"[You] looked for much, but indeed [it came to] little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?" says the LORD of hosts. "Because of My house that [is in] ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house.

Now Joseph [was] governor over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed down before him with [their] faces to the earth.

But they did not know that Joseph understood [them,] for he spoke to them through an interpreter.

But as one [of them] opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack.

"The LORD will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish.

" When there is famine in the land, pestilence [or] blight [or] mildew, locusts [or] grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness [there is;]

" When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness [there is;]

Therefore their inhabitants [had] little power; They were dismayed and confounded; They were [as] the grass of the field And the green herb, [As] the grass on the housetops And [grain] blighted before it is grown.

"I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased, Your vineyards, Your fig trees, And your olive trees, The locust devoured [them;] Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the LORD.

"Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now.

He who feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt -- on man, on beast, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt."

So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel [were,] there was no hail.

"Entreat the LORD, that there may be no [more] mighty thundering and hail, for [it is] enough. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer."

Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one, Like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, Like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, Who will bring [them] down to the earth with [His] hand.

"For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of [your] hands."

He also gave their crops to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust.

The LORD has sworn by His right hand And by the arm of His strength: "Surely I will no longer give your grain [As] food for your enemies; And the sons of the foreigner shall not drink your new wine, For which you have labored.

For shame has devoured The labor of our fathers from our youth -- Their flocks and their herds, Their sons and their daughters.

Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the LORD. This [is that] King Ahaz.

" But the hypocrites in heart store up wrath; They do not cry for help when He binds them.

For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them, Nor do they seek the LORD of hosts.

Therefore He has poured on him the fury of His anger And the strength of battle; It has set him on fire all around, Yet he did not know; And it burned him, Yet he did not take [it] to heart.

O LORD, [are] not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, But they have not grieved; You have consumed them, But they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to return.

Thus says the LORD: "Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way [is,] And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk [in it.']

Also, I set watchmen over you, [saying,] 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not listen.'

" Moreover you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD: "Will they fall and not rise? Will one turn away and not return?

I listened and heard, [But] they do not speak aright. No man repented of his wickedness, Saying, 'What have I done?' Everyone turned to his own course, As the horse rushes into the battle.

Aliens have devoured his strength, But he does not know [it;] Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him, Yet he does not know [it.]

And the pride of Israel testifies to his face, But they do not return to the LORD their God, Nor seek Him for all this.

So two [or] three cities wandered to another city to drink water, But they were not satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the LORD.

"I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt; Your young men I killed with a sword, Along with your captive horses; I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the LORD.

"The LORD has been very angry with your fathers.

"Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets preached, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds." ' But they did not hear nor heed Me," says the LORD.

"Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion Everyone to his brother.

"But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear.

"Therefore it happened, [that] just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen," says the LORD of hosts.

"And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.

But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.

And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.