I hear my dear people ¹  crying out ²  throughout the length and breadth of the land. ³  They are crying, ‘Is the Lord no longer in Zion? Is her divine King ⁴  no longer there?’” The Lord answers, ⁵  “Why then do they provoke me to anger with their images, with their worthless foreign idols?” ⁶ 

But when I speak with you, I will loosen your tongue ¹  and you must say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says.’ Those who listen will listen, but the indifferent will refuse, ²  for they are a rebellious house.

Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! ¹  Listen closely, ²  O king! ³  For judgment is about to overtake you! ⁴  For you were like a trap ⁵  to Mizpah, ⁶  like a net ⁷  spread out to catch Tabor. ⁸ 

“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.”

“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 –

Since many of them had no desire to eat, ¹  Paul ²  stood up ³  among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me ⁴  and not put out to sea ⁵  from Crete, thus avoiding ⁶  this damage and loss.

Don’t listen to Hezekiah!’ For this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me. ¹  Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern,

“For the last twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was ruling in Judah ¹  until now, the Lord has been speaking to me. I told you over and over again ²  what he said. ³  But you would not listen.

I also told the priests and all the people, “The Lord says, ‘Do not listen to what your prophets are saying. They are prophesying to you that ¹  the valuable articles taken from the Lord’s temple will be brought back from Babylon very soon. ²  But they are prophesying a lie to you.

The Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, ¹  and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called ²  Hormah.

Then you came back and wept before the Lord, but he ¹  paid no attention to you whatsoever. ² 

I will personally hold responsible ¹  anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet ²  speaks in my name.

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.

Respond to the request of your servant and your people Israel for this place. ¹  Hear from inside your heavenly dwelling place ²  and respond favorably. ³ 

“May you be attentive ¹  to your servant’s and your people Israel’s requests for help and may you respond to all their prayers to you. ² 

Jehoahaz asked for the Lord’s mercy ¹  and the Lord responded favorably, ²  for he saw that Israel was oppressed by the king of Syria. ³ 

But Amaziah did not heed the warning, ¹  for God wanted to hand them over to Joash because they followed the gods of Edom. ² 

“Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. ¹  Far be it from ²  God to do wickedness, from the Almighty to do evil.

A prayer of David. Lord, consider my just cause! ²  Pay attention to my cry for help! Listen to the prayer I sincerely offer! ³