But Jehoshaphat said, "Isn't there a prophet of the LORD here? Let's inquire of the LORD through him." One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, "Elisha son of Shaphat, who used to pour water on Elijah's hands, is here."

But Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there a prophet of Yahweh here any more? Let's ask him."

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man who can ask the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies good about me, but only disaster. He is Micaiah son of Imlah." "The king shouldn't say that!" Jehoshaphat replied.

Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD because he did not keep the LORD's word. He even consulted a medium for guidance,

but he did not inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.

The secret counsel of the LORD is for those who fear Him, and He reveals His covenant to them.

think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.

[This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah, asking,

"Ask the LORD on our behalf, since Nebuchadnezzarking of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the LORD will perform for us something like all His [past] wonderful works so that [Nebuchadnezzar] will withdraw from us."

King Zedekiah later sent [for him] and received him, and in his house privately asked him, "Is there a word from the LORD?" "There is," Jeremiah responded, and he continued, "You will be handed over to the king of Babylon."

"Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and have put sinful stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I be consulted by them at all?

"Therefore, speak to them and tell them: This is what the Lord God says: When anyone from the house of Israel sets up idols in his heart, puts a sinful stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet, I, the LORD, will answer him appropriately. [I will answer him] according to his many idols,

In the seventh year, in the fifth [month], on the tenth [day] of the month, some of Israel's elders came to consult the LORD, and they sat down in front of me.

"Son of man, speak with the elders of Israel and tell them: This is what the Lord God says: Are you coming to consult Me? As I live, I will not be consulted by you." [This is] the declaration of the Lord God.

Indeed, the Lord God does nothing without revealing His counsel to His servants the prophets.

You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers' sin, to the third and fourth [generations] of those who hate Me,

Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you, and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of anything He has forbidden you.

"When you have children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, and if you act corruptly, make an idol in the form of anything, and do what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, provoking Him to anger,

The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be reduced to a few survivors among the nations where the LORD your God will drive you.

All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown, producing nothing, with no plant growing on it, just like the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD demolished in His fierce anger.

Then people will answer, 'It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He had made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.

Therefore the LORD's anger burned against this land, and He brought every curse written in this book on it.

My anger will burn against them on that day; I will abandon them and hide My face from them so that they will become easy prey. Many troubles and afflictions will come to them. On that day they will say, 'Haven't these troubles come to us because our God is no longer with us?'

I will certainly hide My face on that day because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.

They read the book of the law of God, translating and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was read.

Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, "This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep." For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law.

While they stood in their places, they read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day and [spent] another fourth of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God.

And You-- You are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You?

we have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.

Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but this day public shame belongs to us: the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel-- those who are near and those who are far, in all the countries where You have dispersed them because of the disloyalty they have shown toward You.

Who can withstand His indignation? Who can endure His burning anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, even rocks are shattered before Him.

For no flesh will be justified in His sight by the works of the law, for through the law [comes] the knowledge of sin.

For the law produces wrath; but where there is no law, there is no transgression.

Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life

because the great day of Their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?"

For our fathers were unfaithful and did what is evil in the sight of the LORD our God. They abandoned Him, turned their faces away from the LORD's tabernacle, and turned their backs on Him.

"Go. Inquire of the LORD for me and for those remaining in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that was found. For great is the LORD's wrath that is poured out on us because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD in order to do everything written in this book."

Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have gone astray and have acted wickedly.

You did more evil than your fathers. Look, each one of you was following the stubbornness of his evil heart, not obeying Me.

Instead, we will do everything we said we would: burn incense to the queen of heaven and offer drink offerings to her just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in Judah's cities and in Jerusalem's streets. Then we had enough food and good things and saw no disaster,

Our fathers sinned; they no longer exist, but we bear their punishment.

LORD, public shame belongs to us, our kings, our leaders, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.

and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by following His instructions that He set before us through His servants the prophets.

But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

for he looks at himself, goes away, and right away forgets what kind of man he was.