Do not crave that ruler’s delicacies, for that food is deceptive.

A continual dripping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike.

Scornful people inflame a city, but those who are wise turn away wrath.

Surely oppression can turn a wise person into a fool; likewise, a bribe corrupts the heart.

Whatever has happened is beyond human understanding; it is far deeper than anyone can fathom.

Zion will be freed by justice, and her returnees by righteousness.

In the year King Ahaz died, this message was revealed:

Your dead will come back to life; your corpses will rise up. Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground! For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits.

They help one another; one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’

I can clothe the sky in darkness; I can cover it with sackcloth.”

“The Lord says, ‘That is why I will scatter your people like chaff that is blown away by a desert wind.

‘Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.

ו (Vav) He destroyed his temple as if it were a vineyard; he destroyed his appointed meeting place. The Lord has made those in Zion forget both the festivals and the Sabbaths. In his fierce anger he has spurned both king and priest.

Princes were hung by their hands; elders were mistreated.

So I told the exiles everything the Lord had shown me.

This was the dream. Now we will set forth before the king its interpretation.

You saw that a stone was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands; it smashed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold into pieces. The great God has made known to the king what will occur in the future. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is reliable.”

Those who worship worthless idols forfeit the mercy that could be theirs.

They are frightening and terrifying; they decide for themselves what is right.

“I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the immigrant and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.