“Speak kindly to ¹  Jerusalem, ²  and tell her that her time of warfare is over, ³  that her punishment is completed. ⁴  For the Lord has made her pay double ⁵  for all her sins.”

A voice says, “Cry out!” Another asks, ¹  “What should I cry out?” The first voice responds: ²  “All people are like grass, ³  and all their promises ⁴  are like the flowers in the field.

Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid! ¹  Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it? You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me? There is no other sheltering rock; ²  I know of none.

I have not spoken in secret, in some hidden place. ¹  I did not tell Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain!’ ²  I am the Lord, the one who speaks honestly, who makes reliable announcements. ³ 

You have heard; now look at all the evidence! ¹  Will you not admit that what I say is true? ²  From this point on I am announcing to you new events that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about. ³ 

For whenever I prophesy, ¹  I must cry out, ²  “Violence and destruction are coming!” ³  This message from the Lord ⁴  has made me an object of continual insults and derision.

Yet which of them has ever stood in the Lord’s inner circle ¹  so they ²  could see and hear what he has to say? ³  Which of them have ever paid attention or listened to what he has said?

Let the prophet who has had a dream go ahead and tell his dream. Let the person who has received my message report that message faithfully. What is like straw cannot compare to what is like grain! ¹  I, the Lord, affirm it! ² 

This is what the Lord says: “The prophets who mislead my people are as good as dead. ¹  If someone gives them enough to eat, they offer an oracle of peace. ²  But if someone does not give them food, they are ready to declare war on him. ³ 

For nation will rise up in arms ¹  against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines. ²  These are but the beginning of birth pains.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹ 

How are they to call on one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them ¹ ?

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel – and not with clever speech, so that the cross of Christ would not become useless. ¹ 

For though you may have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, because I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

But although we suffered earlier and were mistreated in Philippi, ¹  as you know, we had the courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God ²  in spite of much opposition.

All the people who were at the gate and the elders replied, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the house of Israel! May ¹  you prosper ²  in Ephrathah and become famous ³  in Bethlehem. ⁴ 

While they were going down to the edge of town, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us.” So he did. ¹  Samuel then said, ²  “You remain here awhile, so I can inform you of God’s message.”

David and the army officers selected some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to prophesy as they played stringed instruments and cymbals. ¹  The following men were assigned this responsibility: ² 

and the whole assembly made a covenant with the king in the temple of God. Jehoiada ¹  said to them, “The king’s son will rule, just as the Lord promised David’s descendants.

All nations gather together, the peoples assemble. Who among them announced this? Who predicted earlier events for us? ¹  Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right; let them listen and affirm, ‘It is true.’