Study Desk

"Why then has this people of Jerusalem Turned away with a perpetual turning away [from Me]? They hold tightly to deceit (idolatry); They refuse to repent and return [to God].

Why are we sitting still [the people wonder]? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter the fortified cities And let us die there, For the LORD our God has decreed our ruin And given us bitter and poisonous water to drink, Because we have sinned against the LORD.

therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them bitter and poisonous water to drink.

but let the one who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me [and acknowledges Me and honors Me as God and recognizes without any doubt], that I am the LORD who practices lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on the earth, for in these things I delight," says the LORD.

For the customs and decrees of the peoples are [mere] delusion [exercises in futility]; It is only wood which one cuts from the forest [to make a god], The work of the hands of the craftsman with the axe or cutting tool.

But the LORD is the true God and the God who is Truth; He is the living God and the everlasting King. The earth quakes and shudders at His wrath, And the nations are not able to endure His indignation.

God made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom And by His understanding and skill He has stretched out the heavens.

Every man has become [like a brute] irrational and stupid, without knowledge [of God]; Every goldsmith is shamed by his carved idols; For his molten images are frauds and lies, And there is no breath in them.

The Portion of Jacob [the true God on whom Israel has a claim] is not like these; For He is the Designer and Maker of all things, And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance [and He will not fail them]— The LORD of hosts is His name.

"Say to them, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, "Cursed is the man who does not heed the words of this covenant

which I commanded your fathers at the time that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, 'Listen to My voice and do according to all that I command you. So you shall be My people, and I will be your God,'

"Therefore you are to speak this word to them, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, "Every jar should be filled with wine."' The people will say to you, 'Do we not already know that every jar should be filled with wine?'

Give glory to the LORD your God, Before He brings darkness And before your feet stumble On the dark and shadowy mountains, And while you are longing for light He turns it into the shadow of death, And makes it into thick darkness.

But I said, "Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, the [false] prophets are telling them, 'You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I [the LORD] will give you lasting peace in this place.'"

Are there any among the idols of the nations who can send rain? Or can the heavens [of their own will] give showers? Is it not You, O LORD our God? Therefore we will wait and hope [confidently] in You, For You are the one who has made all these things [the heavens and the rain].

Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became a joy to me and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.

For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Behold, I will remove from this place, before your very eyes and in your time, the sound of joy and the shout of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.

"Now when you tell these people all these words and they ask you, 'Why has the LORD decreed all this great tragedy against us? And what is our iniquity, what is the sin which we have committed against the LORD our God?'

and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, "Behold (listen carefully), I am going to bring such disaster on this place that the ears of everyone who hears about it will tingle [in shock].

"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am going to bring on this city and on all its towns, all the devastation that I have declared against it, because they have become stiff-necked and refused to hear and obey My words.'"