<p class="poetry">So the <sc>Lordsc> is furious<n id="1" /> with his people;p> <p class="poetry">he lifts<n id="2" /> his hand and strikes them.p> <p class="poetry">The mountains shake,p> <p class="poetry">and corpses lie like manure<n id="3" /> in the middle of the streets.p> <p class="poetry">Despite all this, his anger does not subside,p> <p class="poetry">and his hand is ready to strike again.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">So the sovereign master was not pleased<n id="1" /> with their young men,p> <p class="poetry">he took no pity<n id="2" /> on their orphans and widows;p> <p class="poetry">for the whole nation was godless<n id="3" /> and did wicked things,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">every mouth was speaking disgraceful words.<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">Despite all this, his anger does not subside,p> <p class="poetry">and his hand is ready to strike again.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">Manasseh fought against<n id="1" /> Ephraim,p> <p class="poetry">and Ephraim against Manasseh;p> <p class="poetry">together they fought against Judah.p> <p class="poetry">Despite all this, his anger does not subside,p> <p class="poetry">and his hand is ready to strike again.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">No one thinks to himself,p> <p class="poetry">nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;I burned half of it in the fire &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">yes, I baked bread over the coals;p> <p class="poetry">I roasted meat and ate it.p> <p class="poetry">With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol?p> <p class="poetry">Should I bow down to dry wood?&#8217;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">So now the <sc>Lordsc> says,p> <p class="poetry">the one who formed me from birth<n id="1" /> to be his servant &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">he did this<n id="2" /> to restore Jacob to himself,p> <p class="poetry">so that Israel might be gathered to him;p> <p class="poetry">and I will be honored<n id="3" /> in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s sight,p> <p class="poetry">for my God is my source of strength<n id="4" /> &#8211;p>

<p class="poetry">he says, &#8220;Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant,p> <p class="poetry">to reestablish the tribes of Jacob,p> <p class="poetry">and restore the remnant<n id="1" /> of Israel?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I will make you a light to the nations,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">so you can bring<n id="4" /> my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.&#8221;p>

<n id="1" /><p class="poetry">The rain and snow fall from the skyp> <p class="poetry">and do not return,p> <p class="poetry">but instead water the earthp> <p class="poetry">and make it produce and yield crops,p> <p class="poetry">and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat.p>

<p class="poetry">In the same way, the promise that I makep> <p class="poetry">does not return to me, having accomplished nothing.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">No, it is realized as I desirep> <p class="poetry">and is fulfilled as I intend.&#8221;<n id="2" />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>

<t /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;Go and shout this message to my people in the countries in the north.<n id="1" /> Tell them,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Come back to me, wayward Israel,&#8217; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;I will not continue to look on you with displeasure.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For I am merciful,&#8217; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;I will not be angry with you forever.p>

<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">I have listened to them very carefully,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">but they do not speak honestly.p> <p class="poetry">None of them regrets the evil he has done.p> <p class="poetry">None of them says, &#8220;I have done wrong!&#8221;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">All of them persist in their own wayward course<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">like a horse charging recklessly into battle.p>

They have gone back to the evil ways<n id="1" /> of their ancestors of old who refused to obey what I told them. They, too, have paid allegiance to<n id="2" /> other gods and worshiped them. Both the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah<n id="3" /> have violated the covenant I made with their ancestors.

But in that time they will affirm them with &#8216;I swear as surely as the <sc>Lordsc> lives who delivered the people of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished them.&#8217; At that time I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors.&#8221;<n id="1" />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" />

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;For the <sc>Lordsc> has spoken about Shallum son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but was carried off into exile. He has said, &#8220;He will never return to this land.<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry">But I see the prophets of Jerusalem<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">doing something just as shocking.p> <p class="poetry">They are unfaithful to mep> <p class="poetry">and continually prophesy lies.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil,p> <p class="poetry">with the result that they do not stop their evildoing.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom,p> <p class="poetry">and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah.<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>

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" />

Before two years are over, I will bring back to this place everything that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from it and carried away to Babylon.