Study Desk

"And it shall be that when they say to you, 'Where should we go?' then you are to tell them, 'This is what the LORD says: "Those destined for death, to death; And those destined for the sword, to the sword; And those destined for famine, to famine; And those destined for captivity, to captivity."'

Therefore, this is what the LORD says: "If you return, then I will restore you— You will stand before Me; And if you extract the precious from the worthless, You will become My spokesman. They, for their part, may turn to you, But as for you, you are not to turn to them.

"Then I will make you to this people A fortified wall of bronze; And though they fight against you, They will not prevail over you; For I am with you to save you And rescue you," declares the LORD.

"They will die of deadly diseases, they will not be mourned or buried; they will be like dung on the surface of the ground. And they will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth."

"Both great people and small will die in this land; they will not be buried, people will not mourn for them, nor will anyone make cuts on himself or have his head shaved for them.

"Now it will happen that, when you tell this people all these words, they will say to you, 'For what reason has the LORD declared all this great disaster against us? And what is our wrongdoing, or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?'

"Then you are to say to them, 'It is because your forefathers have abandoned Me,' declares the LORD, 'and have followed other gods, and served and worshiped them; but they have abandoned Me and have not kept My Law.

"Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen," declares the LORD, "and they will fish for them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks.

"I will first repay them double for their wrongdoing and their sin, because they have defiled My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and their abominations."

"Therefore behold, I am going to make them know— This time I will make them know My power and My might; And they will know that My name is the LORD."

As they remember their children, So they remember their altars and their Asherim By green trees on the high hills.

then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and officials sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.

"They will come in from the cities of Judah and from the areas surrounding Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, and frankincense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the LORD.

"But they will say, 'It's hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will persist in the stubbornness of his evil heart.'

'For My people have forgotten Me, They burn incense to worthless gods. And they have stumbled in their ways, In the ancient roads, To walk on paths, Not on a highway,

Then they said, "Come and let's devise plans against Jeremiah. Certainly the Law is not going to be lost by the priest, nor advice by the wise, nor the divine word by the prophet! Come, and let's strike at him with our tongue, and let's pay no attention to any of his words."

May a cry be heard from their houses When You suddenly bring raiders upon them; For they have dug a pit to capture me And hidden snares for my feet.

"Since they have abandoned Me and have made this place foreign, and have burned sacrifices in it to other gods that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and since they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent

"And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh during the siege and in the hardship with which their enemies and those who seek their life will torment them."'

and say to them, 'This is what the LORD of armies says: "To the same extent I will break this people and this city, just as one breaks a potter's vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will bury their dead in Topheth, because there is no other place for burial.