Don’t let the people of Egypt say, ‘The Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt for an evil purpose. He planned to kill them in the mountains and destroy them from the earth.’ So stop being angry, and don’t destroy your people.
When you raise your arms to me in prayer, I will refuse to look at you. Even if you say many prayers, I will not listen to you, because your hands are full of blood.
“How terrible it will be for those who argue with the God who made them. They are like a piece of broken pottery among many pieces. The clay does not ask the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ The thing that is made doesn’t say to its maker, ‘You have no hands.’
I came home and found no one there; I called, but no one answered. Do you think I am not able to save you? Do I not have the power to save you? Look, I need only to shout and the sea becomes dry. I change rivers into a desert, and their fish rot because there is no water; they die of thirst.
He could not find anyone to help the people, and he was surprised that there was no one to help. So he used his own power to save the people; his own goodness gave him strength.
People take each other to court unfairly, and no one tells the truth in arguing his case. They accuse each other falsely and tell lies. They cause trouble and create more evil.
You are our father. Abraham doesn’t know we are his children, and Israel doesn’t recognize us. Lord, you are our father. You are called “the one who has always saved us.”
So this is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “I will test the people of Judah as a person tests metal in a fire. I have no other choice, because my people have sinned.
“I looked for someone to build up the walls and to stand before me where the walls are broken to defend these people so I would not have to destroy them. But I could not find anyone.
Then set the empty pot on the coals so it may become hot and its copper sides glow. The dirty scum stuck inside it may then melt and its rust burn away.
They do not call to me from their hearts. They just lie on their beds and cry. They come together to ask for grain and new wine, but they really turn away from me.
The Lord All-Powerful says, “A son honors his father, and a servant honors his master.” I am a father, so why don’t you honor me? I am a master, so why don’t you respect me? You priests do not respect me. “But you ask, ‘How have we shown you disrespect?’
We all have the same father; the same God made us. So why do people break their promises to each other and show no respect for the agreement our ancestors made with God?