1 Kings 12:11

¹⁰Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in the prison; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.

¹¹But the nation that brings their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, that nation I will let remain in their own land,’ says the LORD; ‘and they will till it and dwell in it.’”’”

¹⁸You will cry out in that day because of your king whom you will have chosen for yourselves; and the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

¹⁸Go therefore now, and work; for no straw shall be given to you; yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks!”

¹³The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve, ¹⁴and they made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and in brick, and in all kinds of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.

³Then out of the smoke came locusts on the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. ⁴They were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those people who don’t have God’s seal on their foreheads. ⁵They were given power, not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a person. ⁶In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them.

⁷The shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for war. On their heads were something like golden crowns, and their faces were like people’s faces. ⁸They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like those of lions. ⁹They had breastplates like breastplates of iron. The sound of their wings was like the sound of many chariots and horses rushing to war. ¹⁰They have tails like those of scorpions, with stingers. In their tails they have power to harm men for five months.

⁵Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens.” ⁶The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, ⁷“You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸You shall require from them the number of the bricks which they made before. You shall not diminish anything of it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, saying, ‘Let’s go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹Let heavier work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it. Don’t let them pay any attention to lying words.”

¹³“Go, and tell Hananiah, saying, ‘The LORD says, “You have broken the bars of wood, but you have made in their place bars of iron.” ¹⁴For the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says, “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they will serve him. I have also given him the animals of the field.”’”

¹⁴and spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”

⁶“Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?