“‘ “Suppose any of the Israelites or any outsiders who live in Israel separate themselves from me. And they think about other gods. They fall into the evil trap of worshiping them. Then they go to a prophet to ask me for advice. If they do, I myself will tell the prophet to answer them.

因为以色列家的人，或在以色列中寄居的外人，凡与我隔绝，将他的假神接到心里，把陷于罪的绊脚石放在面前，又就了先知来要为自己的事求问我的，我耶和华必亲自回答他。

因为以色列家的人，或在以色列中寄居的外人，凡与我隔绝，在心中设立偶像，把陷自己于罪的绊脚石放在面前，却来到先知那里，要为自己的事求问我的，我—耶和华必亲自报应他。

因为以色列家的人，或在以色列中寄居的外人，凡与我隔绝，在心中设立偶像，把陷自己于罪的绊脚石放在面前，却来到先知那里，要为自己的事求问我的，我—耶和华必亲自报应他。

因为以色列人或是在以色列定居的外族人若背弃我，在心中树立偶像，把导致犯罪的绊脚石放在自己面前，又来向先知求问我的旨意，我耶和华必亲自用惩罚回答他。

因为以色列家的人中，或是在以色列寄居的外族人中，凡与我疏远，把他们的偶像接到心里去，把那陷自己在罪孽中的绊脚石放在自己面前，却又来见先知，要为自己求问我的，我耶和华必亲自报应他；

因為以色列家的人，或在以色列中寄居的外人，凡與我隔絕，將他的假神接到心裏，把陷於罪的絆腳石放在面前，又就了先知來要為自己的事求問我的，我－耶和華必親自回答他。

因為以色列家的人，或在以色列中寄居的外人，凡與我隔絕，在心中設立偶像，把陷自己於罪的絆腳石放在面前，卻來到先知那裏，要為自己的事求問我的，我－耶和華必親自報應他。

因為以色列家的人，或在以色列中寄居的外人，凡與我隔絕，在心中設立偶像，把陷自己於罪的絆腳石放在面前，卻來到先知那裏，要為自己的事求問我的，我－耶和華必親自報應他。

因為以色列人或是在以色列定居的外族人若背棄我，在心中樹立偶像，把導致犯罪的絆腳石放在自己面前，又來向先知求問我的旨意，我耶和華必親自用懲罰回答他。

因為以色列家的人中，或是在以色列寄居的外族人中，凡與我疏遠，把他們的偶像接到心裡去，把那陷自己在罪孽中的絆腳石放在自己面前，卻又來見先知，要為自己求問我的，我耶和華必親自報應他；

因為以色列家的人或是在以色列中寄居的外國僑民，凡跟我疏遠、將他的偶像接上心頭，把陷於他罪孽中的因由放在自己面前，又前來見神言人、要為自己的事向我求問的，我必親自應付他；

以色列家人、及旅以色列中之外人、凡離我而納其偶像於心、置陷罪之窒礙於前、而詣先知、諮諏於我者、我耶和華必自應之、

凡以色列族、及旅其中之異邦人、背我而奉偶像、中則崇敬之、外則瞻禮之、自陷於惡、後就先知諮諏於我、我耶和華必罰之、降災於其身、絕之於民中、為人作歌譏刺、使知我乃耶和華。

凡以色列族之人、及居以色列中之他邦客旅、若離棄我、心念其偶像、以陷己於罪之物、置於目前、後又就先知、欲藉之求問我、我耶和華必親斥之、必親斥之或作豈應之乎

“‘ When any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing in Israel separate themselves from me and set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet to inquire of me, I the Lord will answer them myself.

For any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to a prophet to consult me through him, I the Lord will answer him myself.

I, the Lord, will answer all those, both Israelites and foreigners, who reject me and set up idols in their hearts and so fall into sin, and who then come to a prophet asking for my advice.

For when anyone from the house of Israel or from the aliens who reside in Israel separates himself from me, setting up idols in his heart and putting his sinful stumbling block in front of himself, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of me, I, the LORD, will answer him myself.

For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who reside in Israel, who deserts Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts in front of his face the stumbling block of his wrongdoing, and then comes to the prophet to request something of Me for himself, I the Lord will let Myself answer him Myself.

For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, then comes to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I the Lord will answer him by Myself.

For every one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that separateth himself from me, and taketh his idols into his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet to inquire for himself of me; I Jehovah will answer him by myself:

For when anyone from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who reside in Israel separates himself from Me, setting up idols in his heart and putting a sinful stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me, I, Yahweh, will answer him Myself.

For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:

For when anyone from the house of Israel, or the foreigner who lives in Israel, separates himself from me and erects his idols in his heart and sets the obstacle leading to his iniquity before his face, and then consults a prophet to seek something from me, I the LORD am determined to answer him personally.

“‘“ For everyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live in Israel, who separates himself from me, and takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet to inquire for himself of me; I Yahweh will answer him by myself.

“ Suppose an outsider living among you wants to celebrate the Lord’ s Passover. Then all the males in that home must be circumcised. After that, the person can take part, just like an Israelite. Only circumcised males may eat it.

But the seventh day is a sabbath to honor the Lord your God. Do not do any work on that day. The same command applies to your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and your animals. It also applies to any outsiders who live in your towns.

The Lord told me,“ Shout out loud. Do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Tell my people that they have refused to obey me. Tell the family of Jacob how much they have sinned.Day after day they worship me. They seem ready and willing to know how I want them to live. They act as if they were a nation that does what is right. They act as if they have not turned away from my commands. They claim to want me to give them fair decisions. They seem ready and willing to come near and worship me.

“ The Lord says,‘ Do not fool yourselves. You think,“ The Babylonians will leave us alone.” But they will not!Suppose you destroy all the armies of Babylon that are attacking you. Suppose only wounded men are left in their tents. Even then they will come out and burn down this city.’ ”

“ 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.

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.”

The Lord says,“ When I first found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert. When I saw your people of long ago, it was like seeing the early fruit on a fig tree. But then they went to Baal Peor. There they gave themselves to that shameful god named Baal. They became as evil as the god they loved.

“ Son of man, your people are talking about you. They are getting together by the walls of their houses and at their doors. They are saying to one another,‘ Come. Listen to the Lord’ s message.’My people come to you, just as they usually do. They sit in front of you. They hear what you say. But they do not put it into practice. With their mouths they say they love me. But in their hearts they want what belongs to others. They try to get rich by cheating them.You are nothing more to them than someone who sings love songs. They say you have a beautiful voice. They think you play an instrument well. They hear what you say. But they do not put it into practice.

The same law applies whether they are an outsider or an Israelite. I am the Lord your God.’ ”

Then the king said to Hazael,“ Take a gift with you. Go and see the man of God. Ask him for the Lord’ s advice. Ask him whether I will get well again.”Hazael went to see Elisha. Hazael took 40 camels with him as a gift. The camels were loaded with all the finest goods of Damascus. Hazael went into Elisha’s house and stood in front of him. Hazael said,“ Ben- Hadad has sent me. He is the king of Aram. He asks,‘ Will I get well again?’ ”Elisha answered,“ Go and tell him,‘ Yes. You will get well again.’ But the Lord has shown me that he will in fact die.”Elisha stared at him without looking away. He did it until Hazael felt uncomfortable. Then the man of God began to weep.“ Why are you weeping?” asked Hazael.“ Because I know how much harm you will do to the people of Israel,” Elisha answered.“ You will set fire to their cities that have high walls around them. You will kill their young men with your swords. You will smash their little children on the ground. You will rip open their pregnant women.”Hazael said,“ How could I possibly do a thing like that? I’m nothing but a dog. I don’t have that kind of power.”“ You will become king of Aram,” Elisha answered.“ That’s what the Lord has shown me.”Then Hazael left Elisha and returned to his master. Ben- Hadad asked,“ What did Elisha say to you?” Hazael replied,“ He told me you would get well again.”But the next day Hazael got a thick cloth. He soaked it in water. He spread it over the king’s face. He held it there until the king died. Then Hazael became the next king after him.

They are the people who separate you from one another. They do only what comes naturally. They are not led by the Holy Spirit.

The community must have the same rules for you and for any outsider living among you. This law will last for all time to come. In the sight of the Lord, the law applies both to you and any outsider.

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.”

“‘ “Suppose any of the Israelites or any outsiders who live in Israel separate themselves from me. And they think about other gods. They fall into the evil trap of worshiping them. Then they go to a prophet to ask me for advice. If they do, I myself will tell the prophet to answer them.I will turn against them. I will make an example out of them. People will talk about the bad things that happen to them. I will remove them from you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

The same law applies to everyone who sins without meaning to. It does not matter whether they are an Israelite or an outsider.

“ Here is a law for you that will last for all time to come. On the tenth day of the seventh month you must not eat anything. You must not do any work. It does not matter whether you are Israelites or outsiders.

“ I will not punish your daughters when they become prostitutes. I will not judge your daughters- in- law when they commit adultery. After all, the men themselves have sex with sinful women. They offer sacrifices where temple prostitutes earn their living. People who can’t understand will be destroyed!

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, appointed Zedekiah to be king of Judah. He was the son of Josiah. Zedekiah ruled in place of Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim.Zedekiah and his attendants didn’t pay any attention to what the Lord had said through Jeremiah the prophet. And the people of the land didn’t pay any attention either.But King Zedekiah sent Jehukal to Jeremiah the prophet. Zedekiah sent Zephaniah the priest along with him. Jehukal was the son of Shelemiah. Zephaniah was the son of Maaseiah. Jehukal and Zephaniah brought the king’s message to Jeremiah. It said,“ Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”

“ Say to the Israelites,‘ Suppose a person sacrifices one of his children to the god Molek. It does not matter whether that person is an Israelite or an outsider who lives in Israel. He must be put to death. The members of the community must kill him by throwing stones at him.

Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet. The king had him brought to the third entrance to the Lord’ s temple.“ I want to ask you something,” the king said to Jeremiah.“ Don’t hide anything from me.”Jeremiah said to Zedekiah,“ Suppose I give you an answer. You will kill me, won’t you? Suppose I give you good advice. You won’t listen to me, will you?”But King Zedekiah promised Jeremiah secretly,“ I won’t kill you. And I won’t hand you over to those who want to kill you. That’s just as sure as the Lord is alive. He’s the one who has given us breath.”So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah,“ The Lord God who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says,‘ Give yourself up to the officers of the king of Babylon. Then your life will be spared. And this city will not be burned down. You and your family will remain alive.But what if you do not give yourself up to them? Then this city will be handed over to the Babylonians. They will burn it down. And you yourself will not escape from them.’ ”King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah,“ I’m afraid of some of the Jews. They are the ones who have gone over to the side of the Babylonians. The Babylonians might hand me over to them. And those Jews will treat me badly.”“ They won’t hand you over to them,” Jeremiah replied.“ Obey the Lord. Do what I tell you to do. Then things will go well with you. Your life will be spared.Don’t refuse to give yourself up. The Lord has shown me what will happen if you do.All the women who are left in your palace will be brought out. They’ll be given to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you,“‘ Your trusted friends have tricked you. They have gotten the best of you. Your feet are sunk down in the mud. Your friends have deserted you.’“ All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself won’t escape from them. You will be captured by the king of Babylon. And this city will be burned down.”