God, there is a man who is not one of your loyal followers.\par That man is crooked and tells lies.\par God, save me from that man!\par Defend me and prove that I am right.\par
But Lord, you are a fair judge. You know how to test peoples’ hearts and minds. I will tell you my arguments. And I will let you give them the punishment they deserve.
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
So the Lord says:\par “I will defend you, Judah.\par I will make sure\par that Babylon is punished.\par I will dry up Babylon’s sea.\par And I will make her water springs\par become dry.\par
I sinned against the Lord.\par So he was angry at me.\par But he will argue my case for me in court.\par He will do the things that are right for me.\par Then he will bring me out into the light.\par And I will see that he is right.\par
My dear children, I write this letter to you so that you will not sin. But if any person sins, we have Jesus Christ to help us. He is the righteous (good) One. Jesus defends us before God the Father.