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

“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. 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 sent my prophets to warn you with many visions and 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.

The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers:“ Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.”

Then I said,“ Sovereign Lord, they are saying of me,‘ Isn’t he just telling parables?’”

“ And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

“ Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it.Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the people of Israel.“ Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side.I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel.

From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets.

at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz. He said to him,“ Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet.” And he did so, going around stripped and barefoot.Then the Lord said,“ Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush,so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared— to Egypt’s shame.Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be dismayed and put to shame.

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

Elijah went before the people and said,“ How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing.Then Elijah said to them,“ I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it.Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire— he is God.” Then all the people said,“ What you say is good.”Elijah said to the prophets of Baal,“ Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.”So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon.“ Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.At noon Elijah began to taunt them.“ Shout louder!” he said.“ Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.Then Elijah said to all the people,“ Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down.Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying,“ Your name shall be Israel.”With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed.He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them,“ Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”“ Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.“ Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time.The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed:“ Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried,“ The Lord— he is God! The Lord— he is God!”Then Elijah commanded them,“ Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.

By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering.

The Lord said to me,“ Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”

The word of the Lord came to me:“ Son of man, how is the wood of a vine different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest?Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? Do they make pegs from it to hang things on?And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything?If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?“ Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem.I will set my face against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the Lord.I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

This is what the Lord said to me:“ Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.”So I bought a belt, as the Lord directed, and put it around my waist.Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time:“ Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks.”So I went and hid it at Perath, as the Lord told me.Many days later the Lord said to me,“ Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there.”So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless.Then the word of the Lord came to me:“ This is what the Lord says:‘ In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt— completely useless!For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord,‘ to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’“ Say to them:‘ This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.’ And if they say to you,‘ Don’t we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’then tell them,‘ This is what the Lord says: I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land, including the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets and all those living in Jerusalem.I will smash them one against the other, parents and children alike, declares the Lord. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them.’”

When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him,“ Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.”So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.Then the Lord said to Hosea,“ Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.”

And though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention.

“ Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching,

Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:‘ I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler over my people Israel.I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes.You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have aroused my anger and turned your back on me.“‘ Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel— slave or free. I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns dung, until it is all gone.Dogs will eat those belonging to Jeroboam who die in the city, and the birds will feed on those who die in the country. The Lord has spoken!’“ As for you, go back home. When you set foot in your city, the boy will die.All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will be buried, because he is the only one in the house of Jeroboam in whom the Lord, the God of Israel, has found anything good.“ The Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will cut off the family of Jeroboam. Even now this is beginning to happen.And the Lord will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they aroused the Lord’s anger by making Asherah poles.And he will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”

He replied,“ I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

he said,“ Listen to my words:“ When there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams.

This is what the Lord says:“ Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the elders of the people and of the priests

For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.

or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

Amos answered Amaziah,“ I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore- fig trees.

Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab,“ As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.“ Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.

I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.