Study Desk

And what wilt thou do? Though thou clothe thyself with scarlet, and adorn thyself with golden ornaments; though thou adorn thine eyes with stibium, thy beauty will be in vain: thy lovers have rejected thee, they seek thy life.

O Lord, thine eyes are upon faithfulness: thou hast scourged them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them; but they would not receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; and they would not return.

I will go to the rich men, and will speak to them; for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of God: but, behold, with one consent they have broken the yoke, they have burst the bonds.

Therefore has a lion out of the forest smitten them, and a wolf has destroyed them even to their houses, and a leopard has watched against their cities: all that go forth from them shall be hunted: for they have multiplied their ungodliness, they have strengthened themselves in their revoltings.

In what way shall I forgive thee for these things? Thy sons have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: and I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery, and lodged in harlots’ houses.

Go up upon her battlements, and break them down; but make not a full end: leave her buttresses: for they are the Lord’s.

have lied to their Lord, and they have said, These things are not so; no evils shall come upon us; and we shall not see sword or famine.

and they shall devour you harvest, and your bread; and shall devour your sons, and your daughters; and they shall devour your sheep, and your calves, and devour your vineyards, and your fig-plantations, and your olive yards: and they shall utterly destroy your strong cities, wherein ye trusted, with the sword.

But this people has a disobedient and rebellious heart; and they have turned aside and gone back:

and they have not said in their heart, Let us fear now the Lord our God, who gives us the early and latter rain, according to the season of the fulfillment of the ordinance of harvest, and has preserved it for us.

For among my people were found ungodly men; and they have set snares to destroy men, and have caught them.

As a snare which has been set is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore have they grown great, and become rich:

and they have transgressed the rule of judgment; they have not judged the cause of the orphan, nor have they judged the cause of the widow.

The shepherds and their flocks shall come to her; and they shall pitch their tents against her round about, and shall feed their flocks each with his hand.

To whom shall I speak, and testify, that he may hearken? behold, thine ears are uncircumcised, and they shall not be able to hear: behold, the word of the Lord is become to them a reproach, they will not at all desire it.

And they healed the breach of my people imperfectly, making light of it, and saying, Peace, peace, and where is peace?

They were ashamed because they failed; yet they were not ashamed as those who are truly ashamed, and they knew not their own disgrace: therefore shall they utterly fall when they do fall, and in the time of visitation shall they perish, said the Lord.

Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths of the Lord; and see what is the good way, and walk in it, and ye shall find purification for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in them.

Therefore have the nations heard, and they that feed their flocks.

Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evils upon this people, even the fruit of their rebellions; for they have not heeded my words, and they have rejected my law.