Study Desk

Lord, have you completely rejected the nation of Judah? Do you hate Zion? You hurt us so badly that we cannot be made well again. Why did you do that? We were hoping for peace, but nothing good has come. We were hoping for a time of healing, but only terror came.

Jerusalem, you left me." This message is from the Lord . "Again and again you left me! So I will punish and destroy you. I am tired of holding back your punishment.

I will separate the people of Judah with my pitchfork. I will scatter them at the city gates of the land. My people have not changed, so I will destroy them. I will take away their children.

So the Lord says, "Jeremiah, don't go into a house where people are eating a funeral meal. Don't go there to cry for the dead or to show your sorrow. Don't do these things, because I have taken back my blessing. I will not be kind to the people of Judah. I will not feel sorry for them." This message is from the Lord .

"So I will teach those who make idols. Right now I will teach them about my power and my strength. Then they will know that I am God. They will know that I am the Lord .

"‘But if you don't listen to me and obey me, bad things will happen. If you carry loads into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, you are not keeping it as a holy day. So I will start a fire that cannot be put out. That fire will start at the gates of Jerusalem, and it will burn until it burns even the palaces.'"

So I went down to the potter's house and saw him working with clay at the wheel.

He was making a pot from clay. But there was something wrong with the pot. So the potter used that clay to make another pot. With his hands he shaped the pot the way he wanted it to be.

"So, Jeremiah, say to the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am the potter preparing troubles for you and making plans against you. So stop doing the evil things you are doing. Each person must change and start doing good.'

Listen to what the Lord says: "Ask the other nations this question: ‘Have you ever heard of anything so bad?' Israel, who is as dear to me as a young daughter, has done this terrible thing!

So their land will become an empty desert, a place for people from now on to make fun of. All who pass by there will be shocked by what has happened. They will just shake their heads at what they see.

Then the enemies of Jeremiah said, "Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah. We will always have a priest to tell us what the law says. We will still have wise men to advise us and prophets to tell us a message from God. So who needs Jeremiah? Let's tell lies to ruin him and stop listening to what he says."

So now make their children starve to death! Let their enemies kill them with swords. Let their wives lose their children and husbands. Let their men die from disease, and let their young men be killed in battle.

Lord , you know about their plans to kill me. So don't forgive their crimes or erase their sins. Make them fall down in defeat. Punish them in your anger!

The enemy will bring its army around the city. That army will not let people go out to get food, so the people in the city will begin to starve. They will become so hungry that they will eat the bodies of their own sons and daughters, and then they will begin to eat each other.'

Lord , you tricked me, and I certainly was fooled. You are stronger than I am, so you won. I have become a joke. People laugh at me and make fun of me all day long.

But the Lord is with me. He is like a strong soldier. So those who are chasing me will fall. They will not defeat me. They will fail. They will be disappointed. They will be ashamed, and they will never forget that shame.

Lord All-Powerful, you test good people. You look deeply into a person's mind. I told you my arguments against these people. So let me see you give them the punishment they deserve.

I myself will fight against you people of Judah. I will fight against you with my own powerful hand. I am very angry with you, so I will fight against you with my own powerful arm. I will fight very hard against you and show how angry I am.

‘Listen to this message from the Lord , King of Judah. You rule from David's throne, so listen. King, you and your officials must listen well. All of your people who come through the gates of Jerusalem must listen to the message from the Lord.