<p class="poetry">Consider! It is planted, but will it prosper?p> <p class="poetry">Will it not wither completely when the east wind blows on it?p> <p class="poetry">Will it not wither in the soil where it sprouted?&#8217;&#8221;p>

All the choice men<n id="1" /> among his troops will die<n id="2" /> by the sword and the survivors will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the <sc>Lord,sc> have spoken!p>

I will put tendons<n id="1" /> on you and muscles over you and will cover you with skin; I will put breath<n id="2" /> in you and you will live. Then you will know that I am the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8217;&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">They consult their wooden idols,p> <p class="poetry">and their diviner&#8217;s staff answers with an oracle.p> <p class="poetry">The wind of prostitution blows them astray;p> <p class="poetry">they commit spiritual adultery<n id="1" /> against their God.p>

<p class="poetry">Their wicked deeds do not allow them to return to their God;p> <p class="poetry">because a spirit of idolatry<n id="1" /> controls their heart,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and they do not acknowledge the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">They sow the wind,p> <p class="poetry">and so they will reap the whirlwind!p> <p class="poetry">The stalk does not have any standing grain;p> <p class="poetry">it will not produce any flour.p> <p class="poetry">Even if it were to yield grain,p> <p class="poetry">foreigners would swallow it all up.p>

<p class="poetry">Ephraim continually feeds on the wind;p> <p class="poetry">he chases the east wind all day;p> <p class="poetry">he multiplies lies and violence.p> <p class="poetry">They make treaties<n id="1" /> with Assyria,p> <p class="poetry">and send olive oil as tribute<n id="2" /> to Egypt.p>

But<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> hurled<n id="2" /> a powerful<n id="3" /> wind on the sea. Such a violent<n id="4" /> tempest arose on the sea that<n id="5" /> the ship threatened to break up!<n id="6" />

<p class="poetry">Does the family<n id="1" /> of Jacob say,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;The <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s patience<n id="3" /> can&#8217;t be exhausted &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">he would never do such things&#8217;?<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">To be sure, my commands bring a rewardp> <p class="poetry">for those who obey them,<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">If a lying windbag should come and say,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;I&#8217;ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,&#8217;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he would be just the right preacher for these people!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">But I<n id="1" /> am full of the courage that the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s Spirit gives,p> <p class="poetry">and have a strong commitment to justice.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">This enables me to confront Jacob with its rebellion,p> <p class="poetry">and Israel with its sin.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">The one who says to wood, &#8216;Wake up!&#8217; is as good as dead<n id="1" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">he who says<n id="2" /> to speechless stone, &#8216;Awake!&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">Can it give reliable guidance?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">It is overlaid with gold and silver;p> <p class="poetry">it has no life&#8217;s breath inside it.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The revelation of the word of the <sc>Lordsc> concerning Israel: The <sc>Lordsc> &#8211; he who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth, who forms the human spirit within a person<n id="1" /> &#8211; says,

No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this.<n id="1" /> What did our ancestor<n id="2" /> do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth.<n id="3" />

I am about to bring<n id="1" /> floodwaters<n id="2" /> on the earth to destroy<n id="3" /> from under the sky all the living creatures that have the breath of life in them.<n id="4" /> Everything that is on the earth will die,

<p class="bodytext">But God remembered<n id="1" /> Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over<n id="2" /> the earth and the waters receded.

But when they related to him everything Joseph had said to them,<n id="1" /> and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to transport him, their father Jacob&#8217;s spirit revived.

So Moses extended his staff over the land of Egypt, and then the <sc>Lordsc><n id="1" /> brought<n id="2" /> an east wind on the land all that day and all night.<n id="3" /> The morning came,<n id="4" /> and the east wind had brought up<n id="5" /> the locusts!

and the <sc>Lordsc> turned a very strong west wind,<n id="1" /> and it picked up the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea.<n id="2" /> Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt.

or when jealous feelings come over a man and he becomes suspicious of his wife; then he must have the woman stand before the <sc>Lordsc>, and the priest will carry out all this law upon her.