“Yet your people ¹  say, ‘The behavior ²  of the Lord is not right,’ ³  when it is their behavior that is not right.

Yet you say, ‘The behavior of the Lord is not right.’ House of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his behavior.” ¹ 

“As for you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say: ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord!

They will say, “This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; the ruined, desolate, and destroyed cities are now fortified and inhabited.”

and say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, ¹  I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.

Say to the rebellious, ¹  to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough of all your abominable practices, O house of Israel!

Very soon they will say, “We have no king since we did not fear the Lord. But what can a king do for us anyway?”

So now listen to the Lord’s message! You say, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel! Don’t preach ¹  against the family of Isaac!’

All the sinners among my people will die by the sword – the ones who say, ‘Disaster will not come near, it will not confront us.’

Therefore you ¹  will have to say farewell ²  to Moresheth Gath. The residents ³  of Achzib ⁴  will be as disappointing as a dried up well ⁵  to the kings of Israel. ⁶ 

‘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 

If a lying windbag should come and say, ¹  ‘I’ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,’ ²  he would be just the right preacher for these people! ³ 

On that day they will say ¹  to Jerusalem, “Don’t be afraid, Zion! Your hands must not be paralyzed from panic! ² 

Instead he will say, ‘I am no prophet – indeed, I am a farmer, for a man has made me his indentured servant since my youth.’ ¹ 

Your eyes will see it, and then you will say, ‘May the Lord be magnified ¹  even beyond the border of Israel!’”

Can a person rob ¹  God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions! ² 

The Lord spoke to Gideon again, “There are still too many men. ¹  Bring them down to the water and I will thin the ranks some more. ²  When I say, ‘This one should go with you,’ pick him to go; ³  when I say, ⁴  ‘This one should not go with you,’ do not take him.” ⁵ 

When I send a boy after them, I will say, “Go and find the arrows.” If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; ¹  get them,’ then come back. For as surely as the Lord lives, you will be safe and there will no problem.

The young advisers with whom Rehoboam ¹  had grown up said to him, “Say this to these people who have said to you, ‘Your father made us work hard, but now lighten our burden.’ ²  Say this to them: ‘I am a lot harsher than my father! ³ 

Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Haven’t you committed murder and taken possession of the property of the deceased?”’ Then say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “In the spot where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood they will also lick up your blood – yes, yours!”’”