Study Desk

Yet they did not obey or listen. Every one walked in his own strong-will because of his sinful heart. So I brought upon them all the words of this agreement, which I told them to do, but they did not.'"

"So do not pray for these people. Do not lift up a cry or prayer for them. For I will not listen when they call to Me because of their trouble.

The Lord of All, Who planted you, has said that bad will come to you because of the sin of the people of Israel and of the people of Judah. They have done wrong to make Me angry by burning special perfume to the false god Baal.

How long will the land be filled with sorrow? How long will the grass of every field dry up? For the sin of those who live in it, animals and birds have been taken away, because men have said, "He will not see what happens to us."

It has been laid waste. Destroyed and empty, it cries with sorrow before Me. The whole land has been laid waste, because no one cares.

They have planted grain and have gathered thorns. They have worked hard, but have nothing. Be ashamed of what you gather because of the burning anger of the Lord."

But if you will not listen, my soul will cry in secret because of your pride. My eyes will cry with a bitter cry and tears will flow down, because the Lord's people have been taken away in chains.

And if you say in your heart, ‘Why have these things happened to me?' It is because of your many sins that your clothing has been torn off and you suffer punishment.

This is what you get, the share given to you from Me," says the Lord, "because you have forgotten Me and trusted in lies.

The ground is dried up because there has been no rain on the land. The farmers have been put to shame and have covered their heads.

Even the deer in the field leaves her young one which has just been born, because there is no grass.

The wild donkeys stand on the open hill-tops. They breathe hard for air like wild dogs. Their eyes become weak because there is nothing to eat.

And the people they tell these things to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of hunger and the sword. There will be no one to bury them, or their wives, or their sons, or their daughters. For I will pour out their own sin upon them.

If I go out to the country, I see those killed by the sword! Or if I go into the city, I see diseases because of hunger! For both the man who speaks for God and the religious leader have gone around and around in the land they do not know.'"

I will make them an object of much fear and hate among all the nations of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.

I will give your money and riches to those who fight against you, without a price, because of all your sins in all your land.

O Lord, You understand. Remember me and visit me. And punish those who make it hard for me. Do not take me away, for You are slow to be angry. Know that because of You I suffer and am put to shame.

I did not sit with those who were having fun, and I was not full of joy. I sat alone because Your hand was upon me. For You had filled me with hate for their sin.

Then you tell them, ‘It is because your fathers before you have turned away from Me,' says the Lord. ‘They have followed other gods and served them and worshiped them. But they have left Me and have not kept My Law.

And I will pay them back twice as much for their wrong-doing and their sin, because they have made My land unclean. They have filled My land with the bodies of their hated false gods and with sinful things offered to them."