⁶So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.

⁷And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.

⁸Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.

¹⁶But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

¹⁴Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.

¹⁵What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?

⁷What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water?

¹Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

³My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

¹⁰As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?

¹¹And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?

¹⁹Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?

²⁰Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

¹¹Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:

¹²Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.

²²How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

²⁵But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

³⁴Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.

¹²If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.

¹A wise son heareth his father’s instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke.

⁶A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.

⁹Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.

²⁹Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools.

¹¹When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.

²⁴Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath.

¹⁰Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.

⁹The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.

¹⁸Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:

¹⁹That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!

²⁴Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

²⁵Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

¹⁵Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.