Study Desk

As the thief is ashamed when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets

But as a woman may betray her husband, so you have betrayed Me, O house of Israel," declares the LORD.

So put on sackcloth, mourn and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us."

Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?

The prophets are but wind, for the LORD's word is not in them. So let their own words be done to them."

And when the people ask, 'For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' You are to tell them, 'Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.'

Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich.

They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in evil matters. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, so they might prosper, nor have they defended the rights of the needy.

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?"

As a well gushes its water, so she pours out her evil. Violence and destruction resound in her; sickness and wounds are ever before Me.

To whom can I give this warning? Who will listen to me? Look, their ears are closed, so they cannot hear. See, the word of the LORD has become offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.

Were they ashamed of the abomination they committed? No, they were not at all ashamed. They did not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse," says the LORD.

I have appointed you a tester of metals among My people, so you may know and try their ways.

and then come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My name, and say, "We are delivered, so we can continue with all these abominations"?

but this is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that it may go well with you.

For the people of Judah have done evil in My sight, declares the LORD. They have set up their abominations in the house that bears My name, and so have defiled it.

They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire-something I did not command, nor did it enter My mind.

So beware! The days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. For they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.

So you are to tell them this is what the LORD says: 'Do men fall and not get up again? Does one turn away and not return?

The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and snared. They have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom do they really have?