Isaiah 45:18 The LORD created the heavens. He is the God who formed the earth and made it. He did not want it to be empty, but he wanted life on the earth. This is what the LORD says: "I am the LORD. There is no other God.
19 I did not speak in secret or hide my words in some dark place. I did not tell the family of Jacob to look for me in empty places. I am the LORD, and I speak the truth; I say what is right.
20 You people who have escaped from other nations, gather together and come before me; come near together. People who carry idols of wood don't know what they are doing. They pray to a god who cannot save them.
21 Tell these people to come to me. Let them talk about these things together. Who told you long ago that this would happen? Who told about it long ago? I, the LORD, said these things. There is no other God besides me. I am the only good God. I am the Savior. There is no other God.
22 All people everywhere, follow me and be saved. I am God. There is no other God.
23 I will make a promise by my own power, and my promise is true; what I say will not be changed. I promise that everyone will bow before me and will promise to follow me.
24 People will say about me, 'Goodness and power comes only from the LORD.'" Everyone who has been angry with him will come to him and be ashamed.
25 But with the LORD's help, the people of Israel will be found to be good, and they will praise him. (NCV™)
Job 36:5 "God is powerful, but he does not hate people; he is powerful and sure of what he wants to do.
6 He will not keep evil people alive, but he gives the poor their rights.
7 He always watches over those who do right; he sets them on thrones with kings and they are honored forever.
8 If people are bound in chains, or if trouble, like ropes, ties them up,
9 God tells them what they have done, that they have sinned in their pride.
10 God makes them listen to his warning and commands them to change from doing evil.
11 If they obey and serve him, the rest of their lives will be successful, and the rest of their years will be happy.
12 But if they do not listen, they will die by the sword, and they will die without knowing why.
13 Those who have wicked hearts hold on to anger. Even when God punishes them, they do not cry for help.
14 They die while they are still young, and their lives end in disgrace.
15 But God saves those who suffer through their suffering; he gets them to listen through their pain.
16 God is gently calling you from the jaws of trouble to an open place of freedom where he has set your table full of the best food.
17 But now you are being punished like the wicked; you are getting justice.
18 Be careful! Don't be led away from God by riches; don't let much money turn you away.
19 Neither your wealth nor all your great strength will keep you out of trouble.
20 Don't wish for the night when people are taken from their homes.
21 Be careful not to turn to evil, which you seem to want more than suffering.
22 God is great and powerful; no other teacher is like him.
23 No one has planned his ways for him; no one can say to God, 'You have done wrong.'" (NCV™)
Ezekiel 18:21 "If an evil man stops sinning and keeps my laws, if he does what is right and good, he will not die; he will certainly live.
22 All his sins will be forgiven, and he will live, because he did what is right.
23 Do you think I enjoy seeing an evil man die?" asks the Sovereign LORD. "No, I would rather see him repent and live.
24 But if a righteous man stops doing good and starts doing all the evil, disgusting things that evil men do, will he go on living? No! None of the good he did will be remembered. He will die because of his unfaithfulness and his sins.
25 But you say, 'What the Lord does isn't right.' Listen to me, you Israelites. You think my way of doing things isn't right? It is your way that isn't right.
26 When a righteous man stops doing good and starts doing evil and then dies, he dies because of the evil he has done.
27 When an evil man stops sinning and does what is right and good, he saves his life.
28 He realizes what he is doing and stops sinning, so he will certainly not die, but go on living.
29 And you Israelites say, 'What the Lord does isn't right.' You think my way isn't right, do you? It is your way that isn't right.
30 Now I, the Sovereign LORD, am telling you Israelites that I will judge each of you by what he has done. Turn away from all the evil you are doing, and don't let your sin destroy you.
31 Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts. Why do you Israelites want to die?
32 I do not want anyone to die," says the Sovereign LORD. "Turn away from your sins and live." (GNT)
Lamentations 3:25 The LORD is good to everyone who trusts in him,
26 So it is best for us to wait in patience — to wait for him to save us —
27 And it is best to learn this patience in our youth.
28 When we suffer, we should sit alone in silent patience;
29 We should bow in submission, for there may still be hope.
30 Though beaten and insulted, we should accept it all.
31 The Lord is merciful and will not reject us for ever.
32 He may bring us sorrow, but his love for us is sure and strong.
33 He takes no pleasure in causing us grief or pain.
34 The Lord knows when our spirits are crushed in prison;
35 He know when we are denied the rights he gave us;
36 When justice is perverted in court, he knows.
37 The will of the Lord alone is always carried out.
38 Good and evil alike [NIV: both calamaties and good things] take place at his command.
39 Why should we ever complain when we are punished for our sin?
40 Let us examine our ways and turn back to the LORD.
41 Let us open our hearts to God in heaven and pray. (GNT)
Isaiah 55:6 Turn to the LORD and pray to him, now that he is near.
7 Let the wicked leave their way of life and change their way of thinking. Let them turn to the LORD, our God; he is merciful and quick to forgive.
8 "My thoughts," says the LORD, "are not like yours, and my ways are different from yours.
9 As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways and thoughts above yours." (GNT)
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