The Bible, quoted
in its own voices.

“Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land, so that I cut off from it man and animal’— though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only would be delivered themselves. “Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath on it in blood, to cut off from it man and animal— though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only their own souls by their righteousness.”

“You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and to drink.” For the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. It will happen, when you tell this people all these words, and they ask you, ‘Why has the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us?’ or ‘What is our iniquity?’ or ‘What is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?’ then you shall tell them, ‘Because your fathers have forsaken me,’ says the LORD, ‘and have walked after other gods, have served them, have worshiped them, have forsaken me, and have not kept my law. You have done evil more than your fathers, for behold, you each walk after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so that you don’t listen to me. Therefore I will cast you out of this land into the land that you have not known, neither you nor your fathers. There you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’

Truly, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the countries and their land, and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the LORD, even you only.”

Then I looked, and see, in the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. He spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said, “Go in between the whirling wheels, even under the cherub, and fill both your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” He went in as I watched. Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. The LORD’s glory mounted up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD’s glory. The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

My salvation and my honor is with God. The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Selah. Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath. Don’t trust in oppression. Don’t become vain in robbery. If riches increase, don’t set your heart on them. God has spoken once; twice I have heard this, that power belongs to God. Also to you, Lord, belongs loving kindness, for you reward every man according to his work.

Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and took the belt from the place where I had hidden it; and behold, the belt was ruined. It was profitable for nothing. Then the LORD’s word came to me, saying, “The LORD says, ‘In this way I will ruin the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and have gone after other gods to serve them and to worship them, will even be as this belt, which is profitable for nothing. For as the belt clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to me,’ says the LORD; ‘that they may be to me for a people, for a name, for praise, and for glory; but they would not hear.’

But I determined this for myself, that I would not come to you again in sorrow. For if I make you grieve, then who will make me glad but he who is made to grieve by me? And I wrote this very thing to you, so that when I came, I wouldn’t have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all that my joy would be shared by all of you. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you should be made to grieve, but that you might know the love that I have so abundantly for you.

He said, “Listen now, house of David. Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat butter and honey when he knows to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken. The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah, even the king of Assyria.

Behold, they spew with their mouth. Swords are in their lips, “For”, they say, “who hears us?” But you, LORD, laugh at them. You scoff at all the nations. Oh, my Strength, I watch for you, for God is my high tower. My God will go before me with his loving kindness. God will let me look at my enemies in triumph. Don’t kill them, or my people may forget. Scatter them by your power, and bring them down, Lord our shield.

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts. They, having become callous, gave themselves up to lust, to work all uncleanness with greediness.