Don’t let the Egyptians say, ‘He was planning all along to kill them in the mountains and wipe them off the face of the earth. That’s why he brought them out ⌞of our land⌟.’ Don’t be so angry. Reconsider your decision to bring this disaster on your people.
So when you stretch out your hands ⌞in prayer⌟, I will turn my eyes away from you. Even though you offer many prayers, I will not listen because your hands are covered with blood.
How horrible it will be for the one who quarrels with his maker. He is pottery among other earthenware pots. Does the clay ask the one who shapes it, “What are you making?” Does your work say to you, “There are no handles”?
Why was no one here when I came? Why was no one here to answer when I called? Am I too weak to reclaim you? Don’t I have the power to rescue you? I dry up the sea with my command, and I turn rivers into deserts. Their fish stink because there is no water, and people die of thirst.
This is what the Lord says: ⌞I will remember⌟ the castrated men who keep my days of rest as holy days, choose what pleases me, and faithfully observe the conditions of my promise.
He sees that there’s no one to help. He’s astounded that there’s no one to intercede. So with his own power he wins a victory. His righteousness supports him.
No one calls for justice, and no one pleads his case truthfully. People trust pointless arguments and speak lies. They conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
You are our Father. Even though Abraham doesn’t know us and Israel doesn’t pay attention to us, O Lord, you are our Father. Your name is our Defender From Everlasting.
“ ‘I looked for someone among you who could build walls or stand in front of me by the gaps in the walls to defend the land and keep it from being destroyed. But I couldn’t find anyone.
They don’t pray to me sincerely, even though they cry in their beds and make cuts on their bodies while praying for grain and new wine. They have turned against me.
“This is what the Lord of Armies says: A son honors his father, and a servant honors his master. So if I am a father, where is my honor? If I am a master, where is my respect? You priests despise my name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised your name?’
Don’t all of us have the same father? Hasn’t the same God created us? Why are we unfaithful to each other? And why do we dishonor the promise given to our ancestors?