Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the <sc>Lordsc>: &#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel says concerning the words you have heard:

Please recall the word you commanded your servant Moses: &#8216;If you act unfaithfully, I will scatter you among the nations.<n id="1" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I am young,<n id="2" /> but you are elderly;p> <p class="poetry">that is why I was fearful,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and afraid to explain<n id="4" /> to you what I know.p>

<p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Beloved to the Maidens:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">I adjure you,<n id="1" /> O maidens of Jerusalem,p> <p class="poetry">by the gazelles and by the young does<n id="2" /> of the open fields:<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Do not awaken or arouse<n id="4" /> love<n id="5" /> until it pleases!<n id="6" />p>

<t /><p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Beloved to the Maidens:i>b>p><n id="1" /><p class="poetry">I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem,p> <p class="poetry">by the gazelles and by the young does of the open fields:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Do not awake or arouse love until it pleases!&#8221;p>

<t /><p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Beloved to the Maidens:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">O maidens of Jerusalem, I command you &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">If you find my beloved, what will you tell him?p> <p class="poetry">Tell him that I am lovesick!<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Now I will inform youp> <p class="poetry">what I am about to do to my vineyard:p> <p class="poetry">I will remove its hedge and turn it into pasture,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will break its wall and allow animals to graze there.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you;p> <p class="poetry">indeed,<n id="1" /> every morning it will sweep by,p> <p class="poetry">it will come through during the day and the night.&#8221;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">When this announcement is understood,p> <p class="poetry">it will cause nothing but terror.p>

Don&#8217;t let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the <sc>Lordsc> by saying, &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> will certainly rescue us; this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.&#8221;

until I come and take you to a land just like your own &#8211; a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

Hezekiah is misleading you when he says, &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> will rescue us.&#8221; Has any of the gods of the nations rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria?<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry">I brought you<n id="1" /> into a fertile landp> <p class="poetry">so you could enjoy<n id="2" /> its fruits and its rich bounty.p> <p class="poetry">But when you entered my land, you defiled it;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">you made the land I call my own<n id="4" /> loathsome to me.p>

The <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel who rules over all<n id="1" /> says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right.<n id="2" /> If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land.<n id="3" />

And I will drive you out of my sight just like I drove out your relatives, the people of Israel.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Yes indeed,<n id="2" /> I am sending an enemy against youp> <p class="poetry">that will be like poisonous snakes which cannot be charmed away.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">And they will inflict fatal wounds on you.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

For I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm<n id="1" /> that I did not send them. They are prophesying lies to you. If you<n id="2" /> listen to them, I will drive you and the prophets who are prophesying lies out of the land and you will all die in exile.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

Work to see that the city where I sent you as exiles enjoys peace and prosperity. Pray to the <sc>Lordsc> for it. For as it prospers you will prosper.&#8217;p>

This city will not be a cooking pot for you, and you will not<n id="1" /> be meat within it; I will judge you at the border of Israel.

Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the sovereign <sc>Lordsc>.

Then you will know that I am the <sc>Lordsc> when I bring you to the land of Israel, to the land I swore<n id="1" /> to give to your fathers.