All of them were wanting ¹  to scare us, supposing, “Their hands will grow slack from the work, and it won’t get done.” So now, strengthen my hands! ² 

I will make it a wasteland; no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, ¹  and thorns and briers will grow there. I will order the clouds not to drop any rain on it.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, I am about to remove the bread supply ¹  in Jerusalem. ²  They will eat their bread ration anxiously, and they will drink their water ration in terror

Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will ¹  also forgive you your sins.” ² 

He returns no more to his house, nor does his place of residence ¹  know him ²  any more.

Like a vine he will let his sour grapes fall, ¹  and like an olive tree he will shed his blossoms. ² 

Into your hand I entrust my life; ¹  you will rescue ²  me, O Lord, the faithful God.

You crown the year with your good blessings, ¹  and you leave abundance in your wake. ² 

Though a thousand may fall beside you, and a multitude on your right side, it ¹  will not reach you.

For the lips ¹  of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her seductive words ²  are smoother than olive oil,

Bravehearted ¹  warriors will run away naked in that day.” The Lord is speaking!

Blessed is that slave whom the master finds at work ¹  when he comes.

But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter ¹  in the law to become void. ² 

When a leader died, the next generation ¹  would again ²  act more wickedly than the previous one. ³  They would follow after other gods, worshiping them ⁴  and bowing down to them. They did not give up ⁵  their practices or their stubborn ways.

because of what the enemy says, ¹  and because of how the wicked ²  pressure me, ³  for they hurl trouble ⁴  down upon me ⁵  and angrily attack me.

For he is our God; we are the people of his pasture, the sheep he owns. ¹  Today, if only you would obey him! ² 

They are dismayed because the ground is cracked ¹  because there has been no rain in the land. The farmers, too, are dismayed and bury their faces in their hands.

“Son of man, turn toward ¹  the south, ²  and speak out against the south. ³  Prophesy against the open scrub ⁴  land of the Negev,

“Son of man, turn toward ¹  Jerusalem ²  and speak out against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel

‘Don’t preach with such impassioned rhetoric,’ they say excitedly. ¹  ‘These prophets should not preach of such things; we will not be overtaken by humiliation.’ ²