Study Desk

People of Israel, listen to the Lord 's message. The Lord has this against you who live in the land: "The people are not true, not loyal to God, nor do those who live in the land even know him.

My people will be destroyed, because they have no knowledge. You have refused to learn, so I will refuse to let you be priests to me. You have forgotten the teachings of your God, so I will forget your children.

"My people ask wooden idols for advice; they ask those sticks of wood to advise them! Like prostitutes, they have chased after other gods and have left their own God.

"They will not give up their deeds and return to their God. They are determined to be unfaithful to me; they do not know the Lord .

The kings get so drunk they get sick every day. The rulers become crazy with wine; they make agreements with those who do not know the true God.

Israel's pride will cause their defeat; they will not turn back to the Lord their God or look to him for help in all this.

They did not turn to the Most High God. They are like a loose bow that can't shoot. Because their leaders brag about their strength, they will be killed with swords, and the people in Egypt will laugh at them.

They cry out to me, ‘Our God, we in Israel know you!'

The idol is something a craftsman made; it is not God. Israel's calf-shaped idol will surely be smashed to pieces.

Israel, do not rejoice; don't shout for joy as the other nations do. You have been like a prostitute against your God. You love the pay of prostitutes on every threshing floor.

God will reject them, because they have not obeyed him; they will wander among the nations.

"The Israelites will become captives again, as they were in Egypt, and Assyria will become their king, because they refuse to turn back to God.

I won't punish you in my anger, and I won't destroy Israel again. I am God and not a human; I am the Holy One, and I am among you. I will not come against you in anger.

Israel has surrounded me with lies; the people have made evil plans. And Judah turns against God, the faithful Holy One.

Their ancestor Jacob held on to his brother's heel while the two of them were being born. When he grew to be a man, he wrestled with God.

When Jacob wrestled with the angel and won, he cried and asked for his blessing. Later, God met with him at Bethel and spoke with him there.

It was the Lord God All-Powerful; the Lord is his great name.

You must return to your God; love him, do what is just, and always trust in him as your God.

"But I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. I will make you live in tents again as you used to do on worship days.

"I, the Lord , have been your God since you were in the land of Egypt. You should have known no other God except me. I am the only one who saves.