You, Lord of Armies, God of Israel, have revealed it especially to me, saying, ‘I will build a house for you.’ That is why I have found the courage to offer this prayer to you.
If you will do all I command you, follow my ways, and do what I consider right by obeying my laws and commands as my servant David did, then I will be with you. I will build a permanent dynasty for you as I did for David. And I will give you Israel.
You will build a reservoir between the two walls to hold the water of the Old Pool. You didn’t look to Jerusalem’s maker. You didn’t see the one who formed it long ago.
Look at the sky and see. Who created these things? Who brings out the stars one by one? He calls them all by name. Because of the greatness of his might and the strength of his power, not one of them is missing.
The Lord created the heavens. God formed the earth and made it. He set it up. He did not create it to be empty but formed it to be inhabited. This is what the Lord says: I am the Lord, and there is no other.
Rain down from above, you heavens, and pour down righteousness, you skies. Let the earth open. Let salvation and righteousness sprout. Let them spring up. I, the Lord, have created them.
At their feasts there are lyres and harps, tambourines and flutes, and wine. Yet, they don’t pay attention to what the Lord is doing or see what his hands have done.
Once again I will build you up, and you will be rebuilt, my dear people Israel. Once again you will take your tambourines, and you will go dancing with happy people.
Wise people will understand these things. A person with insight will recognize them. The Lord’s ways are right. Righteous people live by them. Rebellious people stumble over them.
From the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly observed in what he made. As a result, people have no excuse.