Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose:<\/p>\n
Listen, heaven, and pay attention, earth! The Lord has spoken, \u201cI raised \u231emy\u231f children and helped them grow, but they have rebelled against me. Oxen know their owners, and donkeys know where their masters feed them. But Israel doesn\u2019t know \u231eits owner. My people don\u2019t understand who feeds them.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cHow horrible it will be for a nation that sins. \u231eIts\u231f people are loaded down with guilt. They are descendants of evildoers and destructive children. They have abandoned the Lord. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They have turned their backs on him.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWhy do you still want to be beaten? Why do you continue to rebel? Your whole head is infected. Your whole heart is failing. 6 From the bottom of your feet to the top of your head there is no healthy spot left on your \u231ebody\u231f\u2014 only bruises, sores, and fresh wounds. They haven\u2019t been cleansed, bandaged, or soothed with oil. Your country is devastated. Your cities are burned down. Your fields are destroyed right before your eyes by foreigners. Your fields are devastated and taken over by foreigners. My people Zion are left like a hut in a vineyard, like a shack in a cucumber field, like a city under attack. If the Lord of Armies hadn\u2019t left us a few survivors, we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Listen to the Lord\u2019s word, you rulers of Sodom! Pay attention to the teachings from our God, you people of Gomorrah! The Lord asks, \u201cWhat do your many animal sacrifices mean to me? I\u2019ve had enough of your burnt offerings of rams <\/strong><\/em>and enough fat from your fattened calves. I\u2019m not pleased with the blood of bulls, lambs, or male goats. When you appear in my presence, who asked you to trample on my courtyards? Don\u2019t bring any more worthless grain offerings. Your incense is disgusting to me, so are your New Moon Festivals, your days of rest\u2014holy days, and the assemblies you call. I can\u2019t stand your evil assemblies. I hate your New Moon Festivals and your appointed festivals. They\u2019ve become a burden to me, and I\u2019m tired of putting up with them. So when you stretch out your hands \u231ein prayer\u231f, I will turn my eyes away from you. Even though you offer many prayers, I will not listen because your hands are covered with blood.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Wash yourselves! Become clean! Get your evil deeds out of my sight. Stop doing evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Arrest oppressors. Defend orphans. Plead the case of widows.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Come on now, let\u2019s discuss this!\u201d says the Lord. \u201cThough your sins are bright red, they will become as white as snow. Though they are dark red, they will become as white as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land. <\/strong><\/em>But if you refuse and rebel, you will be destroyed by swords. The Lord has spoken.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n How the faithful town has become a prostitute! She was full of justice, and righteousness lived in her. But now murderers live there! Your silver is not pure. Your wine is watered down. Your rulers are rebels, friends with thieves. They all love bribes and run after gifts. They never defend orphans. They don\u2019t notice the widows\u2019 pleas.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Isaiah 1 (God’s word translation GWT)<\/p>\n Boy, that last paragraph strikes a chord.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose: Listen, heaven, and pay attention, earth! The Lord has spoken, \u201cI raised…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.forensicpath.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.forensicpath.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.forensicpath.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.forensicpath.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.forensicpath.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=915"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.forensicpath.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":916,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.forensicpath.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915\/revisions\/916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.forensicpath.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.forensicpath.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.forensicpath.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}