Study Desk

So both the one who came for advice and the prophet who gave an answer will get the same punishment.

Why? So that those prophets will stop leading my people away from me, and my people will stop being filthy with sin. Then they will be my special people, and I will be their God.'" This is what the Lord God said.

Then the Lord God said, "So think how bad it will be for Jerusalem. I will send all four of those punishments against that city! I will send enemy soldiers, hunger, disease, and wild animals against that city. I will remove all the people and animals from that country.

So people throw the pieces of wood from a grapevine into the fire. It is just like wood from any other tree in the forest. In the same way I will throw the people living in Jerusalem into the fire!" This is what the Lord God said.

I looked you over. I saw you were ready for love, so I spread my clothes over you and covered your nakedness. I promised to marry you. I made the agreement with you, and you became mine.'" This is what the Lord God said.

You became famous for your beauty, all because I made you so lovely!'" This is what the Lord God said.

You built your mounds at the head of every road. Then you degraded your beauty. You used it to catch every man who walked by. You raised your skirt so that they could see your legs, and you acted like a prostitute with those men.

So I punished you! I took away part of your land. I let your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, do what they wanted to you. Even they were shocked at the evil things you did.

So you turned to Canaan, and then to Babylonia, and still you were not satisfied.

You are so weak. You let all those men cause you to sin. You acted just like a prostitute who wants to be the one in control." This is what the Lord God said.

So I am bringing all of your lovers together. I will bring all the men you loved and all the men you hated. I will bring them all together and let them see you naked. They will see you completely naked.

They will burn your house. They will punish you so that all the other women can see. I will stop you from living like a prostitute. I will stop you from paying money to your lovers.

Why will all these things happen? Because you did not remember what happened when you were young. You did all those bad things and made me angry. So I had to punish you for doing them, but you planned even more terrible things." This is what the Lord God said.

Sodom and her daughters became too proud and began to do terrible things in front of me. So I punished them!

"And Samaria did only half as many bad things as you did. You did many more terrible things than Samaria! You have done so many more terrible things than your sisters have done. Sodom and Samaria seem good compared to you.

So you must bear your shame. You have made your sisters look good compared to you. You have done terrible things, so you should be ashamed.

So you and your sisters will be rebuilt. Sodom and the towns around her, Samaria and the towns around her, and you and the towns around you will all be rebuilt.

So I will make my agreement with you, and you will know that I am the Lord .

You will remember me, and you will be so ashamed of the evil things you did that you will not be able to say anything. But I will make you pure, and you will never be ashamed again!" This is what the Lord God said.

Then another eagle with big wings saw the grapevine. The eagle had many feathers. The grapevine wanted this new eagle to care for it. So it stretched its roots and branches toward the eagle. Its branches stretched toward this eagle. The branches grew away from the field where it was planted. The grapevine wanted the new eagle to water it.