¹⁹ And the people said to me, Will you not make clear to us the sense of these things; is it for us you do them?

⁹ Son of man, has not Israel, the uncontrolled people, said to you, What are you doing?

¹⁸ And when the children of your people say to you, Will you not make clear to us what these things have to do with us?

¹² Say now to this uncontrolled people, Are these things not clear to you? Say to them, See, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took its king and its rulers away with him to Babylon;

⁴⁹ Then I said, Ah, Lord! they say of me, Is he not a maker of stories?

⁷ And when they say to you, Why are you making sounds of grief? then say, Because of the news, for it is coming: and every heart will become soft, and all hands will be feeble, and every spirit will be burning low, and all knees will be turned to water: see, it is coming and it will be done, says the Lord.

⁷ From the days of your fathers you have been turned away from my rules and have not kept them. Come back to me, and I will come back to you, says the Lord of armies. But you say, How are we to come back?

⁸ Will a man keep back from God what is right? But you have kept back what is mine. But you say, What have we kept back from you? Tenths and offerings.

¹³ Your words have been strong against me, says the Lord. And still you say, What have we said against you?