Study Desk

"Then they will go out and look At the corpses of the people Who have rebelled against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be extinguished; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind."

"For, behold, I am calling all the families of the kingdoms of the north," declares the LORD; "and they will come and place, each one of them, his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls around, and against all the cities of Judah.

"And I will pronounce My judgments against them concerning all their wickedness, since they have abandoned Me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands.

"And they will fight against you but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to save you," declares the LORD.

This is what the LORD says: "What injustice did your fathers find in Me, That they went far from Me, And walked after emptiness and became empty?

"They did not say, 'Where is the LORD Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, Through a land of deserts and of pits, Through a land of drought and of deep darkness, Through a land that no one crossed And where no person lived?'

"The young lions have roared at him, They have roared loudly. And they have made his land a waste; His cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant.

"Like the shame of a thief when he is discovered, So the house of Israel is shamed; They, their kings, their leaders, Their priests, and their prophets,

Who say to a tree, 'You are my father,' And to a stone, 'You gave me birth.' For they have turned their backs to Me, And not their faces; But in the time of their trouble they will say, 'Arise and save us!'

"And it shall be in those days when you become numerous and are fruitful in the land," declares the LORD, "they will no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of the LORD.' And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor miss it, nor will it be made again.

"At that time they will call Jerusalem 'The Throne of the LORD,' and all the nations will assemble at it, at Jerusalem, for the name of the LORD; and they will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil heart.

"In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.

And if you will swear, 'As the LORD lives,' In truth, in justice, and in righteousness; Then the nations will bless themselves in Him, And in Him they will boast."

"Report it to the nations, now! Proclaim to Jerusalem, 'Enemies are coming from a remote country, And they raise their voices against the cities of Judah.

"For My people are foolish, They do not know Me; They are foolish children And have no understanding. They are skillful at doing evil, But they do not know how to do good."

I looked at the earth, and behold, it was a formless and desolate emptiness; And to the heavens, and they had no light.

I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, And all the hills jolted back and forth.

At the sound of the horseman and archer every city flees; They go into the thickets and climb among the rocks; Every city is abandoned, And no one lives in them.

And you, desolate one, what will you do? Although you dress in scarlet, Although you adorn yourself with jewelry of gold, Although you enlarge your eyes with makeup, In vain you make yourself beautiful. Your lovers despise you; They seek your life.

"And although they say, 'As the LORD lives,' Certainly they swear falsely."