Study Desk

I will punish you for your sins and your ancestors' sins," says the Lord . "They burned incense to gods on the mountains and shamed me on those hills. So I will punish them as they should be punished for what they did."

Then the Plain of Sharon will be a field for flocks, and the Valley of Achor will be a place for herds to rest. They will be for the people who want to follow me.

"But as for you who left the Lord , who forgot about my holy mountain, who worship the god Luck, who hold religious feasts for the god Fate,

My servants will shout for joy because of the goodness of their hearts, but you evil people will cry, because you will be sad. You will cry loudly, because your spirits will be broken.

People in the land who ask for blessings will ask for them from the faithful God. And people in the land who make a promise will promise in the name of the faithful God, because the troubles of the past will be forgotten. I will make those troubles go away.

They will never again work for nothing. They will never again give birth to children who die young. All my people will be blessed by the Lord ; they and their children will be blessed.

I will provide for their needs before they ask, and I will help them while they are still asking for help.

This is what the Lord says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. So do you think you can build a house for me? Do I need a place to rest?

"Jerusalem, rejoice. All you people who love Jerusalem, be happy. Those of you who felt sad for Jerusalem should now feel happy with her.

"Before I made you in your mother's womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Has a nation ever exchanged its gods? (Of course, its gods are not really gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their glorious God for idols worth nothing.

Where are the idols you made for yourselves? Let them come and save you when you are in trouble! People of Judah, you have as many idols as you have towns!

A young woman does not forget her jewelry, and a bride does not forget the decorations for her dress. But my people have forgotten me for more days than can be counted.

It is so easy for you to change your mind. Even Egypt will let you down, as Assyria let you down.

"Look up to the bare hilltops, Judah. Is there any place where you have not been a prostitute? You have sat by the road waiting for lovers, like an Arab in the desert. You made the land unclean, because you did evil and were like a prostitute.

You can hear crying on the bare hilltops. It is the people of Israel crying and praying for mercy. They have become very evil and have forgotten the Lord their God.

"Come back to me, you unfaithful children, and I will forgive you for being unfaithful." "Yes, we will come to you, because you are the Lord our God.

Since our youth, shameful gods have eaten up in sacrifice everything our ancestors worked for— their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.

If you say when you make a promise, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,' and you can say it in a truthful, honest, and right way, then the nations will be blessed by him, and they will praise him for what he has done."

Raise the signal flag toward Jerusalem! Run for your lives, and don't wait, because I am bringing disaster from the north There will be terrible destruction."