Study Desk

I will avenge those who were killed; I will not spare the guilty. But Judah and Jerusalem will be inhabited forever, and I, the Lord , will live on Mount Zion."

But you made the nazirites drink wine, and ordered the prophets not to speak my message.

I kept it from raining when your crops needed it most. I sent rain on one city, but not on another. Rain fell on one field, but another field dried up.

Weak with thirst, the people of several cities went to a city where they hoped to find water, but there was not enough to drink. Still you did not come back to me.

The Sovereign Lord says, "A city in Israel sends out a thousand soldiers, but only a hundred return; another city sends out a hundred, but only ten come back."

But now, because you have worshiped images of Sakkuth, your king god, and of Kaiwan, your star god, you will have to carry those images

You refuse to admit that a day of disaster is coming, but what you do only brings that day closer.

You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest perfumes, but you do not mourn over the ruin of Israel.

But the Lord took me from my work as a shepherd and ordered me to come and prophesy to his people Israel.

"The time is coming when I will send famine on the land. People will be hungry, but not for bread; they will be thirsty, but not for water. They will hunger and thirst for a message from the Lord . I, the Sovereign Lord , have spoken.

People will wander from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean and then on around from the north to the east. They will look everywhere for a message from the Lord , but they will not find it.

I, the Sovereign Lord , am watching this sinful kingdom of Israel, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. But I will not destroy all the descendants of Jacob.

"When thieves come at night, they take only what they want. When people gather grapes, they always leave a few. But your enemies have wiped you out completely.

My people have drunk a bitter cup of punishment on my sacred hill. But all the surrounding nations will drink a still more bitter cup of punishment; they will drink it all and vanish away.

"But on Mount Zion some will escape, and it will be a sacred place. The people of Jacob will possess the land that is theirs by right.

But the Lord sent a strong wind on the sea, and the storm was so violent that the ship was in danger of breaking up.

Instead, the sailors tried to get the ship to shore, rowing with all their might. But the storm was becoming worse and worse, and they got nowhere.

I went down to the very roots of the mountains, into the land whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O Lord my God, brought me back from the depths alive.

But I will sing praises to you; I will offer you a sacrifice and do what I have promised. Salvation comes from the Lord !"

But at dawn the next day, at God's command, a worm attacked the plant, and it died.