When Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door, he said, &#8220;Come on in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have been commissioned to give you bad news.<n id="1" />

while he went a day&#8217;s journey into the desert. He went and sat down under a shrub<n id="1" /> and asked the <sc>Lordsc> to take his life:<n id="2" /> &#8220;I&#8217;ve had enough! Now, O <sc>Lordsc>, take my life. After all, I&#8217;m no better than my ancestors.&#8221;<n id="3" />

Elisha said to Gehazi,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Tell her, &#8216;Look, you have treated us with such great respect.<n id="2" /> What can I do for you? Can I put in a good word for you with the king or the commander of the army?&#8217;&#8221; She replied, &#8220;I&#8217;m quite secure.&#8221;<n id="3" />

&#8216;You displayed a sensitive spirit<n id="1" /> and humbled yourself before the <sc>Lordsc> when you heard how I intended to make this place and its residents into an appalling example of an accursed people.<n id="2" /> You tore your clothes and wept before me, and I have heard you,&#8217; says the <sc>Lordsc>.

<t /><p class="bodytext">When David had settled into his palace,<n id="1" /> he<n id="2" /> said to Nathan the prophet, &#8220;Look, I am living in a palace<n id="3" /> made from cedar, while the ark of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s covenant is under a tent.&#8221;<n id="4" />

<p class="poetry">&#8220;I thought to myself,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">What a joy it would be for me to give<n id="3" /> you a pleasant land,p> <p class="poetry">the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!&#8217;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">I thought you would call me, &#8216;Father&#8217;<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">and would never cease being loyal to me.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">Hear this, you peoples of the earth:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Take note!<n id="2" /> I am about to bring disaster on these people.p> <p class="poetry">It will come as punishment for their scheming.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For they have paid no attention to what I have said,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and they have rejected my law.p>

Those are the terms that I charged your ancestors<n id="1" /> to keep<n id="2" /> when I brought them out of Egypt, that place which was like an iron-smelting furnace.<n id="3" /> I said at that time,<n id="4" /> &#8220;Obey me and carry out the terms of the agreement<n id="5" /> exactly as I commanded you. If you do,<n id="6" /> you will be my people and I will be your God.<n id="7" />

Even if they fast, I will not hear their cries for help. Even if they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.<n id="1" /> Instead, I will kill them through wars, famines, and plagues.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

So now, tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem<n id="1" /> this: The <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;I am preparing to bring disaster on you! I am making plans to punish you.<n id="2" /> So, every one of you, stop the evil things you have been doing.<n id="3" /> Correct the way you have been living and do what is right.&#8217;<n id="4" />

I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm<n id="1" /> that I am opposed to those prophets who dream up lies and report them. They are misleading my people with their reckless lies.<n id="2" /> I did not send them. I did not commission them. They are not helping these people at all.<n id="3" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

I will give them the desire to acknowledge that I<n id="1" /> am the <sc>Lordsc>. I will be their God and they will be my people. For they will wholeheartedly<n id="2" /> return to me.&#8217;p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">So<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lord,sc> the God of Israel, spoke to me in a vision.<n id="2" /> &#8220;Take this cup from my hand. It is filled with the wine of my wrath.<n id="3" /> Take it and make the nations to whom I send you drink it.

<p class="bodytext">Then the <sc>Lordsc> said to me,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Tell them that the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel who rules over all<n id="2" /> says,<n id="3" /> &#8216;Drink this cup<n id="4" /> until you get drunk and vomit. Drink until you fall down and can&#8217;t get up.<n id="5" /> For I will send wars sweeping through you.&#8217;<n id="6" />

For take note, I am already beginning to bring disaster on the city that I call my own.<n id="1" /> So how can you possibly avoid being punished?<n id="2" /> You will not go unpunished! For I am proclaiming war against all who live on the earth. I, the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all,<n id="3" /> affirm it!&#8217;<n id="4" />p>

&#8220;I made the earth and the people and animals on it by my mighty power and great strength,<n id="1" /> and I give it to whomever I see fit.<n id="2" />

I have at this time placed all these nations of yours under the power<n id="1" /> of my servant,<n id="2" /> King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made all the wild animals subject to him.<n id="3" />

This will happen to them because they have done what is shameful<n id="1" /> in Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbors&#8217; wives and have spoken lies while claiming my authority.<n id="2" /> They have spoken words that I did not command them to speak. I know what they have done. I have been a witness to it,&#8217; says the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

It will not be like the old<n id="1" /> covenant that I made with their ancestors<n id="2" /> when I delivered them<n id="3" /> from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,&#8221;<n id="4" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="5" />

Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about all the disaster I intend to bring on them, they will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing.<n id="1" /> If they do, I will forgive their sins and the wicked things they have done.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>