If they are taken away into captivity by their enemies, I will order them to be put to death. I am determined to destroy them, not to help them."

The LORD is in his holy temple; he has his throne in heaven. He watches people everywhere and knows what they are doing.

He sends down flaming coals and burning sulfur on the wicked; he punishes them with scorching winds.

The LORD sees everything you do. Wherever you go, he is watching.

The LORD sees what happens everywhere; he is watching us, whether we do good or evil.

I will see to it that you will not prosper, but will be destroyed. All of you will die, either in war or of disease, until not one of you is left.

that he said, "I will wipe out these people I have created, and also the animals and the birds, because I am sorry that I made any of them."

Seven days from now I am going to send rain that will fall for forty days and nights, in order to destroy all the living beings that I have made."

If you do worship other gods, the LORD's anger will come against you like fire and will destroy you completely, because the LORD your God, who is present with you, tolerates no rivals.

This sin on his part brought about the ruin and total destruction of his dynasty.

Gomer had a second child---this time it was a daughter. The LORD said to Hosea, "Name her 'Unloved,' because I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them.

Israel's greatness will fly away like a bird, and there will be no more children born to them, no more women pregnant, no more children conceived.

LORD, I can see their children being hunted down and killed.

The LORD says, "All their evildoing began in Gilgal. It was there that I began to hate them. And because of the evil they have done, I will drive them out of my land. I will not love them any more; all their leaders have rebelled against me.

The God I serve will reject his people, because they have not listened to him. They will become wanderers among the nations.

Even though Israel flourishes like weeds, I will send a hot east wind from the desert, and it will dry up their springs and wells. It will take away everything of value.

Samaria must be punished for rebelling against me. Her people will die in war; babies will be dashed to the ground, and pregnant women will be ripped open."

He is a merciful God. He will not abandon you or destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant that he himself made with your ancestors.

Israel has not been punished by the LORD as severely as its enemies nor lost as many people.

The LORD punished his people by sending them into exile. He took them away with a cruel wind from the east.

I will send enemies to cut down my people's vineyards, but not to destroy them completely. I will tell them to strip away the branches, because those branches are not mine.

I will come to you and save you. I will destroy all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not destroy you. I will not let you go unpunished; but when I punish you, I will be fair. I, the LORD, have spoken."

The LORD provides the sun for light by day, the moon and the stars to shine at night. He stirs up the sea and makes it roar; his name is the LORD Almighty.

He promises that as long as the natural order lasts, so long will Israel be a nation.

"Have you noticed how people are saying that I have rejected Israel and Judah, the two families that I chose? And so they look with contempt on my people and no longer consider them a nation.

And just as surely as I have done this, so I will maintain my covenant with Jacob's descendants and with my servant David. I will choose one of David's descendants to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will be merciful to my people and make them prosperous again."

But all who ask the LORD for help will be saved. As the LORD has said, 'Some in Jerusalem will escape; those whom I choose will survive.' "

My people have drunk a bitter cup of punishment on my sacred hill. But all the surrounding nations will drink a still more bitter cup of punishment; they will drink it all and vanish away.

"But on Mount Zion some will escape, and it will be a sacred place. The people of Jacob will possess the land that is theirs by right.

I ask, then: Did God reject his own people? Certainly not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

"Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me."

It is the same way now: there is a small number left of those whom God has chosen because of his grace.

What then? The people of Israel did not find what they were looking for. It was only the small group that God chose who found it; the rest grew deaf to God's call.