Study Desk

Rulers send their servants to the storage pits for water. But there's none to be found; they return in despair with their jars still empty.

Our terrible sins may demand that we be punished. But if you rescue us, Lord , everyone will see how great you are.

You're our only hope; you alone can save us now. You help us one day, but you're gone the next.

They may even go without eating and offer sacrifices to please me and to give thanks. But when they cry out for my help, I won't listen, and I won't accept their sacrifices. Instead, I'll send war, starvation, and disease to wipe them out."

The Lord answered: They claim to speak for me, but they're lying! I didn't even speak to them, much less choose them to be my prophets. Their messages come from worthless dreams, useless fortunetelling, and their own imaginations.

Those lying prophets say there will be peace and plenty of food. But I say that those same prophets will die from war and hunger.

In the fields I see the bodies of those killed in battle. And in the towns I see crowds dying of hunger. But the prophets and priests go about their business, without understanding what has happened."

Have you rejected Judah, Lord ? Do you hate Jerusalem? Why did you strike down Judah with a fatal wound? We had hoped for peace and a time of healing, but all we got was terror.

I wish I had never been born! I'm always in trouble with everyone in Judah. I never lend or borrow money, but everyone curses me just the same.

Then the Lord told me: Stop talking like a fool! If you turn back to me and speak my message, I will let you be my prophet once again. I hope the people of Judah will accept what you say. But you can ignore their threats,

because I am making you strong, like a bronze wall. They are evil and violent, but when they attack,

A time will come when you will again worship me. But you will no longer call me the Living God who rescued Israel from Egypt.

But for now, I am sending enemies who will catch you like fish and hunt you down like wild animals in the hills and the caves.

But I will bless those who trust me.

But I know your deeds and your thoughts, and I will make sure you get what you deserve.

You cheated others, but everything you gained will fly away, like birds hatched from stolen eggs. Then you will discover what fools you are.

You are a spring of water giving Israel life and hope. But if the people reject what you have told me, they will be swept away like words written in dust.

Keep me from failure and disgrace, but make my enemies fail and be disgraced. Send destruction to make their worst fears come true.

If you value your lives, don't do any work on the Sabbath. Don't carry anything through the city gates or through the door of your house, or anywhere else. Keep the Sabbath day sacred! I gave this command to your ancestors, but they were stubborn and refused to obey or to be corrected. But if you obey,

But if you keep on carrying things through the city gates on the Sabbath and keep treating it as any other day, I will set fire to these gates and burn down the whole city, including the fortresses.