So Saul asked God, "Shall I attack the Philistines? Will you give us victory?" But God did not answer that day.

instead of consulting the LORD. So the LORD killed him and gave control of the kingdom to David son of Jesse.

when it comes on you like a storm, bringing fierce winds of trouble, and you are in pain and misery.

Then you will call for wisdom, but I will not answer. You may look for me everywhere, but you will not find me.

The gates lie buried in rubble, their bars smashed to pieces. The king and the noblemen now are in exile. The Law is no longer taught, and the prophets have no visions from the LORD.

It was the tenth day of the fifth month of the seventh year of our exile. Some of the leaders of the Israelite community came to consult me about the LORD's will, and they sat down in front of me.

"Mortal man," he said, "speak to these leaders and tell them that the Sovereign LORD is saying: You have come to ask my will, have you? As surely as I am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken.

We know that God does not listen to sinners; he does listen to people who respect him and do what he wants them to do.

And when you ask, you do not receive it, because your motives are bad; you ask for things to use for your own pleasures.

He dreamed that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and coming down on it.

They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations.

God spoke to him in a vision at night and called, "Jacob, Jacob!" "Yes, here I am," he answered.

I will go with you to Egypt, and I will bring your descendants back to this land. Joseph will be with you when you die."

and the LORD said, "Now hear what I have to say! When there are prophets among you, I reveal myself to them in visions and speak to them in dreams.

Although God speaks again and again, no one pays attention to what he says.

He makes them listen to what he says, and they are frightened at his warnings.

The prophet who has had a dream should say it is only a dream, but the prophet who has heard my message should proclaim that message faithfully. What good is straw compared with wheat?

While he was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife. For it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived.

and in the fourth row, a beryl, a carnelian, and a jasper. These are to be mounted in gold settings.

He will depend on Eleazar the priest, who will learn my will by using the Urim and Thummim. In this way Eleazar will direct Joshua and the whole community of Israel in all their affairs."

About the tribe of Levi he said: "You, LORD, reveal your will by the Urim and Thummim Through your faithful servants, the Levites; You put them to the test at Massah And proved them true at the waters of Meribah.

All our sacred symbols are gone; there are no prophets left, and no one knows how long this will last.

The gates lie buried in rubble, their bars smashed to pieces. The king and the noblemen now are in exile. The Law is no longer taught, and the prophets have no visions from the LORD.

"Mortal man," he said, "speak to these leaders and tell them that the Sovereign LORD is saying: You have come to ask my will, have you? As surely as I am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken.