The Prophets
This is the most difficult writing on God in history. I find it hard to listen to, but sometimes, it wakes me up before I slip...and I don't want to go back to where I came from. So, I can take a look at this from time to time.
Hosea...
My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
I reject you as my priests, because you have ignored my law.
For I am God, and not man-I will not come in wrath.
I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind.
Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great, the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired man a maniac.
Joel...
Declare a holy fast.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy
Your old men will dream dreams
And your young men will see visions.
Nahum...
"I am against you" declares the Lord.
Nothing can heal your wound; your injury is fatal.
Habakkuk...
How long, Oh Lord, must I call for help but you do not listen.
He is arrogant and never at rest, because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied.
You will be filled with shame instead of glory.
But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth be silent before him.
Haggai...
This is what the Lord Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways".
I am with You.
"Be strong, all you people of the land, and work. For I am with you" declares the Lord.
Give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid. Give careful thought.
Zechariah...
"Return to me and I will return to you" says the Lord.
Do not be like your forefathers.
Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.
Administer justice, show mercy and compassion.
Do not oppress the widow, children, the homeless or poor.
Do not think evil of one another.
I am jealous.
Malachi...
You priests show contempt for my name.
The lips of a priest preserve knowledge. From his lips men seek instruction, because he is the messenger of the Lord.
I hate divorce.
You have wearied the Lord by saying "All who do evil are good" or "Where is the God of justice?"
I the Lord do not change.
Test me and see if I do not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it.
You have said harsh things against the Lord.
You have said it is futile to serve the Lord.
You will see the distinction between those that serve the Lord and those who do not.
I will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.
My soul hates.
If you're willing and obedient you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel you'll be devoured by the sword. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor train for war anymore.
The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled.
Stop trusting in man who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it.
What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor? declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.
And I said "Here am I. Send me!
Otherwise they might...turn and be healed.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away.
I have commanded my holy ones; I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath – those who rejoice in my triumph.
I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless.
Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the Lord.
And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions.
But the noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands.
Be strong and do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.
And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it.
This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add 15 years to your life.
I am troubled; O Lord, come to my aid!
Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
The grass withers and the flowers shall fall, but the word of our God stands forever.
Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way?
But you are less than nothing and your works are utterly worthless; he who chooses you is detestable.
Isaiah II
For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant.
Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.
No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.
No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, "Half of it I used for fuel"
Does the Clay say to the Potter, "What are you making? Does your work say "He has no hands"? Woe to him who says to his father "What have you begotten?" or to his mother "What have you brought to birth?"
Concerning things to come , do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right.
Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me "In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength".
For I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze.
I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.
"There is no peace," says the Lord "for the wicked."
For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation… Your God reigns.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not...yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer.
The Lord will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit – a wife who married young, only to be rejected, says your God.
And let not any eunuch complain, "I am only a dry tree." For this is what the Lord says: "To the eunuchs to keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant – to them I will give within my temple and it's walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.
They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough.
I will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me – the breath of man that I have created.
"There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked."
So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
The oil of gladness...
I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity.
You have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins. Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray, for we are all your people.
This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit.
They did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me.
Jeremiah
For I am with you...
Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.
They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. Peace, peace they say, when there is no peace.
Ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.
Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?
But I gave them this command: Obey me and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you.
Truth has perished...
No one repents of his wickedness, saying, "What have I done?"
From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. "Peace, peace" they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all.
This is what the Lord says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight".
When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath
They have no breath in them...
If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman. Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them. I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but they will not overcome you, for I am with you, to rescue and save you.
See how each of you is following the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying me.
I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve
Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me? declares the Lord.
I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing.
But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord.
So you will be my people, and I will be your God...
After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.
Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security.
See, I am against you, O arrogant one, declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.
Who is like me and who can challenge me?
For the Lord is a God of retribution; he will repay in full.
For the whole house of Israel is hard and obstinate. But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are.
Eat it at set times…and drink it at set times.
There is panic, not joy, upon the mountains.
They will try to get a vision from the prophet; the teaching of the law by the priest will be lost, as will the counsel of the elders.
I will deal with them according to their conduct, and by their own standards I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.
For you have not followed my decrees, or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you.
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be there God.
Your prophets, O Israel, are like jackals among ruins.
Now, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination.
This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!
You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them.
… who were shocked by your lewd conduct.
Repent and live!
On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of Egypt into a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands.
Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy.
They did not follow my decrees but rejected my laws – although the man who obeys them will live by them– and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths.
…a land flowing with milk and honey, most beautiful of all lands–
Do not follow the statutes of your fathers.
Keep my Sabbath holy, that it may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.
When you offer your gifts: the sacrifice of your sons in the fire-you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day.
There you will remember your conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil you have done.
…and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices…
This is what the Lord says: I am against you. I will draw my sword from it's scabbard and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.
I will pour out my wrath upon you and breathe out my fiery anger against you.
..in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts.
Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common.
There she lusted after her lovers, who's genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled.
So I will put a stop to the lewdness and prostitution you began in Egypt. You will not look on these things with longing or remember Egypt anymore.
You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, the cup of ruin and desolation.
Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you have forgotten me and thrust me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution.
They committed adultery with their idols; they even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to me, as food for them.
Now your impurity is lewdness.
Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes.
So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded.
Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.
Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?
I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways!
If he gives back what he took in pledge for a loan, returns what he has stolen, follows the decrees that give life, and does no evil, he will surely live; he will not die.
Indeed, to them you're nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.
You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the sovereign Lord.
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
...and who wandered from me after their idols must bear the consequences of their sin.
They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common.