Study Desk

In the same way I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born," says the Lord . "If I cause you the pain, I will not stop you from giving birth to your new nation," says your God.

Then I said, "But Lord God , I don't know how to speak. I am only a boy."

Has a nation ever exchanged its gods? (Of course, its gods are not really gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their glorious God for idols worth nothing.

Haven't you brought this on yourselves by turning away from the Lord your God when he was leading you in the right way?

Your evil will bring punishment to you, and the wrong you have done will teach you a lesson. Think about it and understand that it is a terrible evil to turn away from the Lord your God. It is wrong not to fear me," says the Lord God All-Powerful.

Although you wash yourself with cleanser and use much soap, I can still see the stain of your guilt," says the Lord God .

but you say, ‘I am innocent. God is not angry with me.' But I will judge you guilty of lying, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.'

All you have to do is admit your sin— that you turned against the Lord your God and worshiped gods under every green tree and didn't obey me,'" says the Lord .

You can hear crying on the bare hilltops. It is the people of Israel crying and praying for mercy. They have become very evil and have forgotten the Lord their God.

"Come back to me, you unfaithful children, and I will forgive you for being unfaithful." "Yes, we will come to you, because you are the Lord our God.

It was foolish to worship idols on the hills and on the mountains. Surely the salvation of Israel comes from the Lord our God.

Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace cover us like a blanket. We have sinned against the Lord our God, both we and our ancestors. From our youth until now, we have not obeyed the Lord our God."

Then I said, "Lord God , you have tricked the people of Judah and Jerusalem. You said, ‘You will have peace,' but now the sword is pointing at our throats!"

Lord , don't you look for truth in people? You struck the people of Judah, but they didn't feel any pain. You crushed them, but they refused to learn what is right. They became more stubborn than a rock; they refused to turn back to God.

But I thought, "These are only the poor, foolish people. They have not learned the way of the Lord and what their God wants them to do.

So I will go to the leaders of Judah and talk to them. Surely they understand the way of the Lord and know what God wants them to do." But even the leaders had all joined together to break away from the Lord ; they had broken their ties with him.

The prophets are like an empty wind; the word of God is not in them. Let the bad things they say happen to them."

So this is what the Lord God All-Powerful says: "The people said I would not punish them. So, the words I give you will be like fire, and these people will be like wood that it burns up.

When the people of Judah ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these terrible things to us?' then give them this answer: ‘You have left the Lord and served foreign idols in your own land. So now you will serve foreigners in a land that does not belong to you.'

They do not say to themselves, ‘We should fear the Lord our God, who gives us autumn and spring rains in their seasons, who makes sure we have the harvest at the right time.'