Study Desk

My chosen people act like speckled vultures, but they themselves are surrounded by vultures. Bring on the wild animals to pick their corpses clean!

My people have planted wheat but are harvesting thorns. They have worn themselves out, but it has done them no good. They will harvest a crop of shame because of the fierce anger of the Lord ."

But afterward I will return and have compassion on all of them. I will bring them home to their own lands again, each nation to its own possession.

But any nation who refuses to obey me will be uprooted and destroyed. I, the Lord , have spoken!"

This is what the Lord said to me: "Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it on, but do not wash it."

So I went to the Euphrates and dug it out of the hole where I had hidden it. But now it was rotting and falling apart. The loincloth was good for nothing.

As a loincloth clings to a man's waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me, says the Lord . They were to be my people, my pride, my glory—an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me.

The nobles send servants to get water, but all the wells are dry. The servants return with empty pitchers, confused and desperate, covering their heads in grief.

The wild donkeys stand on the bare hills panting like thirsty jackals. They strain their eyes looking for grass, but there is none to be found."

The people say, "Our wickedness has caught up with us, Lord , but help us for the sake of your own reputation. We have turned away from you and sinned against you again and again.

Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I will punish these lying prophets, for they have spoken in my name even though I never sent them. They say that no war or famine will come, but they themselves will die by war and famine!

If I go out into the fields, I see the bodies of people slaughtered by the enemy. If I walk the city streets, I see people who have died of starvation. The prophets and priests continue with their work, but they don't know what they're doing."

Lord , have you completely rejected Judah? Do you really hate Jerusalem? Why have you wounded us past all hope of healing? We hoped for peace, but no peace came. We hoped for a time of healing, but found only terror.

And if they say to you, ‘But where can we go?' tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: "‘Those who are destined for death, to death; those who are destined for war, to war; those who are destined for famine, to famine; those who are destined for captivity, to captivity.'

They will fight against you like an attacking army, but I will make you as secure as a fortified wall of bronze. They will not conquer you, for I am with you to protect and rescue you. I, the Lord , have spoken!

"But the time is coming," says the Lord , "when people who are taking an oath will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who rescued the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.'

"But now I am sending for many fishermen who will catch them," says the Lord . "I am sending for hunters who will hunt them down in the mountains, hills, and caves.

"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.

But I, the Lord , search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve."

But we worship at your throne— eternal, high, and glorious!