Mourning women! Oh, listen to God’s Message! Open your ears. Take in what he says. Teach your daughters songs for the dead and your friends the songs of heartbreak. Death has climbed in through the window, broken into our bedrooms. Children on the playgrounds drop dead, and young men and women collapse at their games.

“Doom to him who builds palaces but bullies people, who makes a fine house but destroys lives, Who cheats his workers and won’t pay them for their work, Who says, ‘I’ll build me an elaborate mansion with spacious rooms and fancy windows. I’ll bring in rare and expensive woods and the latest in interior decor.’ So, that makes you a king— living in a fancy palace? Your father got along just fine, didn’t he? He did what was right and treated people fairly, And things went well with him. He stuck up for the down-and-out, And things went well for Judah. Isn’t this what it means to know me?” God’s Decree! “But you’re blind and brainless. All you think about is yourself, Taking advantage of the weak, bulldozing your way, bullying victims.”

“Again, God’s Message: “‘I’ll turn things around for Jacob. I’ll compassionately come in and rebuild homes. The town will be rebuilt on its old foundations; the mansions will be splendid again. Thanksgivings will pour out of the windows; laughter will spill through the doors. Things will get better and better. Depression days are over. They’ll thrive, they’ll flourish. The days of contempt will be over. They’ll look forward to having children again, to being a community in which I take pride. I’ll punish anyone who hurts them, and their prince will come from their own ranks. One of their own people shall be their leader. Their ruler will come from their own ranks. I’ll grant him free and easy access to me. Would anyone dare to do that on his own, to enter my presence uninvited?’ God’s Decree.

It’s Doomsday for Philistines

God’s Message to the prophet Jeremiah regarding the Philistines just before Pharaoh attacked Gaza. This is what God says: “Look out! Water will rise in the north country, swelling like a river in flood. The torrent will flood the land, washing away city and citizen. Men and women will scream in terror, wails from every door and window, As the thunder from the hooves of the horses will be heard, the clatter of chariots, the banging of wheels. Fathers, paralyzed by fear, won’t even grab up their babies Because it will be doomsday for Philistines, one and all, no hope of help for Tyre and Sidon. God will finish off the Philistines, what’s left of those from the island of Crete. Gaza will be shaved bald as an egg, Ashkelon struck dumb as a post. You’re on your last legs. How long will you keep flailing?