<p class="poetry">Turn aside from the way,p> <p class="poetry">stray off the path.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Remove from our presence the Holy One of Israel.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Your children hurry back,p> <p class="poetry">while those who destroyed and devastated you depart.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Listen to me, O family of Jacob,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">all you who are left from the family of Israel,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">you who have been carried from birth,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">you who have been supported from the time you left the womb.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff,p> <p class="poetry">they ignore the just cause of the innocent.<n id="1" />p>

Those who put their hope in Cush and took pride in Egypt will be afraid and embarrassed.<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry">Stop trusting in human beings,p> <p class="poetry">whose life&#8217;s breath is in their nostrils.p> <p class="poetry">For why should they be given special consideration?p>

<p class="poetry">Why do you crush my peoplep> <p class="poetry">and grind the faces of the poor?&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">The sovereign <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies<n id="2" /> has spoken.p>

But then one of the seraphs flew toward me. In his hand was a hot coal he had taken from the altar with tongs.

&#8216;Some of your very own descendants whom you father<n id="1" /> will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.&#8217;&#8221;

<p class="poetry">In a burst<n id="1" /> of anger I rejected you<n id="2" /> momentarily,p> <p class="poetry">but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">says your protector,<n id="3" /> the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="poetry">We all growl like bears,p> <p class="poetry">we coo mournfully like doves;p> <p class="poetry">we wait for deliverance,<n id="1" /> but there is none,p> <p class="poetry">for salvation, but it is far from us.p>

<p class="poetry">Even these men<n id="1" /> stagger because of wine,p> <p class="poetry">they stumble around because of beer &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">priests and prophets stagger because of beer,p> <p class="poetry">they are confused<n id="2" /> because of wine,p> <p class="poetry">they stumble around because of beer;p> <p class="poetry">they stagger while seeing prophetic visions,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">they totter while making legal decisions.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">When you spread out your hands in prayer,p> <p class="poetry">I look the other way;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">when you offer your many prayers,p> <p class="poetry">I do not listen,p> <p class="poetry">because your hands are covered with blood.<n id="2" />p>

So Isaiah replied,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Pay attention,<n id="2" /> family<n id="3" /> of David.<n id="4" /> Do you consider it too insignificant to try the patience of men? Is that why you are also trying the patience of my God?

<p class="poetry">Look, the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s day of judgment<n id="1" /> is coming;p> <p class="poetry">it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">destroying<n id="3" /> the earth<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and annihilating its sinners.p>

When the <sc>Lordsc> gives you relief from your suffering and anxiety,<n id="1" /> and from the hard labor which you were made to perform,

<p class="poetry">Please let the Moabite fugitives live<n id="1" /> among you.p> <p class="poetry">Hide them<n id="2" /> from the destroyer!&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">Certainly<n id="3" /> the one who applies pressure will cease,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">the destroyer will come to an end,p> <p class="poetry">those who trample will disappear<n id="5" /> from the earth.p>

<p class="poetry">Joy and happiness disappear from the orchards,p> <p class="poetry">and in the vineyards no one rejoices or shouts;p> <p class="poetry">no one treads out juice in the wine vats<n id="1" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">I have brought the joyful shouts to an end.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">So I say:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Don&#8217;t look at me!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I am weeping bitterly.p> <p class="poetry">Don&#8217;t try<n id="2" /> to console mep> <p class="poetry">concerning the destruction of my defenseless people.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;The rebellious<n id="1" /> children are as good as dead,&#8221;<n id="2" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;those who make plans without consulting me,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">who form alliances without consulting my Spirit,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and thereby compound their sin.<n id="5" />p>