Randall M. Rueff
P.O. Box 412
Taylorsville, Indiana 47280-0412
U.S.A.

RandallMatthewRueff@Comcast.net

Randall M. Rueff

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 9 : 1 - 26 
 
1 Oh, that my head were a spring of water 
 and my eyes a fountain of tears! 
I would weep day and night 
 for the slain of my people. 
2 
Oh, that I had in the desert 
 a lodging place for travelers, 
so that I might leave my people 
 and go away from them; 
for they are all adulterers, 
 a crowd of unfaithful people. 
 
3 
“They make ready their tongue 
 like a bow, to shoot lies; 
it is not by truth 
 that they triumph[b] in the land. 
They go from one sin to another; 
 they do not acknowledge me,” 
declares the Lord. 
4 
“Beware of your friends; 
 do not trust anyone in your clan. 
For every one of them is a deceiver,[c] 
 and every friend a slanderer. 
5 
Friend deceives friend, 
 and no one speaks the truth. 
They have taught their tongues to lie; 
 they weary themselves with sinning. 
6 
You[d] live in the midst of deception; 
 in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,” 
declares the Lord. 
 
7 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says: 
 
“See, I will refine and test them, 
 for what else can I do 
 because of the sin of my people? 
8 
Their tongue is a deadly arrow; 
 it speaks deceitfully. 
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors, 
 but in their hearts they set traps for them. 
9 
Should I not punish them for this?” 
 declares the Lord. 
“Should I not avenge myself 
 on such a nation as this?” 
 
10 
I will weep and wail for the mountains 
 and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands. 
They are desolate and untraveled, 
 and the lowing of cattle is not heard. 
The birds have all fled 
 and the animals are gone. 
 
11 
“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, 
 a haunt of jackals; 
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah 
 so no one can live there.” 
 
12 Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross? 
 
13 The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. 14 Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” 15 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. 16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them.” 
 
17 This is what the Lord Almighty says: 
 
“Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come; 
 send for the most skillful of them. 
18 
Let them come quickly 
 and wail over us 
till our eyes overflow with tears 
 and water streams from our eyelids. 
19 
The sound of wailing is heard from Zion: 
 ‘How ruined we are! 
 How great is our shame! 
We must leave our land 
 because our houses are in ruins.’” 
 
20 
Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord; 
 open your ears to the words of his mouth. 
Teach your daughters how to wail; 
 teach one another a lament. 
21 
Death has climbed in through our windows 
 and has entered our fortresses; 
it has removed the children from the streets 
 and the young men from the public squares. 
 
22 Say, “This is what the Lord declares: 
 
“‘Dead bodies will lie 
 like dung on the open field, 
like cut grain behind the reaper, 
 with no one to gather them.’” 
 
23 This is what the Lord says: 
 
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom 
 or the strong boast of their strength 
 or the rich boast of their riches, 
24 
but let the one who boasts boast about this: 
 that they have the understanding to know me, 
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, 
 justice and righteousness on earth, 
 for in these I delight,” 
declares the Lord. 
 
25 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.[e] For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 9 : 1 - 26

1 Oh, that my head were a spring of water
    and my eyes a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
    for the slain of my people.
2 
Oh, that I had in the desert
    a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
    and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,
    a crowd of unfaithful people.

3 
“They make ready their tongue
    like a bow, to shoot lies;
it is not by truth
    that they triumph[b] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
    they do not acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
4 
“Beware of your friends;
    do not trust anyone in your clan.
For every one of them is a deceiver,[c]
    and every friend a slanderer.
5 
Friend deceives friend,
    and no one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie;
    they weary themselves with sinning.
6 
You[d] live in the midst of deception;
    in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.

7 Therefore this is what the Lord Almig

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 9 : 1 - 26

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 23 : 1 - 40

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 17 : 1 - 27 
 
“Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool, 
 inscribed with a flint point, 
on the tablets of their hearts 
 and on the horns of their altars. 
2 
Even their children remember 
 their altars and Asherah poles[a] 
beside the spreading trees 
 and on the high hills. 
3 
My mountain in the land 
 and your[b] wealth and all your treasures 
I will give away as plunder, 
 together with your high places, 
 because of sin throughout your country. 
4 
Through your own fault you will lose 
 the inheritance I gave you. 
I will enslave you to your enemies 
 in a land you do not know, 
for you have kindled my anger, 
 and it will burn forever.” 
 
5 This is what the Lord says: 
 
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, 
 who draws strength from mere flesh 
 and whose heart turns away from the Lord. 
6 
That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; 
 they will not see prosperity when it comes. 
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, 
 in a salt land where no one lives. 
 
7 
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, 
 whose confidence is in him. 
8 
They will be like a tree planted by the water 
 that sends out its roots by the stream. 
It does not fear when heat comes; 
 its leaves are always green. 
It has no worries in a year of drought 
 and never fails to bear fruit.” 
 
9 
The heart is deceitful above all things 
 and beyond cure. 
 Who can understand it? 
 
10 
“I the Lord search the heart 
 and examine the mind, 
to reward each person according to their conduct, 
 according to what their deeds deserve.” 
 
11 
Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay 
 are those who gain riches by unjust means. 
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them, 
 and in the end they will prove to be fools. 
 
12 
A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning, 
 is the place of our sanctuary. 
13 
Lord, you are the hope of Israel; 
 all who forsake you will be put to shame. 
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust 
 because they have forsaken the Lord, 
 the spring of living water. 
 
14 
Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; 
 save me and I will be saved, 
 for you are the one I praise. 
15 
They keep saying to me, 
 “Where is the word of the Lord? 
 Let it now be fulfilled!” 
16 
I have not run away from being your shepherd; 
 you know I have not desired the day of despair. 
 What passes my lips is open before you. 
17 
Do not be a terror to me; 
 you are my refuge in the day of disaster. 
18 
Let my persecutors be put to shame, 
 but keep me from shame; 
let them be terrified, 
 but keep me from terror. 
Bring on them the day of disaster; 
 destroy them with double destruction. 
Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy 
 
19 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People,[c] through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem. 20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem who come through these gates. 21 This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. 23 Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline. 24 But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, 25 then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 17 : 1 - 27

“Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool,
    inscribed with a flint point,
on the tablets of their hearts
    and on the horns of their altars.
2 
Even their children remember
    their altars and Asherah poles[a]
beside the spreading trees
    and on the high hills.
3 
My mountain in the land
    and your[b] wealth and all your treasures
I will give away as plunder,
    together with your high places,
    because of sin throughout your country.
4 
Through your own fault you will lose
    the inheritance I gave you.
I will enslave you to your enemies
    in a land you do not know,
for you have kindled my anger,
    and it will burn forever.”

5 This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 
That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
  

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 17 : 1 - 27

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 50 : 1 - 46

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 20 : 1 - 18 
 
Jeremiah and Pashhur 
 
20 When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the official in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, 2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the Lord’s temple. 3 The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name for you is not Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. 4 For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will give all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, who will carry them away to Babylon or put them to the sword. 5 I will deliver all the wealth of this city into the hands of their enemies—all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away as plunder and carry it off to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.’” 
Jeremiah’s Complaint 
 
7 
You deceived[a] me, Lord, and I was deceived[b]; 
 you overpowered me and prevailed. 
I am ridiculed all day long; 
 everyone mocks me. 
8 
Whenever I speak, I cry out 
 proclaiming violence and destruction. 
So the word of the Lord has brought me 
 insult and reproach all day long. 
9 
But if I say, “I will not mention his word 
 or speak anymore in his name,” 
his word is in my heart like a fire, 
 a fire shut up in my bones. 
I am weary of holding it in; 
 indeed, I cannot. 
10 
I hear many whispering, 
 “Terror on every side! 
 Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!” 
All my friends 
 are waiting for me to slip, saying, 
“Perhaps he will be deceived; 
 then we will prevail over him 
 and take our revenge on him.” 
 
11 
But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; 
 so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. 
They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; 
 their dishonor will never be forgotten. 
12 
Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous 
 and probe the heart and mind, 
let me see your vengeance on them, 
 for to you I have committed my cause. 
 
13 
Sing to the Lord! 
 Give praise to the Lord! 
He rescues the life of the needy 
 from the hands of the wicked. 
 
14 
Cursed be the day I was born! 
 May the day my mother bore me not be blessed! 
15 
Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, 
 who made him very glad, saying, 
 “A child is born to you—a son!” 
16 
May that man be like the towns 
 the Lord overthrew without pity. 
May he hear wailing in the morning, 
 a battle cry at noon. 
17 
For he did not kill me in the womb, 
 with my mother as my grave, 
 her womb enlarged forever. 
18 
Why did I ever come out of the womb 
 to see trouble and sorrow 
 and to end my days in shame?

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 20 : 1 - 18

Jeremiah and Pashhur

20 When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the official in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, 2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the Lord’s temple. 3 The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name for you is not Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. 4 For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will give all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, who will carry them away to Babylon or put them to the sword. 5 I will deliver all the wealth of this city into the hands of their enemies—all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away as plunder and carry it off to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live i

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 20 : 1 - 18

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 39 : 1 - 18 
 
1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. 2 And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city wall was broken through. 3 Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon. 4 When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled; they left the city at night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls, and headed toward the Arabah.[a] 
 
5 But the Babylonian[b] army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They captured him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. 6 There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles of Judah. 7 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. 
 
8 The Babylonians[c] set fire to the royal palace and the houses of the people and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9 Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard carried into exile to Babylon the people who remained in the city, along with those who had gone over to him, and the rest of the people. 10 But Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing; and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields. 
 
11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had given these orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard: 12 “Take him and look after him; don’t harm him but do for him whatever he asks.” 13 So Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard, Nebushazban a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officers of the king of Babylon 14 sent and had Jeremiah taken out of the courtyard of the guard. They turned him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him back to his home. So he remained among his own people. 
 
15 While Jeremiah had been confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the Lord came to him: 16 “Go and tell Ebed-Melek the Cushite, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words against this city—words concerning disaster, not prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes. 17 But I will rescue you on that day, declares the Lord; you will not be given into the hands of those you fear. 18 I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the Lord.’”

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 39 : 1 - 18

1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. 2 And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city wall was broken through. 3 Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon. 4 When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled; they left the city at night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls, and headed toward the Arabah.[a]

5 But the Babylonian[b] army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They captured him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. 6 There at Riblah the king of Babyl

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 39 : 1 - 18

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 29 : 11 - 13 
 
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 29 : 11 - 13

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 29 : 11 - 13

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 31 : 1 - 40

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 29 : 1 - 32

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 27 : 1 - 22 
 
Judah to Serve Nebuchadnezzar 
 
27 Early in the reign of Zedekiah[a] son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 This is what the Lord said to me: “Make a yoke out of straps and crossbars and put it on your neck. 3 Then send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 Give them a message for their masters and say, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Tell this to your masters: 5 With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please. 6 Now I will give all your countries into the hands of my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him. 7 All nations will serve him and his son and his grandson until the time for his land comes; then many nations and great kings will subjugate him. 
 
8 “‘“If, however, any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation with the sword, famine and plague, declares the Lord, until I destroy it by his hand. 9 So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums or your sorcerers who tell you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10 They prophesy lies to you that will only serve to remove you far from your lands; I will banish you and you will perish. 11 But if any nation will bow its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let that nation remain in its own land to till it and to live there, declares the Lord.”’” 
 
12 I gave the same message to Zedekiah king of Judah. I said, “Bow your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and you will live. 13 Why will you and your people die by the sword, famine and plague with which the Lord has threatened any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying lies to you. 15 ‘I have not sent them,’ declares the Lord. ‘They are prophesying lies in my name. Therefore, I will banish you and you will perish, both you and the prophets who prophesy to you.’” 
 
16 Then I said to the priests and all these people, “This is what the Lord says: Do not listen to the prophets who say, ‘Very soon now the articles from the Lord’s house will be brought back from Babylon.’ They are prophesying lies to you. 17 Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon, and you will live. Why should this city become a ruin? 18 If they are prophets and have the word of the Lord, let them plead with the Lord Almighty that the articles remaining in the house of the Lord and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem not be taken to Babylon. 19 For this is what the Lord Almighty says about the pillars, the bronze Sea, the movable stands and the other articles that are left in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away when he carried Jehoiachin[b] son of Jehoiakim king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— 21 yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about the things that are left in the house of the Lord and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem: 22 ‘They will be taken to Babylon and there they will remain until the day I come for them,’ declares the Lord. ‘Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’”

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 27 : 1 - 22

Judah to Serve Nebuchadnezzar

27 Early in the reign of Zedekiah[a] son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 This is what the Lord said to me: “Make a yoke out of straps and crossbars and put it on your neck. 3 Then send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 Give them a message for their masters and say, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Tell this to your masters: 5 With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please. 6 Now I will give all your countries into the hands of my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him. 7 All nations will serve him and his son and his grandson until the time for his land comes; then many nations and great kings will subjugate him.

8 “‘“If, how

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 27 : 1 - 22

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 51 : 1 - 64

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 11 : 1 - 23 
 
The Covenant Is Broken 
 
11 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Listen to the terms of this covenant and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. 3 Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant— 4 the terms I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace.’ I said, ‘Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. 5 Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’—the land you possess today.” 
 
I answered, “Amen, Lord.” 
 
6 The Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow them. 7 From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, “Obey me.” 8 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. So I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep.’” 
 
9 Then the Lord said to me, “There is a conspiracy among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. 10 They have returned to the sins of their ancestors, who refused to listen to my words. They have followed other gods to serve them. Both Israel and Judah have broken the covenant I made with their ancestors. 11 Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them. 12 The towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they will not help them at all when disaster strikes. 13 You, Judah, have as many gods as you have towns; and the altars you have set up to burn incense to that shameful god Baal are as many as the streets of Jerusalem.’ 
 
14 “Do not pray for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress. 
 
15 
“What is my beloved doing in my temple 
 as she, with many others, works out her evil schemes? 
 Can consecrated meat avert your punishment? 
When you engage in your wickedness, 
 then you rejoice.[a]” 
 
16 
The Lord called you a thriving olive tree 
 with fruit beautiful in form. 
But with the roar of a mighty storm 
 he will set it on fire, 
 and its branches will be broken. 
 
17 The Lord Almighty, who planted you, has decreed disaster for you, because the people of both Israel and Judah have done evil and aroused my anger by burning incense to Baal. 
Plot Against Jeremiah 
 
18 Because the Lord revealed their plot to me, I knew it, for at that time he showed me what they were doing. 19 I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; I did not realize that they had plotted against me, saying, 
 
“Let us destroy the tree and its fruit; 
 let us cut him off from the land of the living, 
 that his name be remembered no more.” 
20 
But you, Lord Almighty, who judge righteously 
 and test the heart and mind, 
let me see your vengeance on them, 
 for to you I have committed my cause. 
 
21 Therefore this is what the Lord says about the people of Anathoth who are threatening to kill you, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord or you will die by our hands”— 22 therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine. 23 Not even a remnant will be left to them, because I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.”

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 11 : 1 - 23

The Covenant Is Broken

11 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Listen to the terms of this covenant and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. 3 Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant— 4 the terms I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace.’ I said, ‘Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. 5 Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’—the land you possess today.”

I answered, “Amen, Lord.”

6 The Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow them. 7 From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, “O

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 11 : 1 - 23

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 28 : 1 - 17 
 
The False Prophet Hananiah 
 
28 In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people: 2 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. 4 I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin[a] son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’” 
 
5 Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah before the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord. 6 He said, “Amen! May the Lord do so! May the Lord fulfill the words you have prophesied by bringing the articles of the Lord’s house and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon. 7 Nevertheless, listen to what I have to say in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: 8 From early times the prophets who preceded you and me have prophesied war, disaster and plague against many countries and great kingdoms. 9 But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true.” 
 
10 Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it, 11 and he said before all the people, “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon off the neck of all the nations within two years.’” At this, the prophet Jeremiah went on his way. 
 
12 After the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “Go and tell Hananiah, ‘This is what the Lord says: You have broken a wooden yoke, but in its place you will get a yoke of iron. 14 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will put an iron yoke on the necks of all these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I will even give him control over the wild animals.’” 
 
15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies. 16 Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you are going to die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.’” 
 
17 In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died.

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 28 : 1 - 17

The False Prophet Hananiah

28 In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people: 2 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. 4 I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin[a] son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

5 Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah before the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord. 6 He said, “Amen! May the Lord do so! May the Lord fulfill the 

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 28 : 1 - 17

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 45 : 1 - 5 
 
A Message to Baruch 
1 When Baruch son of Neriah wrote on a scroll the words Jeremiah the prophet dictated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, Jeremiah said this to Baruch: 2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: 3 You said, ‘Woe to me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.’ 4 But the Lord has told me to say to you, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the earth. 5 Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the Lord, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.’

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 45 : 1 - 5

A Message to Baruch
1 When Baruch son of Neriah wrote on a scroll the words Jeremiah the prophet dictated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, Jeremiah said this to Baruch: 2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: 3 You said, ‘Woe to me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.’ 4 But the Lord has told me to say to you, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the earth. 5 Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the Lord, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.’

Holy Bible - Jeremiah 45 : 1 - 5

Holy Bible - 2 Kings 16 : 1 - 20 
 
Ahaz King of Judah 
 
16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree. 
 
5 Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz, but they could not overpower him. 6 At that time, Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram by driving out the people of Judah. Edomites then moved into Elath and have lived there to this day. 
 
7 Ahaz sent messengers to say to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, “I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” 8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria. 9 The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus and capturing it. He deported its inhabitants to Kir and put Rezin to death. 
 
10 Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction. 11 So Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus and finished it before King Ahaz returned. 12 When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings[a] on it. 13 He offered up his burnt offering and grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and splashed the blood of his fellowship offerings against the altar. 14 As for the bronze altar that stood before the Lord, he brought it from the front of the temple—from between the new altar and the temple of the Lord—and put it on the north side of the new altar. 
 
15 King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest: “On the large new altar, offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Splash against this altar the blood of all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance.” 16 And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered. 
 
17 King Ahaz cut off the side panels and removed the basins from the movable stands. He removed the Sea from the bronze bulls that supported it and set it on a stone base. 18 He took away the Sabbath canopy[b] that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entryway outside the temple of the Lord, in deference to the king of Assyria. 
 
19 As for the other events of the reign of Ahaz, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 20 Ahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king.

Holy Bible - 2 Kings 16 : 1 - 20

Ahaz King of Judah

16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.

5 Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz, but they could not overpower him. 6 At that time, Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram by driving out the people of Judah. Edomites then moved into Elath and have lived there to this day.

7 Ahaz sent messengers to say to Tiglath-Pilese

Holy Bible - 2 Kings 16 : 1 - 20

Holy Bible - 2 Kings 13 : 1 - 25 
 
Jehoahaz King of Israel 
 
13 In the twenty-third year of Joash son of Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by following the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit, and he did not turn away from them. 3 So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and for a long time he kept them under the power of Hazael king of Aram and Ben-Hadad his son. 
 
4 Then Jehoahaz sought the Lord’s favor, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw how severely the king of Aram was oppressing Israel. 5 The Lord provided a deliverer for Israel, and they escaped from the power of Aram. So the Israelites lived in their own homes as they had before. 6 But they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit; they continued in them. Also, the Asherah pole[a] remained standing in Samaria. 
 
7 Nothing had been left of the army of Jehoahaz except fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers, for the king of Aram had destroyed the rest and made them like the dust at threshing time. 
 
8 As for the other events of the reign of Jehoahaz, all he did and his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 9 Jehoahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Jehoash[b] his son succeeded him as king. 
Jehoash King of Israel 
 
10 In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. 11 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he continued in them. 
 
12 As for the other events of the reign of Jehoash, all he did and his achievements, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 13 Jehoash rested with his ancestors, and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. 
 
14 Now Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. “My father! My father!” he cried. “The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” 
 
15 Elisha said, “Get a bow and some arrows,” and he did so. 16 “Take the bow in your hands,” he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. 
 
17 “Open the east window,” he said, and he opened it. “Shoot!” Elisha said, and he shot. “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!” Elisha declared. “You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.” 
 
18 Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and the king took them. Elisha told him, “Strike the ground.” He struck it three times and stopped. 19 The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.” 
 
20 Elisha died and was buried. 
 
Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. 21 Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet. 
 
22 Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz. 23 But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence. 
 
24 Hazael king of Aram died, and Ben-Hadad his son succeeded him as king. 25 Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz recaptured from Ben-Hadad son of Hazael the towns he had taken in battle from his father Jehoahaz. Three times Jehoash defeated him, and so he recovered the Israelite towns.

Holy Bible - 2 Kings 13 : 1 - 25

Jehoahaz King of Israel

13 In the twenty-third year of Joash son of Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by following the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit, and he did not turn away from them. 3 So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and for a long time he kept them under the power of Hazael king of Aram and Ben-Hadad his son.

4 Then Jehoahaz sought the Lord’s favor, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw how severely the king of Aram was oppressing Israel. 5 The Lord provided a deliverer for Israel, and they escaped from the power of Aram. So the Israelites lived in their own homes as they had before. 6 But they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit; they continued in them. Also, the Asherah pole[a] remained standing in Samaria.

7 Nothing had b

Holy Bible - 2 Kings 13 : 1 - 25

Holy Bible - 1 Kings 12 : 1 - 33 
 
Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam 
12 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from[a] Egypt. 3 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 4 “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.” 
 
5 Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away. 
 
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked. 
 
7 They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.” 
 
8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9 He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?” 
 
10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. 11 My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’” 
 
12 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” 13 The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, 14 he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” 15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. 
 
16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: 
 
“What share do we have in David, 
 what part in Jesse’s son? 
To your tents, Israel! 
 Look after your own house, David!” 
So the Israelites went home. 17 But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them. 
 
18 King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram,[b] who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. 
 
20 When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David. 
 
21 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon. 
 
22 But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: 23 “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to all Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, 24 ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’” So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered. 
 
Golden Calves at Bethel and Dan 
25 Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel.[c] 
 
26 Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.” 
 
28 After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” 29 One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.[d] 
 
31 Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. 32 He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. 33 On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.

Holy Bible - 1 Kings 12 : 1 - 33

Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam
12 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from[a] Egypt. 3 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 4 “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

5 Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.

6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.

7 They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”

8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had 

Holy Bible - 1 Kings 12 : 1 - 33

Holy Bible - Isaiah 23 : 1 - 18 
 
A Prophecy Against Tyre 
1 A prophecy against Tyre: 
 
Wail, you ships of Tarshish! 
 For Tyre is destroyed 
 and left without house or harbor. 
From the land of Cyprus 
 word has come to them. 
2 Be silent, you people of the island 
 and you merchants of Sidon, 
 whom the seafarers have enriched. 
3 On the great waters 
 came the grain of the Shihor; 
the harvest of the Nile[a] was the revenue of Tyre, 
 and she became the marketplace of the nations. 
4 Be ashamed, Sidon, and you fortress of the sea, 
 for the sea has spoken: 
“I have neither been in labor nor given birth; 
 I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.” 
5 When word comes to Egypt, 
 they will be in anguish at the report from Tyre. 
6 Cross over to Tarshish; 
 wail, you people of the island. 
7 Is this your city of revelry, 
 the old, old city, 
whose feet have taken her 
 to settle in far-off lands? 
8 Who planned this against Tyre, 
 the bestower of crowns, 
whose merchants are princes, 
 whose traders are renowned in the earth? 
9 The Lord Almighty planned it, 
 to bring down her pride in all her splendor 
 and to humble all who are renowned on the earth. 
10 Till[b] your land as they do along the Nile, 
 Daughter Tarshish, 
 for you no longer have a harbor. 
11 The Lord has stretched out his hand over the sea 
 and made its kingdoms tremble. 
He has given an order concerning Phoenicia 
 that her fortresses be destroyed. 
12 He said, “No more of your reveling, 
 Virgin Daughter Sidon, now crushed! 
“Up, cross over to Cyprus; 
 even there you will find no rest.” 
13 Look at the land of the Babylonians,[c] 
 this people that is now of no account! 
The Assyrians have made it 
 a place for desert creatures; 
they raised up their siege towers, 
 they stripped its fortresses bare 
 and turned it into a ruin. 
14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish; 
 your fortress is destroyed! 
15 At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king’s life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute: 
 
16 “Take up a harp, walk through the city, 
 you forgotten prostitute; 
play the harp well, sing many a song, 
 so that you will be remembered.” 
17 At the end of seventy years, the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18 Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord; they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord, for abundant food and fine clothes.

Holy Bible - Isaiah 23 : 1 - 18

A Prophecy Against Tyre
1 A prophecy against Tyre:

Wail, you ships of Tarshish!
    For Tyre is destroyed
    and left without house or harbor.
From the land of Cyprus
    word has come to them.
2 Be silent, you people of the island
    and you merchants of Sidon,
    whom the seafarers have enriched.
3 On the great waters
    came the grain of the Shihor;
the harvest of the Nile[a] was the revenue of Tyre,
    and she became the marketplace of the nations.
4 Be ashamed, Sidon, and you fortress of the sea,
    for the sea has spoken:
“I have neither been in labor nor given birth;
    I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.”
5 When word comes to Egypt,
    they will be in anguish at the report from Tyre.
6 Cross over to Tarshish;
    wail, you people of the island.
7 Is this your city of revelry,
    the old, old city,
whose feet have taken her
    to settle in far-off lands?
8 Who planned this against Tyre,
    the bestower of crowns,
whos

Holy Bible - Isaiah 23 : 1 - 18

Holy Bible - Isaiah 65 : 1 - 25 
 
Judgment and Salvation 
65 “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; 
 I was found by those who did not seek me. 
To a nation that did not call on my name, 
 I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’ 
2 All day long I have held out my hands 
 to an obstinate people, 
who walk in ways not good, 
 pursuing their own imaginations— 
3 a people who continually provoke me 
 to my very face, 
offering sacrifices in gardens 
 and burning incense on altars of brick; 
4 who sit among the graves 
 and spend their nights keeping secret vigil; 
who eat the flesh of pigs, 
 and whose pots hold broth of impure meat; 
5 who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me, 
 for I am too sacred for you!’ 
Such people are smoke in my nostrils, 
 a fire that keeps burning all day. 
6 “See, it stands written before me: 
 I will not keep silent but will pay back in full; 
 I will pay it back into their laps— 
7 both your sins and the sins of your ancestors,” 
 says the Lord. 
“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains 
 and defied me on the hills, 
I will measure into their laps 
 the full payment for their former deeds.” 
8 This is what the Lord says: 
 
“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes 
 and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it, 
 there is still a blessing in it,’ 
so will I do in behalf of my servants; 
 I will not destroy them all. 
9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, 
 and from Judah those who will possess my mountains; 
my chosen people will inherit them, 
 and there will my servants live. 
10 Sharon will become a pasture for flocks, 
 and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, 
 for my people who seek me. 
11 “But as for you who forsake the Lord 
 and forget my holy mountain, 
who spread a table for Fortune 
 and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny, 
12 I will destine you for the sword, 
 and all of you will fall in the slaughter; 
for I called but you did not answer, 
 I spoke but you did not listen. 
You did evil in my sight 
 and chose what displeases me.” 
13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: 
 
“My servants will eat, 
 but you will go hungry; 
my servants will drink, 
 but you will go thirsty; 
my servants will rejoice, 
 but you will be put to shame. 
14 My servants will sing 
 out of the joy of their hearts, 
but you will cry out 
 from anguish of heart 
 and wail in brokenness of spirit. 
15 You will leave your name 
 for my chosen ones to use in their curses; 
the Sovereign Lord will put you to death, 
 but to his servants he will give another name. 
16 Whoever invokes a blessing in the land 
 will do so by the one true God; 
whoever takes an oath in the land 
 will swear by the one true God. 
For the past troubles will be forgotten 
 and hidden from my eyes. 
New Heavens and a New Earth 
17 “See, I will create 
 new heavens and a new earth. 
The former things will not be remembered, 
 nor will they come to mind. 
18 But be glad and rejoice forever 
 in what I will create, 
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight 
 and its people a joy. 
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem 
 and take delight in my people; 
the sound of weeping and of crying 
 will be heard in it no more. 
20 “Never again will there be in it 
 an infant who lives but a few days, 
 or an old man who does not live out his years; 
the one who dies at a hundred 
 will be thought a mere child; 
the one who fails to reach[a] a hundred 
 will be considered accursed. 
21 They will build houses and dwell in them; 
 they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them, 
 or plant and others eat. 
For as the days of a tree, 
 so will be the days of my people; 
my chosen ones will long enjoy 
 the work of their hands. 
23 They will not labor in vain, 
 nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune; 
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord, 
 they and their descendants with them. 
24 Before they call I will answer; 
 while they are still speaking I will hear. 
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, 
 and the lion will eat straw like the ox, 
 and dust will be the serpent’s food. 
They will neither harm nor destroy 
 on all my holy mountain,” 
says the Lord.

Holy Bible - Isaiah 65 : 1 - 25

Judgment and Salvation
65 “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
    I was found by those who did not seek me.
To a nation that did not call on my name,
    I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
2 All day long I have held out my hands
    to an obstinate people,
who walk in ways not good,
    pursuing their own imaginations—
3 a people who continually provoke me
    to my very face,
offering sacrifices in gardens
    and burning incense on altars of brick;
4 who sit among the graves
    and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,
    and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;
5 who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,
    for I am too sacred for you!’
Such people are smoke in my nostrils,
    a fire that keeps burning all day.
6 “See, it stands written before me:
    I will not keep silent but will pay back in full;
    I will pay it back into their laps—
7 both your sins and the sins of your ancestors,”
    says the Lo

Holy Bible - Isaiah 65 : 1 - 25

Holy Bible - Isaiah 60 : 1 - 22 
 
The Glory of Zion 
1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, 
 and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. 
2 See, darkness covers the earth 
 and thick darkness is over the peoples, 
but the Lord rises upon you 
 and his glory appears over you. 
3 Nations will come to your light, 
 and kings to the brightness of your dawn. 
4 “Lift up your eyes and look about you: 
 All assemble and come to you; 
your sons come from afar, 
 and your daughters are carried on the hip. 
5 Then you will look and be radiant, 
 your heart will throb and swell with joy; 
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, 
 to you the riches of the nations will come. 
6 Herds of camels will cover your land, 
 young camels of Midian and Ephah. 
And all from Sheba will come, 
 bearing gold and incense 
 and proclaiming the praise of the Lord. 
7 All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you, 
 the rams of Nebaioth will serve you; 
they will be accepted as offerings on my altar, 
 and I will adorn my glorious temple. 
8 “Who are these that fly along like clouds, 
 like doves to their nests? 
9 Surely the islands look to me; 
 in the lead are the ships of Tarshish,[a] 
bringing your children from afar, 
 with their silver and gold, 
to the honor of the Lord your God, 
 the Holy One of Israel, 
 for he has endowed you with splendor. 
10 “Foreigners will rebuild your walls, 
 and their kings will serve you. 
Though in anger I struck you, 
 in favor I will show you compassion. 
11 Your gates will always stand open, 
 they will never be shut, day or night, 
so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations— 
 their kings led in triumphal procession. 
12 For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; 
 it will be utterly ruined. 
13 “The glory of Lebanon will come to you, 
 the juniper, the fir and the cypress together, 
to adorn my sanctuary; 
 and I will glorify the place for my feet. 
14 The children of your oppressors will come bowing before you; 
 all who despise you will bow down at your feet 
and will call you the City of the Lord, 
 Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 
15 “Although you have been forsaken and hated, 
 with no one traveling through, 
I will make you the everlasting pride 
 and the joy of all generations. 
16 You will drink the milk of nations 
 and be nursed at royal breasts. 
Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, 
 your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 
17 Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, 
 and silver in place of iron. 
Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, 
 and iron in place of stones. 
I will make peace your governor 
 and well-being your ruler. 
18 No longer will violence be heard in your land, 
 nor ruin or destruction within your borders, 
but you will call your walls Salvation 
 and your gates Praise. 
19 The sun will no more be your light by day, 
 nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, 
for the Lord will be your everlasting light, 
 and your God will be your glory. 
20 Your sun will never set again, 
 and your moon will wane no more; 
the Lord will be your everlasting light, 
 and your days of sorrow will end. 
21 Then all your people will be righteous 
 and they will possess the land forever. 
They are the shoot I have planted, 
 the work of my hands, 
 for the display of my splendor. 
22 The least of you will become a thousand, 
 the smallest a mighty nation. 
I am the Lord; 
 in its time I will do this swiftly.”

Holy Bible - Isaiah 60 : 1 - 22

The Glory of Zion
1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth
    and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
    and his glory appears over you.
3 Nations will come to your light,
    and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
4 “Lift up your eyes and look about you:
    All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
    and your daughters are carried on the hip.
5 Then you will look and be radiant,
    your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,
    to you the riches of the nations will come.
6 Herds of camels will cover your land,
    young camels of Midian and Ephah.
And all from Sheba will come,
    bearing gold and incense
    and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.
7 All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you,
    the rams of Nebaioth will serve you;
they will be accepted as offerings on my alta

Randall M. Rueff Videos