Study Desk

They will go with their flocks and herds To seek the LORD, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them.

I will go away and return to My place Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; In their distress they will search for Me.

And as a band of robbers lie in wait for a person, So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem; Certainly they have committed an act of infamy.

When I would heal Israel, The wrongdoing of Ephraim is uncovered, And the evil deeds of Samaria, For they practice deception; The thief enters, A band of robbers attack outside,

And they do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds surround them; They are before My face.

With their wickedness they make the king happy, And the officials with their lies.

All of them are hot like an oven, And they consume their rulers; All their kings have fallen. None of them calls on Me.

And they do not cry to Me from their heart When they wail on their beds; For the sake of grain and new wine they assemble themselves, They turn against Me.

Although I trained and strengthened their arms, Yet they devise evil against Me.

Put the trumpet to your lips! Like an eagle the enemy comes against the house of the LORD, Because they have violated My covenant And rebelled against My Law.

They have set up kings, but not by Me; They have appointed officials, but I did not know it. With their silver and gold they have made idols for themselves, So that they will be eliminated.

For they sow wind And they harvest a storm. The standing grain has no kernels; It yields no grain. If it were to yield, strangers would swallow it.

Even though they pay for allies among the nations, I will gather them up now; And they will begin to diminish Because of the burden of the king of officials.

As for My sacrificial gifts, They sacrifice the flesh and eat it, But the LORD has taken no delight in them. Now He will remember their guilt, And punish them for their sins; They will return to Egypt.

They will not remain in the LORD'S land, But Ephraim will return to Egypt, And in Assyria they will eat unclean food.

I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season. But they came to Baal-peor and devoted themselves to shame, And they became as detestable as that which they loved.

My God will reject them Because they have not listened to Him; And they will be wanderers among the nations.

Their heart is deceitful; Now they must suffer for their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars And destroy their memorial stones.

They speak mere words, With worthless oaths they make covenants; And judgment sprouts like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.

Also the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed; Thorns and thistles will grow on their altars; Then they will say to the mountains, "Cover us!" And to the hills, "Fall on us!"