Just as ritual circumcision cuts away the foreskin as an external symbol of dedicated covenant commitment, you must genuinely dedicate yourselves to the Lord and get rid of everything that hinders your commitment to me, ¹  people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. If you do not, ²  my anger will blaze up like a flaming fire against you that no one will be able to extinguish. That will happen because of the evil you have done.”

But you must obey me and set the Sabbath day apart to me. You must not carry any loads in through ¹  the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. If you disobey, I will set the gates of Jerusalem on fire. It will burn down all the fortified dwellings in Jerusalem and no one will be able to put it out.’”

O royal family descended from David. ¹  The Lord says: ‘See to it that people each day ²  are judged fairly. ³  Deliver those who have been robbed from those ⁴  who oppress them. Otherwise, my wrath will blaze out against you. It will burn like a fire that cannot be put out because of the evil that you have done. ⁵ 

When the people cried to Moses, he ¹  prayed to the Lord, and the fire died out. ² 

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to David’s aid, striking the Philistine down and killing him. Then David’s men took an oath saying, “You will not go out to battle with us again! You must not extinguish the lamp of Israel!”

They surrounded me like bees. But they disappeared as quickly ¹  as a fire among thorns. ²  Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.

If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better to enter life lame than to have ¹  two feet and be thrown into hell. ² 

It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating, only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty. ¹  It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking, only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched. ²  So it will be for the horde from all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.

Now the entire family has risen up against your servant, saying, ‘Turn over the one who struck down his brother, so that we can execute him and avenge the death ¹  of his brother whom he killed. In so doing we will also destroy the heir.’ They want to extinguish my remaining coal, ²  leaving no one on the face of the earth to carry on the name of my husband.”

The light in his tent grows dark; his lamp above him is extinguished. ¹ 

They put bitter poison ¹  into my food, and to quench my thirst they give me vinegar to drink. ² 

Threshing floors and wine vats will not feed the people, ¹  and new wine only deceives them. ² 

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than to have ¹  two hands and go into hell, ²  to the unquenchable fire. ³ 

The wild animals of the desert honor me, the jackals and ostriches, because I put water in the desert and streams in the wilderness, to quench the thirst of my chosen people,

For I will pour water on the parched ground ¹  and cause streams to flow ²  on the dry land. I will pour my spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your children.

People from ¹  two or three cities staggered into one city to get ²  water, but remained thirsty. ³  Still you did not come back to me.” The Lord is speaking!

But that day belongs to the Lord God who rules over all. ¹  It is the day when he will pay back his enemies. ²  His sword will devour them until its appetite is satisfied! It will drink their blood until it is full! ³  For the Lord God who rules over all ⁴  will offer them up as a sacrifice in the land of the north by the Euphrates River.