Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel: “Be quiet and pay attention, Israel. Today you have become the people of the Lord your God.

In that day you will cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord won’t answer you in that day.” ¹ 

Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. ¹  May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place. ² 

This happened because they did not obey ¹  the Lord their God and broke his agreement with them. ²  They did not pay attention to and obey all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded. ³ 

So this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I am about to bring disaster on Jerusalem and Judah. The news will reverberate in the ears of those who hear about it. ¹ 

¹ Be careful what you do ²  when you go to the temple ³  of God; draw near to listen ⁴  rather than to offer a sacrifice ⁵  like fools, ⁶  for they do not realize that they are doing wrong.

When you spread out your hands in prayer, I look the other way; ¹  when you offer your many prayers, I do not listen, because your hands are covered with blood. ² 

But if you will not pay attention to this warning, ¹  I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride. I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears ²  because you, the Lord’s flock, ³  will be carried ⁴  into exile.”

But if they had stood in my inner circle, ¹  they would have proclaimed my message to my people. They would have caused my people to turn from their wicked ways and stop doing the evil things they are doing.

The nations will hear of your devastating defeat. ¹  your cries of distress will echo throughout the earth. In the panic of their flight one soldier will trip over another and both of them will fall down defeated.” ² 

You have issued an edict, O king, that everyone must bow down and pay homage to the golden statue when they hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music.

Listen to the howling of shepherds, because their magnificence has been destroyed. Listen to the roaring of young lions, because the thickets of the Jordan have been devastated.

“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner ¹  who planted a vineyard. ²  He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then ³  he leased it to tenant farmers ⁴  and went on a journey.

If a place will not welcome you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off ¹  your feet as a testimony against them.”

He ¹  said, “You have been given ²  the opportunity to know ³  the secrets ⁴  of the kingdom of God, ⁵  but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand. ⁶ 

But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing ¹  the word, cling to it ²  with an honest and good ³  heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance. ⁴ 

I have ¹  other sheep that do not come from ²  this sheepfold. ³  I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, ⁴  so that ⁵  there will be one flock and ⁶  one shepherd.

“Men of Israel, ¹  listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, ²  wonders, and miraculous signs ³  that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know –

For there will be a time when people ¹  will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, ²  they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things. ³ 

They said to Moses, “You speak ¹  to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.”