Study Desk

The Lord told me to say to the people of Judah: I am the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, but I won't accept sacrifices from you. So don't even bother bringing them to me. You might as well just cook the meat for yourselves.

But your ancestors refused to listen. They were stubborn, and whenever I wanted them to go one way, they always went the other.

But you have ignored me and become even more stubborn and sinful than your ancestors ever were!

So you must say to them: People of Judah, I am the Lord your God, but you have refused to obey me, and you didn't change when I punished you. And now, you no longer even pretend to be faithful to me.

Some of you people of Judah will be left alive, but I will force you to go to foreign countries, and you will wish you were dead. I, the Lord God All-Powerful, have spoken.

I listen carefully, but none of you admit that you've done wrong. Without a second thought, you run down the wrong road like cavalry troops charging into battle.

Storks, doves, swallows, and thrushes all know when it's time to fly away for the winter and when to come back. But you, my people, don't know what I demand.

You say, "We are wise because we have the teachings and laws of the Lord ." But I say that your teachers have turned my words into lies!

They should be ashamed of their disgusting sins, but they don't even blush. And so, when I punish Judah, they will end up on the ground, dead like everyone else.

We had hoped for peace and a time of healing, but all we got was terror.

The people complain, "Spring and summer have come and gone, but still the Lord hasn't rescued us."

They say they want peace, but this lie is deadly, like an arrow that strikes when you least expect it.

'We were in our fortress, but death sneaked in through our windows. It even struck down children at play and our strongest young men.'

Someday I will punish the nations of Egypt, Edom, Ammon, and Moab, and the tribes of the desert. The men of these nations are circumcised, but they don't worship me. And it's the same with you people of Judah. Your bodies are circumcised, but your hearts are unchanged.

But you, Israel's God, created all things, and you chose Israel to be your very own. Your name is the Lord All-Powerful.

But I told them, "Our leaders were stupid failures, because they refused to listen to the Lord . And so we've been scattered like sheep.

Correct me, as I deserve, but not in your anger, or I will be dead.

Ever since I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, I have been telling your people to obey me. But you and your ancestors

Here is what I've decided to do. I will bring suffering on the people of Judah and Jerusalem, and no one will escape. They will beg me to help, but I won't listen to their prayers.

Then they will offer sacrifices to their other gods and ask them for help. After all, the people of Judah have more gods than towns, and more altars for Baal than there are streets in Jerusalem. But those gods won't be able to rescue the people of Judah from disaster.