Study Desk

Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.

Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come.

God says, "Rebuild the road! Clear away the rocks and stones so my people can return from captivity."

There is no peace for the wicked," says my God.

Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about me. They act like a righteous nation that would never abandon the laws of its God. They ask me to take action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near me.

It's your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.

For our sins are piled up before God and testify against us. Yes, we know what sinners we are.

We know we have rebelled and have denied the Lord . We have turned our backs on our God. We know how unfair and oppressive we have been, carefully planning our deceitful lies.

They are ships from the ends of the earth, from lands that trust in me, led by the great ships of Tarshish. They are bringing the people of Israel home from far away, carrying their silver and gold. They will honor the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has filled you with splendor.

"No longer will you need the sun to shine by day, nor the moon to give its light by night, for the Lord your God will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.

You will be called priests of the Lord , ministers of our God. You will feed on the treasures of the nations and boast in their riches.

I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels.

The Lord will hold you in his hand for all to see— a splendid crown in the hand of God.

Never again will you be called "The Forsaken City" or "The Desolate Land." Your new name will be "The City of God's Delight" and "The Bride of God," for the Lord delights in you and will claim you as his bride.

Your children will commit themselves to you, O Jerusalem, just as a young man commits himself to his bride. Then God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.

For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!

"But because the rest of you have forsaken the Lord and have forgotten his Temple, and because you have prepared feasts to honor the god of Fate and have offered mixed wine to the god of Destiny,

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.

Would I ever bring this nation to the point of birth and then not deliver it?" asks the Lord . "No! I would never keep this nation from being born," says your God.

Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones, even though they are not gods at all? Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols!