By David. To you, O Lord, I cry out! My protector, ²  do not ignore me! ³  If you do not respond to me, ⁴  I will join ⁵  those who are descending into the grave. ⁶ 

Those who call evil good and good evil are as good as dead, ¹  who turn darkness into light and light into darkness, who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter. ² 

Manasseh fought against ¹  Ephraim, and Ephraim against Manasseh; together they fought against Judah. Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. ² 

“I will turn her into a place that is overrun with wild animals ¹  and covered with pools of stagnant water. I will get rid of her, just as one sweeps away dirt with a broom,” ²  says the Lord who commands armies.

He will wind you up tightly into a ball and throw you into a wide, open land. ¹  There you will die, and there with you will be your impressive chariots, ²  which bring disgrace to the house of your master. ³ 

You were complacent in your evil deeds; ¹  you thought, ²  ‘No one sees me.’ Your self-professed ³  wisdom and knowledge lead you astray, when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ ⁴ 

I want you ¹  to share your food with the hungry and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. ²  When you see someone naked, clothe him! Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood! ³ 

Then your light will shine like the sunrise; ¹  your restoration will quickly arrive; ²  your godly behavior ³  will go before you, and the Lord’s splendor will be your rear guard. ⁴ 

you say, ‘I have not done anything wrong, so the Lord cannot really be angry with me any more.’ But, watch out! ¹  I will bring down judgment on you because you say, ‘I have not committed any sin.’

This is what the Lord who rules over all ¹  said to me: ²  “Those who remain in Israel will be like the grapes thoroughly gleaned ³  from a vine. So go over them again, as though you were a grape harvester passing your hand over the branches one last time.” ⁴ 

Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for ¹  these people, I would not feel pity for them! ²  Get them away from me! Tell them to go away! ³ 

I have indeed ¹  heard the people of Israel ²  say mournfully, ‘We were like a calf untrained to the yoke. ³  You disciplined us and we learned from it. ⁴  Let us come back to you and we will do so, ⁵  for you are the Lord our God.

They will ask the way to Zion; they will turn their faces toward it. They will come ¹  and bind themselves to the Lord in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten. ² 

“When you have completed these days, then lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah 40 days ¹  – I have assigned one day for each year.

The customer will no longer pay the seller ¹  while both parties are alive, for the vision against their whole crowd ²  will not be revoked. Each person, for his iniquity, ³  will fail to preserve his life.

When I turn the land of Egypt into desolation and the land is destitute of everything that fills it, when I strike all those who live in it, then they will know that I am the Lord.’

They sacrifice on the mountaintops, and burn offerings on the hills; they sacrifice ¹  under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is so pleasant. As a result, your daughters have become cult prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery!

Their wicked deeds do not allow them to return to their God; because a spirit of idolatry ¹  controls their heart, ²  and they do not acknowledge the Lord.

Know for sure that I will then enable the nations to give me acceptable praise. ¹  All of them will invoke the Lord’s name when they pray, ²  and will worship him in unison. ³ 

“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and experts in the law. ¹  They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles.