I sent my prophets to warn you with many visions and parables.”

“我已晓谕众先知，并且加增默示，藉先知设立比喻。”

我已吩咐众先知，又增加异象，藉先知设比喻。

我已吩咐众先知，又增加异象，藉先知设比喻。

我曾对先知讲话，赐给他们许多异象，借他们用比喻警告你们。”

我曾对先知说话，加添许多异象；又藉先知说比喻。

我已曉諭眾先知，並且加增默示，藉先知設立比喻。

我已吩咐眾先知，又增加異象，藉先知設比喻。

我已吩咐眾先知，又增加異象，藉先知設比喻。

我曾對先知講話，賜給他們許多異象，藉他們用比喻警告你們。」

我曾對先知說話，加添許多異象；又藉先知說比喻。

我向眾神言人說了話；是我加多了異象，由眾神言人經手用比喻說的。

我曾諭諸先知、增加異象、藉先知以設譬、

我叠顯異象、屢使先知罕譬而喻、以告斯民、

我屢諭先知、多賜默示、藉諸先知設譬、以教斯民、

I spoke to the prophets, gave them many visions and told parables through them.”

I spoke to the prophets. They saw many visions. I gave you warnings through them.”

I spoke to the prophets; it was I who multiplied visions, and through the prophets gave parables.

I will speak through the prophets and grant many visions; I will give parables through the prophets.

I have also spoken to the prophets, And I provided many visions, And through the prophets I spoke in parables.

I have also spoken by the prophets, And have multiplied visions; I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets.”

I have also spoken unto the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets have I used similitudes.

I spoke through the prophets and granted many visions; I gave parables through the prophets.

I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.

I spoke to the prophets; I myself revealed many visions; I spoke in parables through the prophets.”

I have also spoken to the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables.

Again and again the Lord had sent his prophets and seers to warn both Israel and Judah:“ Turn from all your evil ways. Obey my commands and decrees— the entire law that I commanded your ancestors to obey, and that I gave you through my servants the prophets.”

Then I said,“ O Sovereign Lord, they are saying of me,‘ He only talks in riddles!’”

“ Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.

“ And now, son of man, take a large clay brick and set it down in front of you. Then draw a map of the city of Jerusalem on it.Show the city under siege. Build a wall around it so no one can escape. Set up the enemy camp, and surround the city with siege ramps and battering rams.Then take an iron griddle and place it between you and the city. Turn toward the city and demonstrate how harsh the siege will be against Jerusalem. This will be a warning to the people of Israel.“ Now lie on your left side and place the sins of Israel on yourself. You are to bear their sins for the number of days you lie there on your side.I am requiring you to bear Israel’s sins for 390 days— one day for each year of their sin.

From the day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have continued to send my servants, the prophets— day in and day out.

the Lord told Isaiah son of Amoz,“ Take off the burlap you have been wearing, and remove your sandals.” Isaiah did as he was told and walked around naked and barefoot.Then the Lord said,“ My servant Isaiah has been walking around naked and barefoot for the last three years. This is a sign— a symbol of the terrible troubles I will bring upon Egypt and Ethiopia.For the king of Assyria will take away the Egyptians and Ethiopians as prisoners. He will make them walk naked and barefoot, both young and old, their buttocks bared, to the shame of Egypt.Then the Philistines will be thrown into panic, for they counted on the power of Ethiopia and boasted of their allies in Egypt!

‘ In the last days,’ God says,‘ I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.

Then Elijah stood in front of them and said,“ How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent.Then Elijah said to them,“ I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but Baal has 450 prophets.Now bring two bulls. The prophets of Baal may choose whichever one they wish and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood of their altar, but without setting fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood on the altar, but not set fire to it.Then call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by setting fire to the wood is the true God!” And all the people agreed.Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal,“ You go first, for there are many of you. Choose one of the bulls, and prepare it and call on the name of your god. But do not set fire to the wood.”So they prepared one of the bulls and placed it on the altar. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noontime, shouting,“ O Baal, answer us!” But there was no reply of any kind. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.About noontime Elijah began mocking them.“ You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed,“ for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!”So they shouted louder, and following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out.They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no response.Then Elijah called to the people,“ Come over here!” They all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down.He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel,and he used the stones to rebuild the altar in the name of the Lord. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold about three gallons.He piled wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood. Then he said,“ Fill four large jars with water, and pour the water over the offering and the wood.”After they had done this, he said,“ Do the same thing again!” And when they were finished, he said,“ Now do it a third time!” So they did as he said,and the water ran around the altar and even filled the trench.At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed,“ O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command.O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench!And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out,“ The Lord— he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”Then Elijah commanded,“ Seize all the prophets of Baal. Don’t let a single one escape!” So the people seized them all, and Elijah took them down to the Kishon Valley and killed them there.

At the Lord’s command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel, arriving there just as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to burn incense.

Then the Lord said to me,“ Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them.”

Then this message came to me from the Lord:“ Son of man, how does a grapevine compare to a tree? Is a vine’s wood as useful as the wood of a tree?Can its wood be used for making things, like pegs to hang up pots and pans?No, it can only be used for fuel, and even as fuel, it burns too quickly.Vines are useless both before and after being put into the fire!“ And this is what the Sovereign Lord says: The people of Jerusalem are like grapevines growing among the trees of the forest. Since they are useless, I have thrown them on the fire to be burned.And I will see to it that if they escape from one fire, they will fall into another. When I turn against them, you will know that I am the Lord.And I will make the land desolate because my people have been unfaithful to me. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

This is what the Lord said to me:“ Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it on, but do not wash it.”So I bought the loincloth as the Lord directed me, and I put it on.Then the Lord gave me another message:“ Take the linen loincloth you are wearing, and go to the Euphrates River. Hide it there in a hole in the rocks.”So I went and hid it by the Euphrates as the Lord had instructed me.A long time afterward the Lord said to me,“ Go back to the Euphrates and get the loincloth I told you to hide there.”So I went to the Euphrates and dug it out of the hole where I had hidden it. But now it was rotting and falling apart. The loincloth was good for nothing.Then I received this message from the Lord:“ This is what the Lord says: This shows how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem.These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They stubbornly follow their own desires and worship other gods. Therefore, they will become like this loincloth— good for nothing!As a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me, says the Lord. They were to be my people, my pride, my glory— an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me.“ So tell them,‘ This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: May all your jars be filled with wine.’ And they will reply,‘ Of course! Jars are made to be filled with wine!’“ Then tell them,‘ No, this is what the Lord means: I will fill everyone in this land with drunkenness— from the king sitting on David’s throne to the priests and the prophets, right down to the common people of Jerusalem.I will smash them against each other, even parents against children, says the Lord. I will not let my pity or mercy or compassion keep me from destroying them.’”

When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him,“ Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.”So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son.And the Lord said,“ Name the child Jezreel, for I am about to punish King Jehu’s dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezreel. In fact, I will bring an end to Israel’s independence.I will break its military power in the Jezreel Valley.”

“ Again and again the Lord has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention.

“ As these men watch you, Jeremiah, smash the jar you brought.

Give your husband, Jeroboam, this message from the Lord, the God of Israel:‘ I promoted you from the ranks of the common people and made you ruler over my people Israel.I ripped the kingdom away from the family of David and gave it to you. But you have not been like my servant David, who obeyed my commands and followed me with all his heart and always did whatever I wanted.You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made other gods for yourself and have made me furious with your gold calves. And since you have turned your back on me,I will bring disaster on your dynasty and will destroy every one of your male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel. I will burn up your royal dynasty as one burns up trash until it is all gone.The members of Jeroboam’s family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the field will be eaten by vultures. I, the Lord, have spoken.’”Then Ahijah said to Jeroboam’s wife,“ Go on home, and when you enter the city, the child will die.All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only member of your family who will have a proper burial, for this child is the only good thing that the Lord, the God of Israel, sees in the entire family of Jeroboam.“ In addition, the Lord will raise up a king over Israel who will destroy the family of Jeroboam. This will happen today, even now!Then the Lord will shake Israel like a reed whipped about in a stream. He will uproot the people of Israel from this good land that he gave their ancestors and will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, for they have angered the Lord with the Asherah poles they have set up for worship.He will abandon Israel because Jeroboam sinned and made Israel sin along with him.”

Elijah replied,“ I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”

And the Lord said to them,“ Now listen to what I say:“ If there were prophets among you, I, the Lord, would reveal myself in visions. I would speak to them in dreams.

This is what the Lord said to me:“ Go and buy a clay jar. Then ask some of the leaders of the people and of the priests to follow you.

In your love, you were patient with them for many years. You sent your Spirit, who warned them through the prophets. But still they wouldn’t listen! So once again you allowed the peoples of the land to conquer them.

even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

But Amos replied,“ I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one. I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore fig trees.

Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab,“ As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives— the God I serve— there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!”

Now I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a rich and fertile hill.He plowed the land, cleared its stones, and planted it with the best vines. In the middle he built a watchtower and carved a winepress in the nearby rocks. Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the grapes that grew were bitter.Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah, you judge between me and my vineyard.What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes?Now let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will tear down its hedges and let it be destroyed. I will break down its walls and let the animals trample it.I will make it a wild place where the vines are not pruned and the ground is not hoed, a place overgrown with briers and thorns. I will command the clouds to drop no rain on it.The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The people of Judah are his pleasant garden. He expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence.

This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord.