Study Desk

But now I am determined to bless Jerusalem and the people of Judah. So don't be afraid.

But this is what you must do: Tell the truth to each other. Render verdicts in your courts that are just and that lead to peace.

But now the Lord will strip away Tyre's possessions and hurl its fortifications into the sea, and it will be burned to the ground.

I got rid of their three evil shepherds in a single month. But I became impatient with these sheep, and they hated me, too.

And I said to them, "If you like, give me my wages, whatever I am worth; but only if you want to." So they counted out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.

On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves.

"On that day," says the Lord , "I will cause every horse to panic and every rider to lose his nerve. I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of their enemies.

Two-thirds of the people in the land will be cut off and die," says the Lord . "But one-third will be left in the land.

All the land from Geba, north of Judah, to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become one vast plain. But Jerusalem will be raised up in its original place and will be inhabited all the way from the Benjamin Gate over to the site of the old gate, then to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses.

"I have always loved you," says the Lord . But you retort, "Really? How have you loved us?" And the Lord replies, "This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob,

but I rejected his brother, Esau, and devastated his hill country. I turned Esau's inheritance into a desert for jackals."

Esau's descendants in Edom may say, "We have been shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins." But the Lord of Heaven's Armies replies, "They may try to rebuild, but I will demolish them again. Their country will be known as ‘The Land of Wickedness,' and their people will be called ‘The People with Whom the Lord Is Forever Angry.'

The Lord of Heaven's Armies says to the priests: "A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name! "But you ask, ‘How have we ever shown contempt for your name?'

"Go ahead, beg God to be merciful to you! But when you bring that kind of offering, why should he show you any favor at all?" asks the Lord of Heaven's Armies.

But my name is honored by people of other nations from morning till night. All around the world they offer sweet incense and pure offerings in honor of my name. For my name is great among the nations," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies.

"But you dishonor my name with your actions. By bringing contemptible food, you are saying it's all right to defile the Lord's table.

"Cursed is the cheat who promises to give a fine ram from his flock but then sacrifices a defective one to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, "and my name is feared among the nations!

But you priests have left God's paths. Your instructions have caused many to stumble into sin. You have corrupted the covenant I made with the Levites," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies.

"So I have made you despised and humiliated in the eyes of all the people. For you have not obeyed me but have shown favoritism in the way you carry out my instructions."

You cry out, "Why doesn't the Lord accept my worship?" I'll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows.