshazzar ; to Hananiah , Shadrach ; to Mishael , Meshach ; and to Azariah , Abednego . 1 : 8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine , and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way . 1 : 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel , 1 : 10 but the official told Daniel , " I am afraid of my lord the king , who has assigned your food and drink . Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age ? The king would then have my head because of you . " 1 : 11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel , Hananiah , Mishael and Azariah , 1 : 12 " Please test your servants for ten days : Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink . 1 : 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food , and treat your servants in accordance with what you see . " 1 : 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days . 1 : 15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food . 1 : 16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead . 1 : 17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning . And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds . 1 : 18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them in , the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar . 1 : 19 The king talked with them , and he found none equal to Daniel , Hananiah , Mishael and Azariah ; so they entered the king ' s service . 1 : 20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them , he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom . 1 : 21 And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus . 2 : 1 In the second year of his reign , Nebuchadnezzar had dreams ; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep . 2 : 2 So the king summoned the magicians , enchanters , sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed . When they came in and stood before the king , 2 : 3 he said to them , " I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means . " 2 : 4 Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic , " O king , live forever ! Tell your servants the dream , and we will interpret it . " 2 : 5 The king replied to the astrologers , " This is what I have firmly decided : If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it , I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble . 2 : 6 But if you tell me the dream and explain it , you will receive froi me gifts and rewards and great honor . So tell me the dream and interpret it for me . " 2 : 7 once more they replied , " Let the king tell his servants the dream , and we will interpret it . " 2 : 8 Then the king answered , " I am certain that you are trying to gain time , because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided : 2 : 9 If you do not tell me the dream , there is just one penalty for you . You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things , hoping the situation will change . So then , tell me the dream , and I will know that you can interpret it for me . " 2 : 10 The astrologers answered the king , " There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks ! No king , however great and mighty , has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer . 2 : 11 What the king asks is too difficult . No one can reveal it to the king except the gods , and they do not live among men . " 2 : 12 This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon . 2 : 13 So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death , and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death . 2 : 14 When Arioch , the commander of the king ' s guard , had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon , Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact . 2 : 15 He asked the king ' s officer , " Why did the king issue such a harsh decree ? " Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel . 2 : 16 At this , Daniel went in to the king and asked for time , so that he might interpret the dream for him . 2 : 17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah , Mishael and Azariah . 2 : 18 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery , so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon . 2 : 19 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision . Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 2 : 20 and said : " Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever ; wisdom and power are his . 2 : 21 He changes times and seasons ; he sets up kings and deposes them . He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning . 2 : 22 He reveals deep and hidden things ; he knows what lies in darkness , and light dwells with him . 2 : 23 I thank and praise you , O God of my fathers : You have given me wisdom and power , you have made known to me what we asked of you , you have made known to us the dream of the king . " 2 : 24 Then Daniel went to Arioch , whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon , and said to him , " Do not execute the wise men of Babylon . Take me to the king , and I will interpret his dream for him . " 2 : 25 Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said , " I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means . " 2 : 26 The king asked Daniel ( also called Belteshazzar ) , " Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it ? " 2 : 27 Daniel replied , " No wise man , enchanter , magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about , 2 : 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries . He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come . Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you lay on your bed are these : 2 : 29 " As you were lying there , O king , your mind turned to things to come , and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen . 2 : 30 As for me , this mystery has been revealed to me , not because I have greater wisdom than other living men , but so that you , O king , may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind . 2 : 31 " You looked , O king , and there before you stood a large statue -- an enormous , dazzling statue , awesome in appearance . 2 : 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold , its chest and arms of silver , its belly and thighs of bronze , 2 : 33 its legs of iron , its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay . 2 : 34 While you were watching , a rock was cut out , but not by human hands . It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them . 2 : 35 Then the iron , the clay , the bronze , the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer . The wind swept them away without leaving a trace . But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth . 2 : 36 " This was the dream , and now we will interpret it to the king . 2 : 37 You , O king , are the king of kings . The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory ; 2 : 38 in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air . Wherever they live , he has made you ruler over them all . You are that head of gold . 2 : 39 " After you , another kingdom will rise , inferior to yours . Next , a third kingdom , one of bronze , will rule over the whole earth . 2 : 40 Finally , there will be a fourth kingdom , strong as iron -- for iron breaks and smashes everything -- and as iron breaks things to pieces , so it will crush and break all the others . 2 : 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron , so this will be a divided kingdom ; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it , even as you saw iron mixed with clay . 2 : 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay , so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle . 2 : 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay , so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united , any more than iron mixes with clay . 2 : 44 " In the time of those kings , the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed , nor will it be left to another people . It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end , but it will itself endure forever . 2 : 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain , but not by human hands -- a rock that broke the iron , the bronze , the clay , the silver and the gold to pieces . " The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future . The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy . " 2 : 46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him . 2 : 47 The king said to Daniel , " Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries , for you were able to reveal this mystery . " 2 : 48 Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him . He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men . 2 : 49 Moreover , at Daniel ' s request the king appointed Shadrach ( Meshach an ` Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon , while Daniel himself remained at the royal court . 3 : 1 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold , ninety feet high and nine feet wide , and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon . 3 : 2 He then summoned the satraps , prefects , governors , advisers , treasurers , judges , magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up . 3 : 3 So the satraps , prefects , governors , advisers , treasurers , judges , magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up , and they stood before it . 3 : 4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed , " This is what you are commanded to do , O peoples , nations and men of every language : 3 : 5 As soon as you hear the sound of the horn , flute , zither , lyre , harp , pipes and all kinds of music , you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up . 3 : 6 Whoever does not fall ` own and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace . " 3 : 7 Therefore , as soon as they heard the sound of the horn , flute , zither , lyre , harp and all kinds of music , all the peoples ( nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up . 3 : 8 At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews . 3 : 9 They said to King Nebuchadnezzar , " O king , live forever ! 3 : 10 You have issued a decree , O king , that everyone who hears the sound of the horn , flute , zither , lyre , harp , pipes and all kinds of music mqst fall down and worship the image of gold , 3 : 11 and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace . 3 : 12 But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon -- Shadrach , Meshach and Abednego -- who pay no attention to you , O king . They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up . " 3 : 13 Furious with rage , Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach , Meshach and Abednego . So these men were brought before the king , 3 : 14 and Nebuchadnezzar said to them , " Is it true , Shadrach , Meshach and Abednego , that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up ? 3 : 15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn , flute , zither , lyre , harp , pipes and all kinds of music , if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made , very good . But if you do not worship it , you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace . Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand ? " 3 : 16 Shadrach , Meshach and Abednego replied to the king , " O Nebuchadnezzar , we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter . 3 : 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace , the God we serve is able to save us from it , and he will rescue us from your hand , O king . 3 : 18 But even if he does not , we want you to know , O king , that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up . " 3 : 19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach , Meshach and Abednego , and his attitude toward them changed . He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual 3 : 20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach , Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace . 3 : 21 So these men , wearing their robes , trousers , turbans and other clothes , were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace . 3 : 22 The king ' s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach , Meshach and Abednego , 3 : 23 and these three men , firmly tied , fell into the blazing furnace . 3 : 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers , " Weren ' t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire ? " They replied , " Certainly , O king . " 3 : 25 He said , " Look ! I see four men walking around in the fire , unbound and unharmed , and the fourth looks like a son of the gods . " 3 : 26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted , " Shadrach , Meshach and Abednego , servants of the Most High God , come out ! Come here ! " So Shadrach , Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire , 3 : 27 and the satraps , prefects , governors and royal advisers crowded around them . They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies , nor was a hair of their heads singed ; their robes were not scorched , and there was no smell of fire on them . 3 : 28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said , " Praise be to the God of Shadrach , Meshach and Abednego , who has sent his angel and rescued his servants ! They trusted in him and defied the king ' s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God . 3 : 29 Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach , Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble , for no other god can save in this way . " 3 : 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach , Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon . 4 : 1 King Nebuchadnezzar , To the peoples , nations and men of every language , who live in all the world : May you prosper greatly ! 4 : 2 It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me . 4 : 3 How great are his signs , how mighty his wonders ! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom ; his dominion endures from generation to generation . 4 : 4 I , Nebuchadnezzar , was at home in my palace , contented and prosperous . 4 : 5 I had a dream that made me afraid . As I was lying in my bed , the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me . 4 : 6 So I commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me . 4 : 7 When the magicians , enchanters , astrologers and diviners came , I told them the dream , but they could not interpret it for me . 4 : 8 Finally , Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream . ( He is called Belteshazzar , after the name of my god , and the spirit of the holy gods is in him . ) 4 : 9 I said , " Belteshazzar , chief of the magicians , I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you , and no mystery is too difficult for you . Here is my dream ; interpret it for me . 4 : 10 These are the visions I saw while lying in my bed : I looked , and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land . Its height was enormous . 4 : 11 The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky ; it was visible to the ends of the earth . 4 : 12 Its leaves were beautiful , its fruit abundant , and on it was food for all . Under it the beasts of the field found shelter , and the birds of the air lived in its branches ; from it every creature was fed . 4 : 13 " In the visions I saw while lying in my bed , I looked , and there before me was a messenger , a holy one , coming down from heaven . 4 : 14 He called in a loud voice : ' Cut down the tree and trim off its branches ; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit . Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches . 4 : 15 But let the stump and its roots , bound with iron and bronze , remain in the ground , in the grass of the field . "' Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven , and let him live with the animals among the plants of the earth . 4 : 16 Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let him be given the mind of an animal , till seven times pass by for him . 4 : 17 "' The decision is announced by messengers , the holy ones declare the verdict , so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men . ' 4 : 18 " This is the dream that I , King Nebuchadnezzar , had . Now , Belteshazzar , tell me what it means , for none of the wise men in my kingdom can interpret it for me . But you can , because the spirit of the holy gods is in you . " 4 : 19 Then Daniel ( also called Belteshazzar ) was greatly perplexed for a time , and his thoughts terrified him . So the king said , " Belteshazzar , do not let the dream or its meaning alarm you . " Belteshazzar answered , " My lord , if only the dream appliad to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries ! 4 : 20 The tree you saw , which grew large and strong , with its top touching the sky , visible to the whole earth , 4 : 21 with beautiful leaves and abundant fruit , providing food for all , giving shelter to the beasts of the field , and having nesting places in its branches for the birds of the air -- 4 : 22 you , O king , are that tree ! You have become great and strong ; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky , and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth . 4 : 23 " You , O king , saw a messenger , a holy one , coming down from heaven and saying , ' Cut down the tree and destroy it , but leave the stump , bound with iron and bronze , in the grass of the field , while its roots remain in the ground . Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven ; let him live like the wild animals , until seven times pass by for him . ' 4 : 24 " This is the interpretation , O king , and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king : 4 : 25 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals ; you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven . Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes . 4 : 26 The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules . 4 : 27 Therefore , O king , be pleased to accept my advice : Renounce your sins by doing what is right , and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed . It may be that then your prosperity will continue . " 4 : 28 All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar . 4 : 29 Twehve months later , as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon , 4 : 30 he said , " Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence , by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty ? " 4 : 31 The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven , " This is what is decreed for you , King Nebuchadnezzar : Your royal authority has been taken from you . 4 : 32 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals ; you will eat grass like cattle . Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes . " 4 : 33 Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled . He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle . His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird . 4 : 34 At the end of that time , I , Nebuchadnezzar , raised my eyes toward heaven , and my sanity was restored . Then I praised the Most High ; I honored and glorified him who lives forever . His dominion is an eternal dominion ; his kingdom endures from generation to generation . 4 : 35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing . He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth . No one can hold back his hand or say to him : " What have you done ? " 4 : 36 At the same time that my sanity was restored , my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom . My advisers and nobles sought me out , and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before . 4 : 37 Now I , Nebuchadnezzar , praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven , because everything he does is right and all his ways are just . And those who walk in pride he is able to humble . 5 : 1 King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them . 5 : 2 While Belshazzar was drinking his wine , he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem , so that the king and his nobles , his wives and his concubines might drink from them . 5 : 3 So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem , and the king and his nobles , his wives and his concubines drank from them . 5 : 4 As they drank the wine , they praised the gods of gold and silver , of bronze , iron , wood and stone . 5 : 5 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall , near the lampstand in the royal palace . The king watched the hand as it wrote . 5 : 6 His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way . 5 : 7 The king called out for the enchanters , astrologers and diviners to be brought and said to these wise men of Babylon , " Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck , and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom . " 5 : 8 Then all the king ' s wise men came in , but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant . 5 : 9 So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale . His nobles were baffled . 5 : 10 The queen , hearing the voices of the king and his nobles , came into the banquet hall . " O king , live forever ! " she said . " Don ' t be alarmed ! Don ' t look so pale ! 5 : 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him . In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods . King Nebuchadnezzar your father -- your father the king , I say -- appointed him chief of the magicians , enchanters , astrologers and diviners . 5 : 12 This man Daniel , whom the king called Belteshazzar , was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding , and also the ability to interpret dreams , explain riddles and solve difficult problems . Call for Daniel , and he will tell you what the writing means . " 5 : 13 So Daniel was brought before the king , and the king said to him , " Are you Daniel , one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah ? 5 : 14 I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight , intelligence and outstanding wisdom . 5 : 15 The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means , but they could not explain it . 5 : 16 Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems . If you can read this writing and tell me what it means , you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck , and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom . " 5 : 17 Then Daniel answered the king , " You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else . Neverthehess , I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means . 5 : 18 " O king , the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor . 5 : 19 Because of the high position he gave him , all the peoples and nations and men of every language dreaded and feared him . Those the king wanted to put to death , he put to death ; those he wanted to spare , he spared ; those he wanted to promote , he promoted ; and those he wanted to humble , he humbled . 5 : 20 But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride , he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory . 5 : 21 He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal ; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like cattle ; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven , until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes . 5 : 22 " But you his son , O Belshazzar , have not humbled yourself , though you knew all this . 5 : 23 Instead , you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven . You had the goblets from his temple brought to you , and you and your nobles , your wives and your concubines drank wine from them . You praised the gods of silver and gold , of bronze , iron , wood and stone , which cannot see or hear or understand . But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways . 5 : 24 Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription . 5 : 25 " This is the inscription that was written : MENE , MENE , TEKEL , PARSIN 5 : 26 " This is what these words mean : Mene : God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end . 5 : 27 Tekel : You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting . 5 : 28 Peres : Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians . " 5 : 29 Then at Belshazzar ' s command , Daniel was clothed in purple , a gold chain was placed around his neck , and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom . 5 : 30 That very night Belshazzar , king of the Babylonians , was slain , 5 : 31 and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom , at the age of sixty - two . 6 : 1 It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom , 6 : 2 with three administrators over them , one of whom was Daniel . The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss . 6 : 3 Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom . 6 : 4 At this , the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs , but they were unable to do so . They could find no corruption in him , because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent . 6 : 5 Finally these men said , " We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God . " 6 : 6 So the administrators and the satraps went as a group to the king and said : " O King Darius , live forever ! 6 : 7 The royal administrators , prefects , satraps , advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days , except to you , O king , shall be thrown into the lions ' den . 6 : 8 Now , O king , issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered -- in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians , which cannot be repealed . " 6 : 9 So King Darius put the decree in writing . 6 : 10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published , he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem . Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed , giving thanks to his God , just as he had done before . 6 : 11 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help . 6 : 12 So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree : " Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or man except to you , O king , would be thrown into the lions ' den ? " The king answered , " The decree stands -- in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians , which cannot be repealed . " 6 : 13 Then they said to the king , " Daniel , who is one of the exiles from Judah , pays no attention to you , O king , or to the decree you put in writing . He still prays three times a day . " 6 : 14 When the king heard this , he was greatly distressed ; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him . 6 : 15 Then the men went as a group to the king and said to him , " Remember , O king , that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed . " 6 : 16 So the king gave the order , and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions ' den . The king said to Daniel , " May your God , whom you serve continually , rescue you ! " 6 : 17 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den , and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles , so that Daniel ' s situation might not be changed . 6 : 18 Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him . And he could not sleep . 6 : 19 At the first light of dawn , the king got up and hurried to the lions ' den . 6 : 20 When he came near the den , he called to Daniel in an anguished voice , " Daniel , servant of the living God , has your God , whom you serve continually , been able to rescue you from the lions ? " 6 : 21 Daniel answered , " O king , live forever ! 6 : 22 My God sent his angel , and he shut the mouths of the lions . They have not hurt me , because I was found innocent in his sight . Nor have I ever done any wrong before you , O king . " 6 : 23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den . And when Daniel was lifted from the den , no wound was found on him , because he had trusted in his God . 6 : 24 At the king ' s command , the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lions ' den , along with their wives and children . And before they reached the floor of the den , the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones . 6 : 25 Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples , nations and men of every language throughout the land : " May you prosper greatly ! 6 : 26 " I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel . " For he is the living God and he endures forever ; his kingdom will not be destroyed , his dominion will never end . 6 : 27 He rescues and he saves ; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth . He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions . " 6 : 28 So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian . 7 : 1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon , Daniel had a dream , and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed . He wrote down the substance of his dream . 7 : 2 Daniel said : " In my vision at night I looked , and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea . 7 : 3 Four great beasts , each different from the others , came up out of the sea . 7 : 4 " The first was like a lion , and it had the wings of an eagle . I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man , and the heart of a man was given to it . 7 : 5 " And there before me was a second beast , which looked like a bear . It was raised up on one of its sides , and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth . It was told , ' Get up and eat your fill of flesh ! ' 7 : 6 " After that , I looked , and there before me was another beast , one that looked like a leopard . And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird . This beast had four heads , and it was given authority to rule . 7 : 7 " After that , in my vision at night I looked , and there before me was a fourth beast -- terrifying and frightening and very powerful . It had large iron teeth ; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left . It was different from all the former beasts , and it had ten horns . 7 : 8 " While I was thinking about the horns , there before me was another horn , a little one , which came up among them ; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it . This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully . 7 : 9 " As I looked , " thrones were set in place , and the Ancient of Days took his seat . His clothing was as white as snow ; the hair of his head was white like wool . His throne was flaming with fire , and its wheels were all ablaze . 7 : 10 A river of fire was flowing , coming out from before him . Thousands upon thousands attended him ; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him . The court was seated , and the books were opened . 7 : 11 " Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking . I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire . 7 : 12 ( The other beasts had been stripped of their authority , but were allowed to live for a period of time . ) 7 : 13 " In my vision at night I looked , and there before me was one like a son of man , coming with the clouds of heaven . He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence . 7 : 14 He was given authority , glory and sovereign power ; all peoples , nations and men of every language worshiped him . His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away , and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed . 7 : 15 " I , Daniel , was troubled in spirit , and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me . 7 : 16 I approached one of those standing there and asked him the true meaning of all this . " So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things : 7 : 17 ' The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth . 7 : 18 But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever -- yes , for ever and ever . ' 7 : 19 " Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast , which was different from all the others and most terrifying , with its iron teeth and bronze claws -- the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left . 7 : 20 I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up , before which three of them fell -- the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully . 7 : 21 As I watched , this horn was waging war against the saints and defeating them , 7 : 22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High , and the time came when they possessed the kingdom . 7 : 23 " He gave me this explanation : ' The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth . It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth , trampling it down and crushing it . 7 : 24 The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom . After them another king will arise , different from the earlier ones ; he will subdue three kings . 7 : 25 He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws . The saints will be handed over to him for a time , times and half a time . 7 : 26 "' But the court will sit , and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever . 7 : 27 Then the sovereignty , power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints , the people of the Most High . His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom , and all rulers will worship and obey him . ' 7 : 28 " This is the end of the matter . I , Daniel , was deeply troubled by my thoughts , and my face turned pale , but I kept the matter to myself . " 8 : 1 In the third year of King Belshazzar ' s reign , I , Daniel , had a vision , after the one that had already appeared to me . 8 : 2 In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in the province of Elam ; in the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal . 8 : 3 I looked up , and there before me was a ram with two horns , standing beside the canal , and the horns were long . one of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later . 8 : 4 I watched the ram as he charged toward the west and the north and the south . No animal could stand against him , and none could rescue from his power . He did as he pleased and became great . 8 : 5 As I was thinking about this , suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came from the west , crossing the whole earth without touching the ground . 8 : 6 He came toward the two - horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at him in great rage . 8 : 7 I saw him attack the ram furiously , striking the ram and shattering his two horns . The ram was powerless to stand against him ; the goat knocked him to the ground and trampled on him , and none could rescue the ram from his power . 8 : 8 The goat became very great , but at the height of his power his large horn was broken off , and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven . 8 : 9 Out of one of them came another horn , which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land . 8 : 10 It grew until it reached the host of the heavens , and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them . 8 : 11 It set itself up to be as great as the Prince of the host ; it took away the daily sacrifice from him , and the place of his sanctuary was brought low . 8 : 12 Because of rebellion , the host of the saints and the daily sacrifice were given over to it . It prospered in everything it did , and truth was thrown to the ground . 8 : 13 Then I heard a holy one speaking , and another holy one said to him , " How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled -- the vision concerning the daily sacrifice , the rebellion that causes desolation , and the surrender of the sanctuary and of the host that will be trampled underfoot ? " 8 : 14 He said to me , " It will take 2 , 300 evenings and mornings ; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated . " 8 : 15 While I , Daniel , was watching the vision and trying to understand it , there before me stood one who looked like a man . 8 : 16 And I heard a man ' s voice from the Ulai calling , " Gabriel , tell this man the meaning of the vision . " 8 : 17 As he came near the place where I was standing , I was terrified and fell prostrate . " Son of man , " he said to me , " understand that the vision concerns the time of the end . " 8 : 18 While he was speaking to me , I was in a deep sleep , with my face to the ground . Then he touched me and raised me to my feet . 8 : 19 He said : " I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath , because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end . 8 : 20 The two - horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia . 8 : 21 The shaggy goat is the king of Greece , and the large horn between his eyes is the first king . 8 : 22 The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power . 8 : 23 " In the latter part of their reign , when rebels have become completely wicked , a stern - faced king , a master of intrigue , will arise . 8 : 24 He will become very strong , but not by his own power . He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does . He will destroy the mighty men and the holy people . 8 : 25 He will cause deceit to prosper , and he will consider himself superior . When they feel secure , he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes . Yet he will be destroyed , but not by human power . 8 : 26 " The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given you is true , but seal up the vision , for it concerns the distant future . " 8 : 27 I , Daniel , was exhausted and lay ill for several days . Then I got up and went about the king ' s business . I was appalled by the vision ; it was beyond understanding . 9 : 1 In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes ( a Mede by descent ) , who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom -- 9 : 2 in the first year of his reign , I , Daniel , understood from the Scriptures , according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet , that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years . 9 : 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition , in fasting , and in sackcloth and ashes . 9 : 4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed : " O Lord , the great and awesome God , who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands , 9 : 5 we have sinned and done wrong . We have been wicked and have rebelled ; we have turned away from your commands and laws . 9 : 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets , who spoke in your name to our kings , our princes and our fathers , and to all the people of the land . 9 : 7 " Lord , you are righteous , but this day we are covered with shame -- the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel , both near and far , in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you . 9 : 8 O LORD , we and our kings , our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you . 9 : 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving , even though we have rebelled against him ; 9 : 10 we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets . 9 : 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away , refusing to obey you . " Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses , the servant of God , have been poured out on us , because we have sinned against you . 9 : 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster . Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem . 9 : 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses , all this disaster has come upon us , yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth . 9 : 14 The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us , for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does ; yet we have not obeyed him . 9 : 15 " Now , O Lord our God , who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day , we have sinned , we have done wrong . 9 : 16 O Lord , in keeping with all your righteous acts , turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem , your city , your holy hill . Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us . 9 : 17 " Now , our God , hear the prayers and petitions of your servant . For your sake , O Lord , look with favor on your desolate sanctuary . 9 : 18 Give ear , O God , and hear ; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name . We do not make requests of you because we are righteous , but because of your great mercy . 9 : 19 O Lord , listen ! O Lord , forgive ! O Lord , hear and act ! For your sake , O my God , do not delay , because your city and your people bear your Name . " 9 : 20 While I was speaking and praying , confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill -- 9 : 21 while I was still in prayer , Gabriel , the man I had seen in the earlier vision , came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice . 9 : 22 He instructed me and said to me , " Daniel , I have now come to give you insight and understanding . 9 : 23 As soon as you began to pray , an answer was given , which I have come to tell you , for you are highly esteemed . Therefore , consider the message and understand the vision : 9 : 24 " Seventy ' sevens ' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression , to put an end to sin , to atone for wickedness , to bring in everlasting righteousness , to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy . 9 : 25 " Know and understand this : From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed one , the ruler , comes , there will be seven ' sevens , ' and sixty - two ' sevens . ' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench , but in times of trouble . 9 : 26 After the sixty - two ' sevens , ' the Anointed one will be cut off and will have nothing . The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary . The end will come like a flood : War will continue until the end , and desolations have been decreed . 9 : 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ' seven . ' In the middle of the ' seven ' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering . And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation , until the end that is decreed is poured out on him . " 10 : 1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia , a revelation was given to Daniel ( who was called Belteshazzar ) . Its message was true and it concerned a great war . The understanding of the message came to him in a vision . 10 : 2 At that time I , Daniel , mourned for three weeks . 10 : 3 I ate no choice food ; no meat or wine touched my lips ; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over . 10 : 4 on the twenty - fourth day of the first month , as I was standing on the bank of the great river , the Tigris , 10 : 5 I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen , with a belt of the finest gold around his waist . 10 : 6 His body was like chrysolite , his face like lightning , his eyes like flaming torches , his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze , and his voice like the sound of a multitude . 10 : 7 I , Daniel , was the only one who saw the vision ; the men with me did not see it , but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves . 10 : 8 So I was left alone , gazing at this great vision ; I had no strength left , my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless . 10 : 9 Then I heard him speaking , and as I listened to him , I fell into a deep sleep , my face to the ground . 10 : 10 A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees . 10 : 11 He said , " Daniel , you who are highly esteemed , consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you , and stand up , for I have now been sent to you . " And when he said this to me , I stood up trembling . 10 : 12 Then he continued , " Do not be afraid , Daniel . Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God , your words were heard , and I have come in response to them . 10 : 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty - one days . Then Michael , one of the chief princes , came to help me , because I was detained there with the king of Persia . 10 : 14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future , for the vision concerns a time yet to come . " 10 : 15 While he was saying this to me , I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless . 10 : 16 Then one who looked like a man touched my lips , and I opened my mouth and began to speak . I said to the one standing before me , " I am overcome with anguish because of the vision , my lord , and I am helpless . 10 : 17 How can I , your servant , talk with you , my lord ? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe . " 10 : 18 Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength . 10 : 19 " Do not be afraid , O man highly espeemed , " he said . " Peace ! Be strong now ; be strong . " When he spoke to me , I was strengthened and said , " Speak , my lord , since you have given me strength . " 10 : 20 So he said , " Do you know why I have come to you ? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia , and when I go , the prince of Greece will come ; 10 : 21 but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth . ( No one supports me against them except Michael , your prince . 11 : 1 And in the first year of Darius the Mede , I took my stand to support and protect him . ) 11 : 2 " Now then , I tell you the truth : Three more kings will appear in Persia , and then a fourth , who will be far richer than all the others . When he has gained power by his wealth , he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece . 11 : 3 Then a mighty king will appear , who will rule with great power and do as he pleases . 11 : 4 After he has appeared , his empire will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven . It will not go to his descendants , nor will it have the power he exercised , because his empire will be uprooted and given to others . 11 : 5 " The king of the South will become strong , but one of his commanders wihl become even stronger than he and will rule his own kingdom with great power . 11 : 6 After some years , they will become allies . The daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to make an alliance , but she will not retain her power , and he and his power will not last . In those days she will be handed over , together with her royal escort and her father and the one who supported her . 11 : 7 one from her family line will arise to take her place . He will attack the forces of the king of the North and enter his fortress ; he will fight against them and be victorious . 11 : 8 He will also seize their gods , their metal images and their valuable articles of silver and gold and carry them off to Egypt . For some years he will leave the king of the North alone . 11 : 9 Then the king of the North will invade the realm of the king of the South but will retreat to his own country . 11 : 10 His sons will prepare for war and assemble a great army , which will sweep on like an irresistible flood and carry the battle as far as his fortress . 11 : 11 " Then the king of the South will march out in a rage and fight against the king of the North , who will raise a large army , but it will be defeated . 11 : 12 When the army is carried off , the king of the South will be filled with pride and will slaughter many thousands , yet he will not remain triumphant . 11 : 13 For the king of the North will muster another army , larger than the first ; and after several years , he will advance with a huge army fully equipped . 11 : 14 " In those times many will rise against the king of the South . The violent men among your own people will rebel in fulfillment of the vision , but without success . 11 : 15 Then the king of the North will come and build up siege ramps and will capture a fortified city . The forces of the South will be powerless to resist ; even their best troops will not have the strength to stand . 11 : 16 The invader will do as he pleases ; no one will be able to stand against him . He will establish himself in the Beautiful Land and will have the power to destroy it . 11 : 17 He will determine to come with the might of his entire kingdom and will make an alliance with the king of the South . And he will give him a daughter in marriage in order to overthrow the kingdom , but his plans will not succeed or help him . 11 : 18 Then he will turn his attention to the coastlands and will take many of them , but a commander will put an end to his insolence and will turn his insolence back upon him . 11 : 19 After this , he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own country but will stumble and fall , to be seen no more . 11 : 20 " His successor will send out a tax collector to maintain the royal splendor . In a few years , however , he will be destroyed , yet not in anger or in battle . 11 : 21 " He will be succeeded by a contemptible person who has not been given the honor of royalty . He will invade the kingdom when its people feel secure , and he will seize it through intrigue . 11 : 22 Then an overwhelming army will be swept away before him ; both it and a prince of the covenant will be destroyed . 11 : 23 After coming to an agreement with him , he will act deceitfully , and with only a few people he will rise to power . 11 : 24 When the richest provinces feel secure , he will invade them and will achieve what neither his fathers nor his forefathers did . He will distribute plunder , loot and wealth among his followers . He will plot the overthrow of fortresses -- but only for a time . 11 : 25 " With a large army he will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the South . The king of the South will wage war with a large and very powerful army , but he will not be able to stand because of the plots devised against him . 11 : 26 Those who eat from the king ' s provisions will try to destroy him ; his army will be swept away , and many will fall in battle . 11 : 27 The two kings , with their hearts bent on evil , will sit at the same table and lie to each other , but to no avail , because an end will still come at the appointed time . 11 : 28 The king of the North will return to his own country with great wealth , but his heart will be set against the holy covenant . He will take action against it and then return to his own country . 11 : 29 " At the appointed time he will invade the South again , but this time the outcome will be different from what it was before . 11 : 30 Ships of the western coastlands will oppose him , and he will lose heart . Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant . He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant . 11 : 31 " His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice . Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation . 11 : 32 With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant , but the people who know their God will firmly resist him . 11 : 33 " Those who are wise will instruct many , though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered . 11 : 34 When they fall , they will receive a little help , and many who are not sincere will join them . 11 : 35 Some of the wise will stumble , so that they may be refined , purified and made spotless until the time of the end , for it will still come at the appointed time . 11 : 36 " The king will do as he pleases . He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard - of things against the God of gods . He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed , for what has been determined must take place . 11 : 37 He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the one desired by women , nor will he regard any god , but will exalt himself above them all . 11 : 38 Instead of them , he will honor a god of fortresses ; a god unknown to his fathers he will honor with gold and silver , with precious stones and costly gifts . 11 : 39 He will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him . He will make them rulers over many people and will distribute the land at a price . 11 : 40 " At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle , and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships . He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood . 11 : 41 He will also invade the Beautiful Land . Many countries will fall , but Edom , Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand . 11 : 42 He will extend his power over many countries ; Egypt will not escape . 11 : 43 He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt , with the Libyans and Nubians in submission . 11 : 44 But reports from the east and the north will alarm him , and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many . 11 : 45 He will pitch his royal tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain . Yet he will come to his end , and no one will help him . 12 : 1 " At that time Michael , the great prince who protects your people , will arise . There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then . But at that time your people -- everyone whose name is found written in the book -- will be delivered . 12 : 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake : some to everlasting life , others to shame and everlasting contempt . 12 : 3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens , and those who lead many to righteousness , like the stars for ever and ever . 12 : 4 But you , Daniel , close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end . Many will go here and there to increase knowledge . " 12 : 5 Then I , Daniel , looked , and there before me stood two others , one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank . 12 : 6 one of them said to the man clothed in linen , who was above the waters of the river , " How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled ? " 12 : 7 The man clothed in linen , who was above the waters of the river , lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven , and I heard him swear by him who lives forever , saying , " It will be for a time , times and half a time . When the power of the holy people has been finally broken , all these things will be completed . " 12 : 8 I heard , but I did not understand . So I asked , " My lord , what will the outcome of all this be ? " 12 : 9 He replied , " Go your way , Daniel , because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end . 12 : 10 Many will be purified , made spotless and refined , but the wicked will continue to be wicked . None of the wicked will understand , but those who are wise will understand . 12 : 11 " From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up , there will be 1 , 290 days . 12 : 12 Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1 , 335 days .