So he threw a big banquet ¹  for them and they ate and drank. Then he sent them back ²  to their master. After that no Syrian raiding parties again invaded the land of Israel.

Now the king of Syria had ordered his chariot commanders, “Do not fight common soldiers or high ranking officers; ¹  fight only the king of Israel!”

Wait patiently for the Lord! ¹  Wait confidently ²  for him! Do not fret over the apparent success of a sinner, ³  a man who carries out wicked schemes!

So I thought to myself, “The fate of the fool will happen even to me! ¹  Then what did I gain by becoming so excessively ²  wise?” ³  So I lamented to myself, ⁴  “The benefits of wisdom ⁵  are ultimately ⁶  meaningless!”

They ¹  say to the visionaries, “See no more visions!” and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right! ²  Tell us nice things, relate deceptive messages. ³ 

They will disappoint you, ¹  those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth. ²  Each strays off in his own direction, ³  leaving no one to rescue you.”

Then the Lord said, ¹  “As for you, Jeremiah, ²  do not pray for these people! Do not cry out to me or petition me on their behalf! Do not plead with me to save them, ³  because I will not listen to you.

So I will throw you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have ever known. There you must worship other gods day and night, for I will show you no mercy.’”

While you were feeling secure I gave you warning. ¹  But you said, “I refuse to listen to you.” That is the way you have acted from your earliest history onward. ²  Indeed, you have never paid attention to me.

“Son of man, these men have erected their idols in their hearts and placed the obstacle leading to their iniquity ¹  right before their faces. Should I really allow them to seek ²  me?

“‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the city of bloodshed, the pot whose rot ¹  is in it, whose rot has not been removed ²  from it! Empty it piece by piece. No lot has fallen on it. ³ 

They will bear their shame for all their unfaithful acts against me, when they live securely on their land with no one to make them afraid.

Why are you doing these things to me, Tyre and Sidon? ¹  Are you trying to get even with me, land of Philistia? ²  I will very quickly repay you for what you have done! ³ 

Do not seek Bethel! ¹  Do not visit Gilgal! Do not journey down ²  to Beer Sheba! For the people of Gilgal ³  will certainly be carried into exile; ⁴  and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds.” ⁵ 

So then, if someone ¹  says to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ ²  do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe him.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, ¹  God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. ² 

among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe ¹  so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel ²  of Christ, ³  who is the image of God.

Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, ¹  or of God? Or am I trying to please people? ²  If I were still trying to please ³  people, ⁴  I would not be a slave ⁵  of Christ!

Until ¹  certain people came from James, he had been eating with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he stopped doing this ²  and separated himself ³  because he was afraid of those who were pro-circumcision. ⁴ 

Then the Lord said to me, “Do not harass Moab and provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as your territory. This is because I have given Ar ¹  to the descendants of Lot ²  as their possession.