Micaiah went on: "Now listen to what the LORD says! I saw the LORD sitting on his throne in heaven, with all his angels standing beside him.

Jerusalem, your rulers and your people are like those of Sodom and Gomorrah. Listen to what the LORD is saying to you. Pay attention to what our God is teaching you.

Now you arrogant leaders who rule here in Jerusalem over this people, listen to what the LORD is saying.

Come, people of all nations! Gather around and listen. Let the whole earth and everyone living on it come here and listen.

Listen to what the LORD says, you that fear him and obey him: "Because you are faithful to me, some of your own people hate you and will have nothing to do with you. They mock you and say, 'Let the LORD show his greatness and save you, so that we may see you rejoice.' But they themselves will be disgraced!

Listen to the LORD's message, you descendants of Jacob, you tribes of Israel.

(SEE 7:1)

I said, "Listen to the LORD, you women, and pay attention to his words. Teach your daughters how to mourn, and your friends how to sing a funeral song.

The LORD told me to say, "Kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem, listen to what I, the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, have to say. I am going to bring such a disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will be stunned.

Zedekiah, listen to what I say about you. You will not be killed in battle.

So now listen to what the LORD says. You tell me to stop prophesying, to stop raving against the people of Israel.

"If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches! "Those who win the victory will not be hurt by the second death.

"If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!

The LORD has an accusation to bring against the people of Judah; he is also going to punish Israel for the way her people act. He will pay them back for what they have done.

The LORD says, "Now, let's settle the matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool.

The LORD is ready to state his case; he is ready to judge his people.

The LORD is bringing the elders and leaders of his people to judgment. He makes this accusation: "You have plundered vineyards, and your houses are full of what you have taken from the poor.

So now my friend says, "You people who live in Jerusalem and Judah, judge between my vineyard and me.

This is the time when the LORD will rescue Zion and take vengeance on her enemies.

and the sound will echo to the ends of the earth. The LORD has a case against the nations. He will bring all people to trial and put the wicked to death. The LORD has spoken.' "

You mountains, you everlasting foundations of the earth, listen to the LORD's case! The LORD has a case against his people. He is going to bring an accusation against Israel.

We have rebelled against you, rejected you, and refused to follow you. We have oppressed others and turned away from you. Our thoughts are false; our words are lies.

There is so little honesty that those who stop doing evil find themselves the victims of crime." The LORD has seen this, and he is displeased that there is no justice.

Everyone, great and small, tries to make money dishonestly; even prophets and priests cheat the people.

(SEE 7:1)

"Change the way you are living and stop doing the things you are doing. Be fair in your treatment of one another.

There is not an honest person left in the land, no one loyal to God. Everyone is waiting for a chance to commit murder. Everyone hunts down their own people.

Even the best and most honest of them are as worthless as weeds. The day has come when God will punish the people, as he warned them through their watchmen, the prophets. Now they are in confusion.

The LORD says, "My people are stupid; they don't know me. They are like foolish children; they have no understanding. They are experts at doing what is evil, but failures at doing what is good."

The earth will mourn; the sky will grow dark. The LORD has spoken and will not change his mind. He has made his decision and will not turn back.

Then I thought, "These are only the poor and ignorant. They behave foolishly; they don't know what their God requires, what the LORD wants them to do.

You have never known him, but I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I obey his word.

Because those people refuse to keep in mind the true knowledge about God, he has given them over to corrupted minds, so that they do the things that they should not do.

Come back to your right senses and stop your sinful ways. I declare to your shame that some of you do not know God.