Study Desk

But your wrong-doings have kept you away from your God. Your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.

Your gates will always be open. They will not be closed day or night, so that men may bring the riches of the nations to you with the kings leading the way.

They are fat and smooth, and have done many sinful acts. They do not do what is right for those whose parents have died so that they may do well. And they do not help fight for the rights of the poor.

Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may make it known? Why is the land destroyed and laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through?

They make it beautiful with silver and gold. They put it together with nails so that it cannot fall apart.

For as the belt holds on to a man's body, so I made the whole family of Israel and the whole family of Judah hold on to Me,' says the Lord. ‘This was so that they might be for Me a people, a name, a praise, and an honor. But they would not listen.'

Have You nothing at all to do with Judah any more? Do You hate Zion? Why have You punished us so that we cannot be healed? We waited for peace, but nothing good came. We waited for a time of healing, but there is much trouble.

For he did not kill me before I was born, so that my mother's body would have been my grave.

In Jerusalem I have seen a very sinful thing among the men of Jerusalem who tell what is going to happen in the future. They do sex sins and tell lies, and give help to those who do sinful things, so that no one turns from his sin. All of them have become like Sodom to Me. The people of Jerusalem have become like Gomorrah."

Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him?" says the Lord. "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the Lord.

But Ahikam the son of Shaphan helped Jeremiah, so that he was not given over to the people to be put to death.

I have not sent them," says the Lord. "They speak false words in My name, so that I may drive you out, and that you may die, both you and the men who tell these things to you."

"This is what the Lord says: ‘If you can break My agreement with the day and night, so that day and night will not come at their set time,

their Hebrew male and female servants so that no one would have a Hebrew servant work for him.

It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the trouble I am planning to bring on them, so that everyone will turn from his sinful way. Then I will forgive their wrong-doing and their sin."

I will show you loving-pity, so that he will have pity on you and let you stay in your own land.

This will be the special thing for you to see,' says the Lord. ‘I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that My words will be sure to stand against you for your hurt.'

But I have taken all that Esau has. I have taken the covering from his hiding places so that he will not be able to hide himself. His children, his brothers, and his neighbors are destroyed. And he is no more.

The One Who saves and makes them free is strong. The Lord of All is His name. He will work hard for their cause, so that He may give rest to the land. But He will not give rest to the people of Babylon.

And say, ‘O Lord, You have said that this place will be destroyed, so that there will be nothing living in it, not man or animal. It is to be a waste place forever.'