Study Desk

They take their sheep and cattle to offer as sacrifices to the Lord , but it does them no good. They cannot find him, for he has left them.

"When Israel saw how sick she was and when Judah saw her own wounds, then Israel went to Assyria to ask the great emperor for help, but he could not cure them or heal their wounds.

The people say, "Let's return to the Lord ! He has hurt us, but he will be sure to heal us; he has wounded us, but he will bandage our wounds, won't he?

But the Lord says, "Israel and Judah, what am I going to do with you? Your love for me disappears as quickly as morning mist; it is like dew, that vanishes early in the day.

"But as soon as they entered the land at Adam, they broke the covenant I had made with them.

It never enters their heads that I will remember all this evil; but their sins surround them, and I cannot avoid seeing them."

"In the heat of their anger they murdered their rulers. Their kings have been assassinated one after another, but no one prays to me for help."

and do not realize that this reliance on foreigners has robbed them of their strength. Their days are numbered, but they don't even know it.

But I will spread out a net and catch them like birds as they go by. I will punish them for the evil they have done.

"They are doomed! They have left me and rebelled against me. They will be destroyed. I wanted to save them, but their worship of me was false.

They have not prayed to me sincerely, but instead they throw themselves down and wail as the heathen do. When they pray for grain and wine, they gash themselves like pagans. What rebels they are!

"My people chose kings, but they did it on their own. They appointed leaders, but without my approval. They took their silver and gold and made idols—for their own destruction.

When they sow the wind, they will reap a storm! A field of grain that doesn't ripen can never produce any bread. But even if it did, foreigners would eat it up.

But now I am going to gather them together and punish them. Soon they will writhe in pain when the emperor of Assyria oppresses them.

I write down countless teachings for the people, but they reject them as strange and foreign.

They offer sacrifices to me and eat the meat of the sacrifices. But I, the Lord , am not pleased with them, and now I will remember their sin and punish them for it; I will send them back to Egypt!

"The people of Israel have built palaces, but they have forgotten their own Maker. The people of Judah have built fortified cities. But I will send fire that will burn down their palaces and their cities."

But soon you will not have enough grain and olive oil, and there will be no wine.

The people of Israel will not remain in the Lord 's land, but will have to go back to Egypt and will have to eat forbidden food in Assyria.

The Lord says, "When I first found Israel, it was like finding grapes growing in the desert. When I first saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season. But when they came to Mount Peor, they began to worship Baal and soon became as disgusting as the gods they loved.