<p class="poetry">Just as you do not know the path<n id="1" /> of the wind,p> <p class="poetry">or how the bones form<n id="2" /> in the womb of a pregnant woman,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Rejoice, young man, while you are young,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.p> <p class="poetry">Follow the impulses<n id="2" /> of your heart and the desires<n id="3" /> of your eyes,p> <p class="poetry">but know that God will judge your motives and actions.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">and they are afraid of heights and the dangers<n id="1" /> in the street;p> <p class="poetry">the almond blossoms<n id="2" /> grow white,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and the grasshopper<n id="4" /> drags itself along,<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">and the caper berry<n id="6" /> shrivels up<n id="7" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">because man goes to his eternal home,<n id="8" />p> <p class="poetry">and the mourners go about in the streets &#8211;p>

<p class="poetry">many peoples will come and say,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Come, let us go up to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s mountain,p> <p class="poetry">to the temple of the God of Jacob,p> <p class="poetry">so<n id="1" /> he can teach us his requirements,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and<n id="3" /> we can follow his standards.&#8221;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">For Zion will be the center for moral instruction;<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">the <sc>Lordsc> will issue edicts from Jerusalem.<n id="6" />p>

<v id="(8:23)" /><n id="1" /> The gloom will be dispelled for those who were anxious.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">In earlier times he<n id="3" /> humiliatedp> <p class="poetry">the land of Zebulun,p> <p class="poetry">and the land of Naphtali;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">but now he brings honor<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">to the way of the sea,p> <p class="poetry">the region beyond the Jordan,p> <p class="poetry">and Galilee of the nations.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="bodytext">So<n id="1" /> here is what the sovereign master, the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies, says: &#8220;My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did.<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">My heart cries out because of Moab&#8217;s plight,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and for the fugitives<n id="2" /> stretched out<n id="3" /> as far as Zoar and Eglath Shelishiyah.p> <p class="poetry">For they weep as they make their way up the ascent of Luhith;p> <p class="poetry">they loudly lament their demise on the road to Horonaim.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will guide them down paths they have never traveled.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I will turn the darkness in front of them into light,p> <p class="poetry">and level out the rough ground.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">This is what I will do for them.p> <p class="poetry">I will not abandon them.p>

<p class="poetry">They seek me day after day;p> <p class="poetry">they want to know my requirements,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">like a nation that does what is rightp> <p class="poetry">and does not reject the law of their God.p> <p class="poetry">They ask me for just decrees;p> <p class="poetry">they want to be near God.p>

<p class="poetry">You must<n id="1" /> observe the Sabbath<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">rather than doing anything you please on my holy day.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">You must look forward to the Sabbath<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and treat the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s holy day with respect.<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities,p> <p class="poetry">and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog&#8217;s neck;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the one who presents an offering includes pig&#8217;s blood with it;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">the one who offers incense also praises an idol.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">They have decided to behave this way;<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">they enjoy these disgusting practices.<n id="6" />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;

But they must make sure you learn to follow the religious practices of my people.<n id="1" /> Once they taught my people to swear their oaths using the name of the god Baal.<n id="2" /> But then, they must swear oaths using my name, saying, &#8220;As surely as the <sc>Lordsc> lives, I swear.&#8221;<n id="3" /> If they do these things,<n id="4" /> then they will be included among the people I call my own.<n id="5" />

He said through them,<n id="1" /> &#8216;Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and stop doing the evil things you are doing.<n id="2" /> If you do, I will allow you to continue to live here in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors as a lasting possession.<n id="3" />

Then he spoke up in the presence of all the people. &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;In the same way I will break the yoke of servitude of all the nations to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon<n id="1" /> before two years are over.&#8217;&#8221; After he heard this, the prophet Jeremiah departed and went on his way.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">They will come back shedding tears of contrition.p> <p class="poetry">I will bring them back praying prayers of repentance.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will lead them besides streams of water,p> <p class="poetry">along smooth paths where they will never stumble.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I will do this because I am Israel&#8217;s father;p> <p class="poetry">Ephraim<n id="3" /> is my firstborn son.&#8217;&#8221;p>

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>

Perhaps then they will ask the <sc>Lordsc> for mercy and will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing.<n id="1" /> For the <sc>Lordsc> has threatened to bring great anger and wrath against these people.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>