Study Desk

Bring shame and dismay on all who persecute me, but don't let me experience shame and dismay. Bring a day of terror on them. Yes, bring double destruction upon them!

Do not do your work on the Sabbath, but make it a holy day. I gave this command to your ancestors,

but they did not listen or obey. They stubbornly refused to pay attention or accept my discipline.

"‘But if you obey me, says the Lord , and do not carry on your trade at the gates or work on the Sabbath day, and if you keep it holy,

"‘But if you do not listen to me and refuse to keep the Sabbath holy, and if on the Sabbath day you bring loads of merchandise through the gates of Jerusalem just as on other days, then I will set fire to these gates. The fire will spread to the palaces, and no one will be able to put out the roaring flames.'"

But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.

but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned.

but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would.

But the people replied, "Don't waste your breath. We will continue to live as we want to, stubbornly following our own evil desires."

But my people are not so reliable, for they have deserted me; they burn incense to worthless idols. They have stumbled off the ancient highways and walk in muddy paths.

So beware, for the time is coming, says the Lord , when this garbage dump will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.

But if I say I'll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It's like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can't do it!

But the Lord stands beside me like a great warrior. Before him my persecutors will stumble. They cannot defeat me. They will fail and be thoroughly humiliated. Their dishonor will never be forgotten.

Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life!

But if you refuse to pay attention to this warning, I swear by my own name, says the Lord , that this palace will become a pile of rubble.'"

Now this is what the Lord says concerning Judah's royal palace: "I love you as much as fruitful Gilead and the green forests of Lebanon. But I will turn you into a desert, with no one living within your walls.

But a beautiful cedar palace does not make a great king! Your father, Josiah, also had plenty to eat and drink. But he was just and right in all his dealings. That is why God blessed him.

"But you! You have eyes only for greed and dishonesty! You murder the innocent, oppress the poor, and reign ruthlessly."

I warned you when you were prosperous, but you replied, ‘Don't bother me.' You have been that way since childhood— you simply will not obey me!

It may be nice to live in a beautiful palace paneled with wood from the cedars of Lebanon, but soon you will groan with pangs of anguish— anguish like that of a woman in labor.