17"Judah's sin is engraved with a steel chisel, A steel chisel with a diamond point— engraved on their granite hearts, engraved on the stone corners of their altars.H2403H3063H3789H5842H1270H6856H8068H2790H3871H3820H7161H41962The evidence against them is plain to see: sex-and-religion altars and sacred sex shrines Anywhere there's a grove of trees, anywhere there's an available hill.H1121H2142H4196H842H7488H6086H1364H13893"I'll use your mountains as roadside stands for giving away everything you have. All your 'things' will serve as reparations for your sins all over the country.H2042H7704H5414H2428H214H957H1116H2403H13664You'll lose your gift of land, The inheritance I gave you. I'll make you slaves of your enemies in a far-off and strange land. My anger is hot and blazing and fierce, and no one will put it out."H8058H5159H5414H5647H341H776H3045H6919H784H639H3344H5704H57695GOD's Message: "Cursed is the strong one who depends on mere humans, Who thinks he can make it on muscle alone and sets GOD aside as dead weight.H559H3068H779H1397H982H120H7760H1320H2220H3820H5493H30686He's like a tumbleweed on the prairie, out of touch with the good earth. He lives rootless and aimless in a land where nothing grows.H6199H6160H7200H2896H935H7931H2788H4057H4420H776H34277"But blessed is the man who trusts me, GOD, the woman who sticks with GOD.H1288H1397H982H3068H4009H30688They're like trees replanted in Eden, putting down roots near the rivers— Never a worry through the hottest of summers, never dropping a leaf, Serene and calm through droughts, bearing fresh fruit every season.H6086H8362H4325H7971H8328H3105H7200H2527H935H5929H7488H1672H8141H1226H4185H6213H65299"The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out.H3820H6121H605H304510But I, GOD, search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be."H3068H2713H3820H974H3629H5414H376H1870H6529H461111Like a cowbird that cheats by laying its eggs in another bird's nest Is the person who gets rich by cheating. When the eggs hatch, the deceit is exposed. What a fool he'll look like then!H7124H1716H3205H6213H6239H4941H5800H2677H3117H319H503612From early on your Sanctuary was set high, a throne of glory, exalted!H3519H4791H3678H7223H4725H472013O GOD, you're the hope of Israel. All who leave you end up as fools, Deserters with nothing to show for their lives, who walk off from GOD, fountain of living waters— and wind up dead!H3068H4723H3478H5800H954H3249H5493H3789H776H5800H3068H4726H2416H432514GOD, pick up the pieces. Put me back together again. You are my praise!H7495H3068H7495H3467H3467H841615Listen to how they talk about me: "So where's this 'Word of GOD'? We'd like to see something happen!"H559H1697H3068H93516But it wasn't my idea to call for Doomsday. I never wanted trouble. You know what I've said. It's all out in the open before you.H213H7462H310H183H605H3117H3045H4161H8193H5227H644017Don't add to my troubles. Give me some relief!H4288H4268H3117H745118Let those who harass me be harassed, not me. Let them be disgraced, not me. Bring down upon them the day of doom. Lower the boom. Boom!H954H7291H954H2865H2865H935H3117H7451H7665H4932H767019GOD's Message to me: "Go stand in the People's Gate, the one used by Judah's kings as they come and go, and then proceed in turn to all the gates of Jerusalem.H559H3068H1980H5975H8179H1121H5971H4428H3063H935H3318H8179H338920Tell them: 'Listen, you kings of Judah, listen to GOD's Message—and all you people who go in and out of these gates, you listen!H559H8085H1697H3068H4428H3063H3063H3427H3389H935H817921"'This is GOD's Message. Be careful, if you care about your lives, not to desecrate the Sabbath by turning it into just another workday, lugging stuff here and there.H559H3068H8104H5315H5375H4853H7676H3117H935H8179H338922Don't use the Sabbath to do business as usual. Keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors.H3318H4853H1004H7676H3117H6213H4399H6942H7676H3117H6680H123They never did it, as you know. They paid no attention to what I said and went about their own business, refusing to be guided or instructed by me.H8085H5186H241H6203H7185H8085H3947H414824"'But now, take seriously what I tell you. Quit desecrating the Sabbath by busily going about your own work, and keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing business as usual.H8085H8085H5002H3068H935H4853H8179H5892H7676H3117H6942H7676H3117H6213H1115H439925Then kings from the time of David and their officials will continue to ride through these gates on horses or in chariots. The people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem will continue to pass through them, too. Jerusalem will always be filled with people.H935H8179H5892H4428H8269H3427H3678H1732H7392H7393H5483H8269H376H3063H3427H3389H5892H3427H576926People will stream in from all over Judah, from the province of Benjamin, from the Jerusalem suburbs, from foothills and mountains and deserts. They'll come to worship, bringing all kinds of offerings—animals, grains, incense, expressions of thanks—into the Sanctuary of GOD.H935H5892H3063H5439H3389H776H1144H8219H2022H5045H935H5930H2077H4503H3828H935H8426H1004H306827"'But if you won't listen to me, won't keep the Sabbath holy, won't quit using the Sabbath for doing your own work, busily going in and out of the city gates on your self-important business, then I'll burn the gates down. In fact, I'll burn the whole city down, palaces and all, with a fire nobody will be able to put out!'"H8085H6942H7676H3117H5375H4853H935H8179H3389H7676H3117H3341H784H8179H398H759H3389H3518
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