Study Desk

Why are your clothes so red, as if you have been treading out grapes?

I was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So I myself stepped in to save them with my strong arm, and my wrath sustained me.

But they rebelled against him and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he became their enemy and fought against them.

Lord , why have you allowed us to turn from your path? Why have you given us stubborn hearts so we no longer fear you? Return and help us, for we are your servants, the tribes that are your special possession.

Don't be so angry with us, Lord . Please don't remember our sins forever. Look at us, we pray, and see that we are all your people.

"But I will not destroy them all," says the Lord . "For just as good grapes are found among a cluster of bad ones (and someone will say, ‘Don't throw them all away— some of those grapes are good!'), so I will not destroy all Israel. For I still have true servants there.

All who invoke a blessing or take an oath will do so by the God of truth. For I will put aside my anger and forget the evil of earlier days.

"I can see what they are doing, and I know what they are thinking. So I will gather all nations and peoples together, and they will see my glory.

"As surely as my new heavens and earth will remain, so will you always be my people, with a name that will never disappear," says the Lord .

This is what the Lord says: "What did your ancestors find wrong with me that led them to stray so far from me? They worshiped worthless idols, only to become worthless themselves.

"If a man divorces a woman and she goes and marries someone else, he will not take her back again, for that would surely corrupt the land. But you have prostituted yourself with many lovers, so why are you trying to come back to me?" says the Lord .

Surely you won't be angry forever! Surely you can forget about it!' So you talk, but you keep on doing all the evil you can."

Israel treated it all so lightly—she thought nothing of committing adultery by worshiping idols made of wood and stone. So now the land has been polluted.

Then when you swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,' you could do so with truth, justice, and righteousness. Then you would be a blessing to the nations of the world, and all people would come and praise my name."

So put on clothes of mourning and weep with broken hearts, for the fierce anger of the Lord is still upon us.

So I will go and speak to their leaders. Surely they know the ways of the Lord and understand God's laws." But the leaders, too, as one man, had thrown off God's yoke and broken his chains.

So now a lion from the forest will attack them; a wolf from the desert will pounce on them. A leopard will lurk near their towns, tearing apart any who dare to venture out. For their rebellion is great, and their sins are many.

They will devour the food of your harvest; they will devour your sons and daughters. They will devour your flocks and herds; they will devour your grapes and figs. And they will destroy your fortified towns, which you think are so safe.

So now I am filled with the Lord 's fury. Yes, I am tired of holding it in! "I will pour out my fury on children playing in the streets and on gatherings of young men, on husbands and wives and on those who are old and gray.

So just as I destroyed Shiloh, I will now destroy this Temple that bears my name, this Temple that you trust in for help, this place that I gave to you and your ancestors.