Study Desk

It does not matter if we like the message or not. We will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you. We will obey what he says so good things will happen to us."

So today I have told you, but you have not obeyed the Lord your God in all that he sent me to tell you.

So now be sure you understand this: You want to go to live in Egypt, but you will die there by war, hunger, or terrible diseases."

So Jeremiah finished telling the people the message from the Lord their God; he told them everything the Lord their God had sent him to tell them.

Baruch son of Neriah is causing you to be against us. He wants you to hand us over to the Babylonians so they can kill us or capture us and take us to Babylon."

So Johanan, the army officers, and all the people disobeyed the Lord 's command to stay in Judah.

These people did not listen to the Lord . So they all went to Egypt to the city of Tahpanhes.

Nebuchadnezzar will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt and burn them. And he will take the idols away as captives. As a shepherd wraps himself in his clothes, so Nebuchadnezzar will wrap Egypt around him. Then he will safely leave Egypt.

So I showed my great anger against them. I poured out my anger in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem so they are only ruins and piles of stones today.

"So this is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disasters on you. I will destroy the whole family of Judah.

Then he could not be patient with you any longer. He hated the terrible things you did. So he made your country an empty desert, where no one lives. Other people curse that country. And so it is today.

All this happened because you burned incense to other gods. You sinned against the Lord . You did not obey him or follow his teachings or the laws he gave you. You did not keep your part of the agreement with him. So this disaster has happened to you. It is there for you to see."

The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: You and your wives did what you said you would do. You said, ‘We will certainly keep the promises we made. We promised to make sacrifices to the Queen Goddess and to pour out drink offerings to her.' So, go ahead. Do the things you promised, and keep your promises.

You trust in the things you do and in your wealth, so you also will be captured. The god Chemosh will go into captivity and his priests and officers with him.

"The people of Moab have never known trouble. They are like wine left to settle; they have never been poured from one jar to another. They have not been taken into captivity. So they taste as they did before, and their smell has not changed.

"The people of Moab thought they were greater than the Lord , so punish them until they act as if they are drunk. Moab will fall and roll around in its own vomit, and people will even make fun of it.

So I cry sadly for Moab, for everyone in Moab. I moan for the people from the town of Kir Hareseth.

But I will strip Edom bare. I will find all their hiding places, so they will not be able to hide from me. The children, relatives, and neighbors will die, and Edom will be no more.

This is what the Lord says: "Some people did not deserve to be punished, but they had to drink from the cup of suffering anyway. People of Edom, you deserve to be punished, so you will not escape punishment. You must certainly drink from the cup of suffering."

So listen to what the Lord has planned to do against Edom. Listen to what he has decided to do to the people in the town of Teman. He will surely drag away the young ones of Edom. Their hometowns will surely be shocked at what happens to them.