Now go, write it ¹  down on a tablet in their presence, ²  inscribe it on a scroll, so that it might be preserved for a future time as an enduring witness. ³ 

For this reason this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “You have rejected this message; ¹  you trust instead in your ability to oppress and trick, ²  and rely on that kind of behavior. ³ 

A deceiver’s methods are evil; ¹  he dreams up evil plans ²  to ruin the poor with lies, even when the needy are in the right. ³ 

Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk. ¹  In whom are you trusting, that you would dare to rebel against me?

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

Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?’” ¹ 

Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.” ¹ 

O sovereign master, your decrees can give men life; may years of life be restored to me. ¹  Restore my health ²  and preserve my life.’

Who acts and carries out decrees? ¹  Who ²  summons the successive generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning, and at the very end – I am the one. ³ 

Now they come into being, ¹  not in the past; before today you did not hear about them, so you could not say, ‘Yes, ²  I know about them.’

I was angry because of their sinful greed; I attacked them and angrily rejected them, ¹  yet they remained disobedient and stubborn. ² 

They are unfamiliar with peace; their deeds are unjust. ¹  They use deceitful methods, and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace. ² 

The look on their faces ¹  testifies to their guilt; ²  like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. ³  Too bad for them! ⁴  For they bring disaster on themselves.

The Lord says, “The women ¹  of Zion are proud. They walk with their heads high ²  and flirt with their eyes. They skip along ³  and the jewelry on their ankles jingles. ⁴ 

Make the hearts of these people calloused; make their ears deaf and their eyes blind! Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, their hearts might understand and they might repent and be healed.” ¹ 

For you ignore ¹  the God who rescues you; you pay no attention to your strong protector. ²  So this is what happens: You cultivate beautiful plants and plant exotic vines. ³ 

In the evening there is sudden terror; ¹  by morning they vanish. ²  This is the fate of those who try to plunder us, the destiny of those who try to loot us! ³ 

The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards is doomed, ¹  the withering flower, its beautiful splendor, ²  situated ³  at the head of a rich valley, the crown of those overcome with wine. ⁴ 

Grain is crushed, though one certainly does not thresh it forever. The wheel of one’s wagon rolls over it, but his horses do not crush it.

The one who lives ¹  uprightly ²  and speaks honestly; the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures and rejects a bribe; ³  the one who does not plot violent crimes ⁴  and does not seek to harm others ⁵  –