“ Go. Ask the Lord for advice. Ask him about what is written in this book that has been found. Do it for me. Also do it for the people and the whole nation of Judah. The Lord is very angry with us. That’s because our people who have lived before us didn’t obey the words of this book. They didn’t do everything written there about us.”

“你们去为我、为民、为犹大众人，以这书上的话求问耶和华；因为我们列祖没有听从这书上的言语，没有遵着书上所吩咐我们的去行，耶和华就向我们大发烈怒。”

“你们去，以所发现这书上的话，为我、为百姓、为全犹大求问耶和华；因为我们祖先没有听从这书上的话，没有遵照一切所写有关我们的去行，耶和华就向我们大发烈怒。”

“你们去，以所发现这书上的话，为我、为百姓、为全犹大求问耶和华；因为我们祖先没有听从这书上的话，没有遵照一切所写有关我们的去行，耶和华就向我们大发烈怒。”

“你们为我、为民众和整个犹大去求问耶和华有关这书卷上的话。耶和华的烈怒已经临到我们身上，因为我们的祖先没有遵守这书卷上的话，没有遵行这书卷上的吩咐。”

“你们去，为了我、为了人民、为了犹大全国，因着所发现的这书卷上的话求问耶和华，因为耶和华向我们所发的怒气极大；这是因着我们的祖先没有听从这律法书上的话，没有照着所有写给我们的去行。”

「你們去為我、為民、為猶大眾人，以這書上的話求問耶和華；因為我們列祖沒有聽從這書上的言語，沒有遵着書上所吩咐我們的去行，耶和華就向我們大發烈怒。」

「你們去，以所發現這書上的話，為我、為百姓、為全猶大求問耶和華；因為我們祖先沒有聽從這書上的話，沒有遵照一切所寫有關我們的去行，耶和華就向我們大發烈怒。」

「你們去，以所發現這書上的話，為我、為百姓、為全猶大求問耶和華；因為我們祖先沒有聽從這書上的話，沒有遵照一切所寫有關我們的去行，耶和華就向我們大發烈怒。」

「你們為我、為民眾和整個猶大去求問耶和華有關這書卷上的話。耶和華的烈怒已經臨到我們身上，因為我們的祖先沒有遵守這書卷上的話，沒有遵行這書卷上的吩咐。」

“你們去，為了我、為了人民、為了猶大全國，因著所發現的這書卷上的話求問耶和華，因為耶和華向我們所發的怒氣極大；這是因著我們的祖先沒有聽從這律法書上的話，沒有照著所有寫給我們的去行。”

『你們去，為我、為人民、為猶大眾人、將所發現這一卷書上的話尋問永恆主；因為我們列祖沒有聽從這書上的話，沒有遵行、照這一切所寫關於我們的事，以致永恆主向我們大發烈怒。』

汝其往哉、為我為民、為猶大眾、以此書之言、詢於耶和華、因我列祖不聽此書之言、不遵所載諭我儕者而行、故耶和華向我、發怒甚烈、

爾曹往哉、為我及猶大全族之民、諮諏耶和華、蓋我列祖、未從此書所言、干耶和華震怒。

爾往、為我、為民、為猶大全族、因此書之言問於主、我列祖不聽從此書之言、不遵此書所載一切諭我之命而行、主之烈怒、必向我如火之烈、

“ Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”

“ Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

“ Go to the Temple and speak to the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah. Inquire about the words written in this scroll that has been found. For the Lord’s great anger is burning against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words in this scroll. We have not been doing everything it says we must do.”

“ Go and inquire of the LORD for me, for the people, and for all Judah about the words in this book that has been found. For great is the LORD’s wrath that is kindled against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this book in order to do everything written about us.”

“ Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for the wrath of the Lord that burns against us is great, because our fathers did not listen to the words of this book, to act in accordance with everything that is written regarding us.”

“ Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

Go ye, inquire of Jehovah for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is the wrath of Jehovah that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.

“ Go and inquire of the Lord for me, the people, and all Judah about the instruction in this book that has been found. For great is the Lord’s wrath that is kindled against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this book in order to do everything written about us.”

Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great[ is] the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.

“ Go, seek an oracle from the LORD for me and the people– for all Judah. Find out about the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the LORD’s fury has been ignited against us, because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this scroll by doing all that it instructs us to do.”

“ Go inquire of Yahweh for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is Yahweh’s wrath that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us.”

The whole land will be burned up. Nothing but salt and sulfur will be left. Nothing will be planted there. Nothing will grow there. In fact, nothing will even start to grow there. The land will be like Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim after they were destroyed. The Lord wiped out those cities because he was very angry.All the nations will ask,“ Why has the Lord done this to the land? What could have made him so very angry?”And they will hear the answer,“ It’s because the people living there have broken the covenant of the Lord. He’s the God of their people of long ago. He made that covenant with them when he brought them out of Egypt.They went off and worshiped other gods. They bowed down to them. They hadn’t known anything about those gods before. The Lord hadn’t given those gods to them.So the Lord became very angry with this land. He brought on it all the curses written down in this book.The Lord’ s anger blazed out against his people. So he pulled them up out of their land. He threw them into another land. And that’s where they are now.”

In that day I will become angry with them. I will desert them. I will turn my face away from them. And they will be destroyed. Many horrible troubles and hard times will come on them. On that day they will say,‘ Trouble has come on us. Our God isn’t with us!’I will certainly turn away from them on that day. I will do it because they did a very evil thing when they turned to other gods.

You are the Lord our God. But we haven’t obeyed you. We haven’t kept the laws you gave us through your servants the prophets.

Then King Zedekiah sent for him. King Zedekiah had Jeremiah brought to the palace. There the king spoke to him in private. The king asked,“ Do you have a message from the Lord for me?”“ Yes,” Jeremiah replied.“ You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”

We will certainly do everything we said we would. We’ll burn incense to the female god called the Queen of Heaven. We’ll pour out drink offerings to her. We’ll do just as we and our people of long ago have done. Our kings and our officials also did it. All of us did it in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food. We were well off. We didn’t suffer any harm.

Do not bow down to them or worship them. I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I cause the sins of the parents to affect their children. I will cause the sins of those who hate me to affect even their grandchildren and great- grandchildren.

But you have done more evil things than they did. All of you are doing what your stubborn and evil hearts want you to do. You are not obeying me.

The Lord shares his plans with those who have respect for him. He makes his covenant known to them.

Saul died because he wasn’t faithful to the Lord. He didn’t obey the word of the Lord. He even asked for advice from a person who gets messages from people who have died.He didn’t ask the Lord for advice. So the Lord put him to death. He turned the kingdom over to David. David was the son of Jesse.

A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. It came when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur to Jeremiah. Pashhur was the son of Malkijah. Zedekiah sent Zephaniah the priest along with him. Zephaniah was the son of Maaseiah. They said to Jeremiah,“ Ask the Lord to help us. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is attacking us. In the past the Lord did wonderful things for us. Maybe he’ll do them again. Then Nebuchadnezzar will pull his armies back from us.”

The great day of their anger has come. Who can live through it?”

People should have respect for you alone. Who can stand in front of you when you are angry?

But Jehoshaphat asked,“ Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord here? Can’t we ask the Lord for advice through him?” An officer of the king of Israel answered,“ Elisha is here. He’s the son of Shaphat. Elisha used to serve Elijah.”

Before I knew about the law, I was alive. But then the commandment came. Sin came to life, and I died.

But Jehoshaphat asked,“ Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here? If there is, ask him what we should do.”The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat. He said,“ There is still one other man we can go to. We can ask the Lord for advice through him. But I hate him. He never prophesies anything good about me. He only prophesies bad things. His name is Micaiah. He’s the son of Imlah.”“ You shouldn’t say bad things about him,” Jehoshaphat replied.

“ Son of man, these men have thought about nothing but other gods. They have fallen into the evil trap of worshiping them. Should I let these men ask me for any advice?Speak to them. Tell them,‘ The Lord and King says,“ Suppose any of the Israelites think about other gods. And they fall into the evil trap of worshiping them. Then they go to a prophet to ask for advice. If they do, I myself will tell the prophet to answer them in keeping with their worship of many gods.

We have sinned and done what is wrong. We have been evil. We have refused to obey you. We have turned away from your commands and laws.We haven’t listened to your servants the prophets. They spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our people of long ago. They also brought your message to all our people in the land.“ Lord, you always do what is right. But we are covered with shame today. We are the people of Judah and Jerusalem. All of us are Israelites, no matter where we live. We are now living in many countries. You scattered us among the nations because we weren’t faithful to you.Lord, we are covered with shame. So are our kings and princes, and our people of long ago. We have sinned against you.

In all your ways obey him. Then he will make your paths smooth and straight.

They stood where they were. They listened while the Levites read parts of the Book of the Law of the Lord their God. They listened for a fourth of the day. They spent another fourth of the day admitting their sins. They also worshiped the Lord their God.

The law brings God’s anger. Where there is no law, the law can’t be broken.

“ Go. Ask the Lord for advice. Ask him about what is written in this book that has been found. Do it for me. Also do it for the people who remain in Israel and Judah. The Lord has been very angry with us. That’s because our people before us didn’t obey what the Lord had said. They didn’t do everything written in this book.”

The Lord and King never does anything without telling his servants the prophets about it.

Our people weren’t faithful. They did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God. They deserted him. They turned their faces away from the place where he lives. They turned their backs on him.

It was the seventh year since King Jehoiachin had been brought to Babylon as a prisoner. On the tenth day of the fifth month, some of the elders of Israel came to ask the Lord for advice. They sat down with me.Then a message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said,“ Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel. Tell them,‘ The Lord and King says,“ Have you come to ask me for advice? I will not let you do that,” announces the Lord and King.“ And that is just as sure as I am alive.” ’

Who can stand firm when his anger burns? Who can live when he is angry? His anger blazes out like fire. He smashes the rocks to pieces.

All these Levites read to the people parts of the Book of the Law of God. They made it clear to them. They told them what it meant. So the people understood what was being read.Nehemiah was the governor. Ezra was a priest and the teacher of the Law. They spoke up. So did the Levites who were teaching the people. All these men said to the people,“ This day is set apart to honor the Lord your God. So don’t weep. Don’t be sad.” All the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

We have sinned, just as our people of long ago did. We too have done what is evil and wrong.

So no one will be considered right with God by obeying the law. Instead, the law makes us more aware of our sin.

Our people of long ago sinned. And they are now dead. We are being punished because of their sins.

Don’t just listen to the word. You fool yourselves if you do that. You must do what it says.Suppose someone listens to the word but doesn’t do what it says. Then they are like a person who looks at their face in a mirror.After looking at themselves, they leave. And right away they forget what they look like.But suppose someone takes a good look at the perfect law that gives freedom. And they keep looking at it. Suppose they don’t forget what they’ve heard, but they do what the law says. Then this person will be blessed in what they do.

Be careful. Don’t forget the covenant the Lord your God made with you. Don’t make for yourselves a statue of any god at all. He has told you not to. So don’t do it.The Lord your God is like a fire that burns everything up. He wants you to worship only him.So don’t make a statue of a god. Don’t commit that horrible sin. Don’t do it even after you have had children and grandchildren. Don’t do it even after you have lived in the land a long time. If you do, that will be an evil thing in the sight of the Lord your God. You will make him angry.Today I’m calling out to the heavens and the earth to be witnesses against you. Suppose you do these things. Then you will quickly die in the land you are going across the Jordan River to take over. You won’t live there very long. You will certainly be destroyed.The Lord will drive you out of your land. He will scatter you among the nations. Only a few of you will remain alive there.