Study Desk

"I will put it into the hands of your tormentors, Who have said to you, 'Lie down so that we may walk over you.' You have even made your back like the ground And like the street for those who walk over it."

"Incline your ear [to listen] and come to Me; Hear, so that your soul may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies [promised and] shown to David.

But your wickedness has separated you from your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

"Your gates will be open continually; They shall not be shut day or night, So that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations— With their kings led in procession.

Who led them through the depths [of the Red Sea], Like a horse in the wilderness, [so that] they did not stumble?

'They are fat and they are sleek (prosperous), They excel in acts of wickedness; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the orphan, so that they [the wicked] may prosper, And they do not defend the rights of the poor.

"But this thing I did command them: 'Listen to and obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, so that it may be well with you.'

"I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, And a [funeral] dirge for the pastures of the wilderness, Because they are burned up and desolated so that no one passes through [them]; Nor can anyone hear the lowing of cattle. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they are gone.

Who is the wise man who may understand this [without any doubt]? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, so that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?

"They adorn the idol with silver and with gold; They fasten it with hammers and nails So that it will not fall apart.

"What right has My beloved [to be] in My house When she has done many vile things and acted treacherously [over and over again]? Can vows and the meat of your sacrifices remove your wickedness from you and cancel the consequences of your sin, So that you can [escape your judgment and] rejoice?"

Therefore thus says the LORD regarding the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, "Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, so that you will not die by our hand."

"O LORD, though our many sins testify against us" [prays Jeremiah], "Act now [for us and] for Your name's sake [so that the faithless may witness Your faithfulness]! For our backslidings are countless; We have sinned against You.

Have You [O LORD] completely rejected Judah? Do You loathe Zion? Why have You stricken us so that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace and completeness, but nothing good came; And [we hoped] for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

Therefore, thus says the LORD [to Jeremiah], "If you repent [and give up this mistaken attitude of despair and self-pity], then I will restore you [to a state of inner peace] So that you may stand before Me [as My obedient representative]; And if you separate the precious from the worthless [examining yourself and cleansing your heart from unwarranted doubt concerning My faithfulness], You will become My spokesman. Let the people turn to you [and learn to value My values]— But you, you must not turn to them [with regard for their idolatry and wickedness].

and because you have done worse [things] than your fathers. Just look, every one of you walks in the stubbornness of his own evil heart, so that you do not listen [obediently] to Me.

and say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "This is the way I will break this people and this city as one breaks a potter's vessel, so that it cannot be mended. They will bury [corpses] in Topheth until there is no more room left [in that place] to bury [the dead].

Because he did not kill me before my birth, So that my mother might have been my grave, And her womb always pregnant.

Why did I come out of the womb To see trouble and sorrow, So that my days have been filled with shame?

"Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; They encourage and strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become like Sodom to Me, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.