And now you have taken your ancestors' place, a new generation of sinful people ready to bring down the fierce anger of the LORD on Israel again.

They said, "Don't bring those prisoners here! We have already sinned against the LORD and made him angry enough to punish us. Now you want to do something that will increase our guilt."

When his troubles were at their worst, that man Ahaz sinned against the LORD more than ever.

But you have a hard and stubborn heart, and so you are making your own punishment even greater on the Day when God's anger and righteous judgments will be revealed.

If you had your way, no one would fear God; no one would pray to him.

What hope is there for the godless in the hour when God demands their life?

They should have desired the joy he gives; they should have constantly prayed to him.

When people are oppressed, they groan; they cry for someone to save them.

But they don't turn to God, their Creator, who gives them hope in their darkest hours.

'Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' the king asked him. But the man said nothing.

Then the king told the servants, 'Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him outside in the dark. There he will cry and gnash his teeth.' "

But if people are bound in chains, suffering for what they have done,

Some were living in gloom and darkness, prisoners suffering in chains,