<p class="poetry">&#8220;A noise is heard on the hilltops.p> <p class="poetry">It is the sound of the people of Israel crying and pleading to their gods.p> <p class="poetry">Indeed they have followed sinful ways;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">they have forgotten to be true to the <sc>Lordsc> their God.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem<n id="1" /> will be told,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;A scorching wind will sweep downp> <p class="poetry">from the hilltops in the desert on<n id="2" /> my dear people.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">It will not be a gentle breezep> <p class="poetry">for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;The way you have lived and the things you have done<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">will bring this on you.p> <p class="poetry">This is the punishment you deserve, and it will be painful indeed.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">The pain will be so bad it will pierce your heart.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">I thought, &#8220;Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They act like fools because they do not know what the <sc>Lordsc> demands.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They do not know what their God requires of them.<n id="3" />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" />

You must change<n id="1" /> the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly.<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Do not start following pagan religious practices.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Do not be in awe of signs that occur<n id="2" /> in the skyp> <p class="poetry">even though the nations hold them in awe.p>

<p class="poetry"><sc>Lordsc>, you have always been fairp> <p class="poetry">whenever I have complained to you.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Why are wicked people successful?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?p>

For I see everything they do. Their wicked ways are not hidden from me. Their sin is not hidden away where I cannot see it.<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry">While you were feeling secure I gave you warning.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">But you said, &#8220;I refuse to listen to you.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">That is the way you have acted from your earliest history onward.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, you have never paid attention to me.p>

<p class="poetry">So the paths they follow will be dark and slippery.p> <p class="poetry">They will stumble and fall headlong.p> <p class="poetry">For I will bring disaster on them.p> <p class="poetry">A day of reckoning is coming for them.&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> affirms it!<n id="2" />p>

Maybe they will pay attention and each of them will stop living the evil way they do.<n id="1" /> If they do that, then I will forgo destroying them<n id="2" /> as I had intended to do because of the wicked things they have been doing.<n id="3" />

But correct the way you have been living and do what is right.<n id="1" /> Obey the <sc>Lordsc> your God. If you do, the <sc>Lordsc> will forgo destroying you as he threatened he would.<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">I will say,<n id="1" /> &#8216;My dear children of Israel,<n id="2" /> keep in mindp> <p class="poetry">the road you took when you were carried off.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Mark off in your minds the landmarks.p> <p class="poetry">Make a mental note of telltale signs marking the way back.p> <p class="poetry">Return, my dear children of Israel.p> <p class="poetry">Return to these cities of yours.p>

I will give them a single-minded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for<n id="1" /> their own good and the good of the children who descend from them.

Pray that the <sc>Lordsc> your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.&#8221;

<p class="poetry">They will ask the way to Zion;p> <p class="poetry">they will turn their faces toward it.p> <p class="poetry">They will come<n id="1" /> and bind themselves to the <sc>Lordsc>p> <p class="poetry">in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">However, you must confess that you have done wrong,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and that you have rebelled against the <sc>Lordsc> your God.p> <p class="poetry">You must confess<n id="2" /> that you have given yourself to<n id="3" /> foreign gods under every green tree,p> <p class="poetry">and have not obeyed my commands,&#8217; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="poetry">I will go to the leaders<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and speak with them.p> <p class="poetry">Surely they know what the <sc>Lordsc> demands.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Surely they know what their God requires of them.&#8221;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authorityp> <p class="poetry">and refuse to submit to him.<n id="4" />p>

I also explicitly commanded them:<n id="1" /> &#8220;Obey me. If you do, I<n id="2" /> will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you<n id="3" /> and things will go well with you.&#8221;