Study Desk

Now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and who made for Yourself a name renowned to this day, we have sinned, we have acted wickedly.

So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary.

Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your abundant compassion.

O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name."

While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and that of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before the LORD my God concerning His holy hill-

"Do not be afraid, Daniel," he said, "for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.

With flattery he will corrupt those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.

Then the king will do as he pleases and will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and he will speak monstrous things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must be accomplished.

He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers, nor for the one desired by women, nor for any other god, because he will magnify himself above them all.

And in their place, he will honor a god of fortresses-a god his fathers did not know-with gold, silver, precious stones, and riches.

He will attack the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him, making them rulers over many and distributing land for a price.

Yet I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will deliver them-not by bow or sword or war, not by horses and cavalry, but by the LORD their God."

And the LORD said, "Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your God.

Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'

And I will sow her as My own in the land, and I will have compassion on 'No Compassion.' I will say to those called 'Not My People,' 'You are My people,' and they will say, 'You are my God.'"

Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.

Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land: There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land!

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God.

Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God, for a spirit of prostitution is within them, and they do not know the LORD.