However, due to your abundant mercy you did not do away with them altogether; you did not abandon them. For you are a merciful and compassionate God.

So I registered a complaint with the leaders, asking “Why is the temple of God neglected?” Then I gathered them and reassigned them to their positions.

“I am weary of my life; I will complain without restraint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger, will the earth be abandoned for your sake? Or will a rock be moved from its place?

Your loyal followers trust in you, for you, Lord, do not abandon those who seek your help.

You will not abandon me to Sheol; you will not allow your faithful follower to see the Pit.

I was once young, now I am old. I have never seen a godly man abandoned, or his children forced to search for food.

My heart beats quickly; my strength leaves me; I can hardly see.

Surely one sees that even wise people die; fools and spiritually insensitive people all pass away and leave their wealth to others.

Do not let truth and mercy leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

They will be called, “The Holy People, the Ones Protected by the Lord.” You will be called, “Sought After, City Not Abandoned.”

You have brought all this on yourself, Israel, by deserting the Lord your God when he was leading you along the right path.

“I will abandon my nation. I will forsake the people I call my own. I will turn my beloved people over to the power of their enemies.

Even the doe abandons her newborn fawn in the field because there is no grass.

Does the snow ever completely vanish from the rocky slopes of Lebanon? Do the cool waters from those distant mountains ever cease to flow?

The answer will come back, “It is because they broke their covenant with the Lord their God and worshiped and served other gods.”

Leave your towns, you inhabitants of Moab. Go and live in the cliffs. Be like a dove that makes its nest high on the sides of a ravine.

They will eat, but not be satisfied; they will engage in prostitution, but not increase in numbers; because they have abandoned the Lord by pursuing other gods.

Indeed, Gaza will be deserted and Ashkelon will become a heap of ruins. Invaders will drive away the people of Ashdod by noon, and Ekron will be overthrown.

Shemaiah the prophet visited Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who were assembled in Jerusalem because of Shishak. He said to them, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have rejected me, so I have rejected you and will hand you over to Shishak.’”