Study Desk

Listen to the loud noise coming from the city; hear the noise from the Temple. It is the Lord punishing his enemies, giving them the punishment they should have.

When you see these things, you will be happy, and you will grow like the grass. The Lord 's servants will see his power, but his enemies will see his anger.

Look, the Lord is coming with fire and his armies with clouds of dust. He will punish those people with his anger; he will punish them with flames of fire.

The Lord will judge the people with fire, and he will destroy many people with his sword; he will kill many people.

The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah during the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah.

The Lord also spoke to Jeremiah while Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah and during the eleven years that Zedekiah son of Josiah was king of Judah. In the fifth month of his last year, the people of Jerusalem were taken away as captives.

The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth. He said to me, "See, I am putting my words in your mouth.

The Lord spoke his word to me, saying: "Jeremiah, what do you see?" I answered, "I see a stick of almond wood."

The Lord spoke his word to me again: "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a pot of boiling water, tipping over from the north."

The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

The people of Israel were holy to the Lord , like the firstfruits from his harvest. Those who tried to hurt Israel were judged guilty. Disasters struck them,'" says the Lord .

"If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should her first husband come back to her again? If he went back to her, wouldn't the land become completely unclean? But you have acted like a prostitute with many lovers, and now you want to come back to me?" says the Lord .

A lion has come out of his den; a destroyer of nations has begun to march. He has left his home to destroy your land. Your towns will be destroyed with no one left to live in them.

Look! The enemy rises up like a cloud, and his chariots come like a tornado. His horses are faster than eagles. How terrible it will be for us! We are ruined!

I looked, and the good, rich land had become a desert. All its towns had been destroyed by the Lord and his great anger.

Shepherds with their flocks will come against Jerusalem. They will set up their tents all around her, each shepherd taking care of his own section."

But I am full of the anger of the Lord , and I am tired of holding it in. "Pour out my anger on the children who play in the street and on the young men gathered together. A husband and his wife will both be caught in his anger, as will the very old.

"‘Cut off your hair and throw it away. Go up to the bare hilltop and cry out, because the Lord has rejected these people. He has turned his back on them, and in his anger will punish them.

I have listened to them very carefully, but they do not say what is right. They do not feel sorry about their wicked ways, saying, "What have I done?" Each person goes his own way, like a horse charging into a battle.