11. The Lord spoke to me with his great power and warned me not to be like these people. He said,
12. “Don’t think there is a plan against you just because the people say there is. Don’t be afraid of what they fear. Don’t let them frighten you!”
13. The Lord All-Powerful is the one you should fear. He is the one you should respect. He is the one who should frighten you.
14. If you people would respect him, he would be a safe place for you. But you don’t respect him, so he is like a stone that you stumble over. He is a rock that makes both families of Israel fall. He has become a trap that all the people of Jerusalem will fall into.
15. (Many people will trip over this rock. They will fall and be broken. They will be caught in the trap.)
16. The Lord said, “Write this agreement. Tie it up and seal it so that it cannot be changed. Give these teachings to my followers for safekeeping.”
17. The Lord has turned away from the family of Jacob. But I will wait for him. I trust that he will come to save us.
18. Here I am with the children the Lord has given me. We are here as signs from the Lord All-Powerful, who lives on Mount Zion. He is using us to show his plans for the people of Israel.
19. The people will say, “Go to the fortunetellers and wizards who mumble and chirp like birds. Ask them what to do.” But I say, “Shouldn’t people go to their God for help? Why go to the dead to get help for the living?”
20. You should follow the teachings and the agreement. I swear, if you follow those other things, there is no future for you.
21. When the enemy comes, there will be hard times and hunger. And when he becomes hungry, he will become angry. He will say curses in the name of his king and his gods. Then he will lift his head upwards like a roaring lion.
22. And when the captives turn their faces to the ground, there is only a depressing darkness closing in—the dark sadness of people forced to leave their country.