Go to the exiles (Ezek 3:10-3:11)

“Yahweh said to me.

‘Son of man!

All my words

That I shall speak

To you,

Receive in your heart!

Hear with your ears!

Then go to the exiles!

Go to your people!

Speak to them!

Say to them!

‘Thus says Yahweh God!’

Whether they hear

Or refuse to hear.’”

Yahweh told Ezekiel, the son of man, everything that he was to say. Ezekiel was to receive into his heart and hear with his ears all that Yahweh would tell him. Ezekiel was then to go to the exiles, his people. He was to say to them ‘Thus says Yahweh God!’ It did not matter whether they heard him or refused to hear him. He was to bring this message, pure and simple.

The punishment of Shemaiah (Jer 29:30-29:32)

“Then the word of Yahweh

Came to Jeremiah.

‘Send to all the exiles!

Saying!

Thus says Yahweh

Concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam!

Shemaiah has prophesied to you,

Even though I did not send him.

He has led you

To trust in a lie.

Therefore thus says Yahweh!

I am going to punish

Shemaiah of Nehelam

With his descendants.

He shall not have any one living

Among his people

To see the good

That I am going to do

To my people.

Says Yahweh!

He has talked rebellion

Against Yahweh.’”

Yahweh then told Jeremiah to utter an oracle against Shemaiah. Jeremiah was to send this message to all the exiles. Shemaiah had prophesied to them without being sent by Yahweh. He led them to trust in his own lies. Therefore Shemaiah was going to be punished, including his descendents. None of them would see the good things that Yahweh had planned for his people. Shemaiah should not have talked rebelliously against Yahweh. He and his family would not see the return to Israel. Shemaiah had said that Jeremiah was a crazy man. Thus Jeremiah was now calling Shemaiah a false prophet.

The great storm flood (Isa 28:17-28:19)

Hail will sweep away

The refuge of lies.

Waters will overwhelm

The shelter.

Then your covenant with death

Will be annulled.

Your agreement with Sheol

Will not stand.

When the overwhelming scourge

Passes through,

You will be beaten down by it.

As often as it passes through,

It will take you.

Morning by morning,

It will pass through.

By day and by night,

It will pass through.

It will be sheer terror

To understand the message.”

Isaiah remarks that as for the lies of the former rulers, their refuge and shelters will be destroyed and swept away by hail and flooding. Their covenant with death, mentioned above, will be annulled. Their agreement with Sheol will fall apart. This storm scourge will beat them down as it goes through each day and night. The sheer terror of this storm will help them to understand this message.

Judith goes out to pray (Jdt 12:5-12:9)

“Then the servants of General Holofernes brought her into the tent. She slept until midnight. Toward the morning watch she got up. She sent this message to General Holofernes.

‘Let my lord now give orders to allow your servant

To go out and pray.’

So General Holofernes commanded his guards not to hinder her. She remained in the camp three days. She went out each night to the valley of Bethulia. She bathed at the spring in the camp. After bathing, she prayed the Lord God of Israel to direct her way for the triumph of his people. Then she returned purified. She stayed in the tent until she ate her food toward evening.”

Judith seems to have a tent near the general or in part of the general’s tent. She slept until midnight. However, at the morning watch she sent a message to the general. She wanted her and her servant to go out to pray. Then General Holofernes ordered his guards to let her go. She stayed in the army camp 3 days. Each night she would go out to the valley of Bethulia and bathe in the guarded springs. Then she would pray to the God of Israel for direction. Once purified or cleansed, she would return to the tent and eat her food at night. This seems like a simple routine so that she would not be suspected of anything.