if I had not feared provocation from the enemy, or feared that these foes might misunderstand and say, “Our own hand has prevailed; it wasn’t the Lord who did all this.” ’
When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. Then what will you do about your great name? ’
Why should the Egyptians say, “He brought them out with an evil intent to kill them in the mountains and eliminate them from the face of the earth”? Turn from your fierce anger and relent concerning this disaster planned for your people.
Her uncleanness stains her skirts. She never considered her end. Her downfall was astonishing; there was no one to comfort her. Lord, look on my affliction, for the enemy boasts.
because they have abandoned me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in it to other gods that they, their ancestors, and the kings of Judah have never known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.
‘Say this to King Hezekiah of Judah: “Don’t let your God, on whom you rely, deceive you by promising that Jerusalem won’t be handed over to the king of Assyria.
Otherwise, those in the land you brought us from will say, “Because the Lord wasn’t able to bring them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.”
Then the man of God approached and said to the king of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Because the Arameans have said, ‘The Lord is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys,’ I will hand over all this whole huge army to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’
Therefore, may my advice seem good to you, my king. Separate yourself from your sins by doing what is right, and from your injustices by showing mercy to the needy. Perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity.’