So those poor people begin thinking,\par “God has forgotten us!\par He has turned away from us forever!\par God doesn’t see what is happening to us!”\par
Isaiah 5:18 - Easy To Read Version Look at those people! They pull their guilt and sins behind them like people pull wagons with ropes. {\cf2\super [54]} Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: Amplified Bible - Classic Edition Woe to those who draw [calamity] with cords of iniquity and falsehood, who bring punishment to themselves with a cart rope of wickedness, American Standard Version (1901) Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and sin as it were with a cart rope; Common English Bible Doom to those who drag guilt along with cords of fraud, and haul sin as if with cart ropes, Catholic Public Domain Version Woe to you who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and who draw sin as if with the rope of a cart, Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version Woe to you that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as the rope of a cart. |
So those poor people begin thinking,\par “God has forgotten us!\par He has turned away from us forever!\par God doesn’t see what is happening to us!”\par
A foolish person {\cf2\super [75]} says in his heart,\par “There is no God.”\par Foolish people do terrible, rotten things.\par Not even one of them does good.\par
That person lies to himself.\par That person does not see his own faults.\par So he does not ask for forgiveness.\par
You people say, “We have made an agreement with death. We have a contract with Sheol—\{the place of death\}. So we will not be punished. Punishment will pass us without hurting us. We will hide behind our tricks and lies.”
The land of Judah is full of people that do the sin of adultery. {\cf2\super [183]} \par They are unfaithful in many ways.\par The Lord cursed the land,\par and it became very dry.\par The plants are dried and dying in the pastures.\par The fields have become like the desert.\par The prophets are evil.\par Those prophets use their influence\par and power in the wrong way.\par
Now I have seen the prophets of Judah\par do those terrible things in Jerusalem.\par These prophets do the sin of adultery. {\cf2\super [187]} \par They listened to lies—and they obeyed\par those false teachings.\par They encourage wicked people\par to continue doing evil things.\par So the people did not stop sinning.\par They are like the people of Sodom {\cf2\super [188]} .\par Now Jerusalem is like Gomorrah {\cf2\super [189]} to me.”\par
A person might try to hide from me\par in some hiding place.\par But it is easy for me to see him.\par Why? Because I am everywhere\par in heaven and earth!”\par The Lord said these things.\par
Jehudi began to read from the scroll. But whenever he would read two or three columns, King Jehoiakim would grab the scroll. Then he would cut those columns off of the scroll with a small knife and throw them into the fireplace. Finally, the whole scroll was burned in the fire.
The prophets tell lies.\par The priests will not do\par what they were chosen to do. {\cf2\super [36]} \par And my people love it this way!\par But what will you people do\par when your punishment comes?”\par
“At that time, I will take a lamp and search through Jerusalem. I will find all the people that are satisfied to live their own way. Those people say, ‘The Lord does nothing. He does not help and he does not hurt!’ I will find those people and I will punish them!
People will make you leave their synagogues. {\cf2\super [222]} Yes, a time is coming when people will think that killing you would be doing service for God.
“\{When I was a Pharisee {\cf2\super [489]} \}, even I thought I should do many things against the name of Jesus from Nazareth.
And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me. I know this because I have a man from the family group of Levi to be my priest.”
Micah had a temple for worshiping idols. He made an ephod [128] and some house idols. Then Micah chose one of his sons to be his priest. (