“ Have you noticed what people are saying?—‘ The Lord chose Judah and Israel and then abandoned them!’ They are sneering and saying that Israel is not worthy to be counted as a nation.

“你没有揣摩这百姓的话吗？他们说：‘耶和华所拣选的二族，他已经弃绝了。’他们这样藐视我的百姓，以为不再成国。

“你没有留意这百姓所说的话吗？他们说：‘耶和华所拣选的二族，他已经弃绝了。’他们这样藐视我的百姓，不把他们当作国来看待。

“你没有留意这百姓所说的话吗？他们说：‘耶和华所拣选的二族，他已经弃绝了。’他们这样藐视我的百姓，不把他们当作国来看待。

“你听见了吗？人们说，‘耶和华已经弃绝了祂所拣选的以色列和犹大两个国家。’他们藐视我的子民，视他们为亡国之民。

“你没有留意列国的人民说什么吗？他们说：‘耶和华所拣选的这两个家族，他已经弃绝了。’他们藐视我的子民，不再把他们看为一个国家。

「你沒有揣摩這百姓的話嗎？他們說：『耶和華所揀選的二族，他已經棄絕了。』他們這樣藐視我的百姓，以為不再成國。

「你沒有留意這百姓所說的話嗎？他們說：『耶和華所揀選的二族，他已經棄絕了。』他們這樣藐視我的百姓，不把他們當作國來看待。

「你沒有留意這百姓所說的話嗎？他們說：『耶和華所揀選的二族，他已經棄絕了。』他們這樣藐視我的百姓，不把他們當作國來看待。

「你聽見了嗎？人們說，『耶和華已經棄絕了祂所揀選的以色列和猶大兩個國家。』他們藐視我的子民，視他們為亡國之民。

“你沒有留意列國的人民說甚麼嗎？他們說：‘耶和華所揀選的這兩個家族，他已經棄絕了。’他們藐視我的子民，不再把他們看為一個國家。

『這人民講些甚麼話你沒有看明白麼？他們說：「永恆主所揀選的二族、他已經棄絕了」，因此列國的人就藐視我的人民，不再拿他們當列國中的一國看待。

斯民所云、耶和華已棄其所選之二族、其言爾不思之乎、彼若斯篾視我民、以為不復成國、

爾聞人言、昔耶和華所選之二族、今遐棄之、於是人藐視我民、不以為邦國、

斯民所言、爾不知乎、彼曰、昔主所選之二族、今已棄之、彼如是藐視我民、目中視之不復為邦國、

“ Have you not noticed that these people are saying,‘ The Lord has rejected the two kingdoms he chose’? So they despise my people and no longer regard them as a nation.

“ Haven’t you noticed what these people are saying? They say,‘ The Lord once chose the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah. But now he has turned his back on them.’ So they hate my people. They do not think of them as a nation anymore.

“ Have you not observed that these people are saying,‘ The Lord has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight.

“ Have you not noticed what these people have said? They say,‘ The LORD has rejected the two families he had chosen.’ My people are treated with contempt and no longer regarded as a nation among them.

“ Have you not observed what these people have asserted, saying,‘ The two families which the Lord chose, He has rejected them’? So they despise My people as no longer being a nation in their sight.

“ Have you not considered what these people have spoken, saying,‘ The two families which the Lord has chosen, He has also cast them off’? Thus they have despised My people, as if they should no more be a nation before them.

Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which Jehovah did choose, he hath cast them off? thus do they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

“ Have you not noticed what these people have said? They say,‘ The Lord has rejected the two families He had chosen.’ My people are treated with contempt and no longer regarded as a nation among them.

Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

“ You have surely noticed what these people are saying, haven’t you? They are saying,‘ The LORD has rejected the two families of Israel and Judah that he chose.’ So they have little regard that my people will ever again be a nation.

“ Don’t consider what this people has spoken, saying,‘ Has Yahweh cast off the two families which he chose?’ Thus they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.”

saying in front of his friends and the Samarian army officers,“ What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap— and charred ones at that?”Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked,“ That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!”Then I prayed,“ Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land!

“ Come,” they say,“ let us wipe out Israel as a nation. We will destroy the very memory of its existence.”

You let our neighbors mock us. We are an object of scorn and derision to those around us.You have made us the butt of their jokes; they shake their heads at us in scorn.

“ Get away!” the people shouted at them.“ You’re defiled! Don’t touch us!” So they fled to distant lands and wandered among foreign nations, but none would let them stay.

The Lord will not reject his people; he will not abandon his special possession.

only then will my covenant with my servant David be broken. Only then will he no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. The same is true for my covenant with the Levitical priests who minister before me.And as the stars of the sky cannot be counted and the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of my servant David and the Levites who minister before me.”

All who pass by jeer at you. They scoff and insult beautiful Jerusalem, saying,“ Is this the city called‘ Most Beautiful in All the World’ and‘ Joy of All the Earth’?”All your enemies mock you. They scoff and snarl and say,“ We have destroyed her at last! We have long waited for this day, and it is finally here!”

“ Son of man, Tyre has rejoiced over the fall of Jerusalem, saying,‘ Ha! She who was the gateway to the rich trade routes to the east has been broken, and I am the heir! Because she has been made desolate, I will become wealthy!’

I will unify them into one nation on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule them all; no longer will they be divided into two nations or into two kingdoms.

Give the Ammonites this message from the Sovereign Lord: Hear the word of the Sovereign Lord! Because you cheered when my Temple was defiled, mocked Israel in her desolation, and laughed at Judah as she went away into exile,

I ask, then, has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin.No, God has not rejected his own people, whom he chose from the very beginning. Do you realize what the Scriptures say about this? Elijah the prophet complained to God about the people of Israel and said,“ Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”And do you remember God’s reply? He said,“ No, I have 7,000 others who have never bowed down to Baal!”It is the same today, for a few of the people of Israel have remained faithful because of God’s grace— his undeserved kindness in choosing them.And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is— free and undeserved.

This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Your enemies have taunted you, saying,‘ Aha! Now the ancient heights belong to us!’

He had learned of Mordecai’s nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes.So in the month of April, during the twelfth year of King Xerxes’ reign, lots were cast in Haman’s presence( the lots were called purim) to determine the best day and month to take action. And the day selected was March 7, nearly a year later.Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said,“ There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live.

“ For you said,‘ The lands of Israel and Judah will be ours. We will take possession of them. What do we care that the Lord is there!’Therefore, as surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will pay back your angry deeds with my own. I will punish you for all your acts of anger, envy, and hatred. And I will make myself known to Israel by what I do to you.Then you will know that I, the Lord, have heard every contemptuous word you spoke against the mountains of Israel. For you said,‘ They are desolate; they have been given to us as food to eat!’In saying that, you boasted proudly against me, and I have heard it all!“ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The whole world will rejoice when I make you desolate.You rejoiced at the desolation of Israel’s territory. Now I will rejoice at yours! You will be wiped out, you people of Mount Seir and all who live in Edom! Then you will know that I am the Lord.

I will give you back your health and heal your wounds,” says the Lord.“ For you are called an outcast—‘ Jerusalem for whom no one cares.’”

Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy, for we have had our fill of contempt.We have had more than our fill of the scoffing of the proud and the contempt of the arrogant.

They say,“ God has abandoned him. Let’s go and get him, for no one will help him now.”