But Jacob’s God {\cf2\super [83]} is not like those idols.\par God made everything.\par And Israel is the family that God chose to be his own people.\par God’s name is “Lord All-Powerful.”\par
Remember the people you bought\par long ago.\par You saved us.\par We belong to you.\par Remember Mount Zion, {\cf2\super [422]} \par the place that you lived.\par
So now I tell you to obey my commands. Keep my Agreement. If you do this, then you will be my own special people. The whole world belongs to me. But I am choosing you to be my own special people.
“Lord, if you are pleased with me, then please go with us. I know that these are stubborn people. But forgive us for the bad things we did! Accept us as your people.”
The Lord All-Powerful will bless these countries. He will say, “Egypt, you are my people. Assyria, I made you. Israel, I own you. You are all blessed!”
“I was angry at my people.\par Those people belong to me,\par but I was angry,\par so I made them not important.\par I gave them to you,\par and you punished them.\par But you showed no mercy to them.\par You made even the old people\par work hard.\par
Why? Because your husband {\cf2\super [429]} \par is the One (God) who made you.\par His name is the Lord All-Powerful.\par He is the Protector {\cf2\super [430]} of Israel.\par He is the Holy One of Israel.\par And he will be called\par the God of all the earth!\par
God is the One who used his power\par and made the earth.\par God used his wisdom and built the world.\par With his understanding,\par God stretched out the sky \{over the earth\}.\par
The Lord says:\par “The Lord makes the sun shine in the day.\par And the Lord makes the moon and the stars shine at night.\par The Lord stirs up the sea so that its waves\par crash on the shore.\par The Lord All-Powerful is his name.”\par
Lord, you are loyal and kind to thousands of people. But you also bring punishment to children for their fathers’ sins. Great and powerful God, your name is the Lord All-Powerful.
This message is from the King.\par The King is the Lord All-Powerful.\par “I promise, as surely as I live,\par a powerful leader\} will come.\par He will be great like Mount Tabor\par and Mount Carmel near the sea.\par
But God will get those people back.\par His name is the Lord God All-Powerful.\par He will defend those people very strongly.\par He will defend them so that he can let that land rest.\par But there will be no rest\par for the people living in Babylon.”\par
But Jacob’s Portion (God) is not like those worthless statues.\par People didn’t make God,\par God made his people.\par God made everything.\par His name is the Lord All-Powerful.\par
\{Who am I?\} I am the One who made the mountains. I created your minds. {\cf2\super [56]} I taught people how to speak and I changed the darkness into dawn. I walk over the mountains of the earth. \{Who am I?\} My name is YAHWEH, God of the armies.” {\cf2\super [57]}