Study Desk

"Say, 'I am a sign to you. Just as I have done, so it will be done to them; they will go into exile, into captivity.'

"The prince who is among them will load his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and go out. They will dig a hole through the wall to bring it out through it. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes.

"So they will know that I am the LORD, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries.

"But I will spare a few of them from the sword, the famine, and plague so that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations where they go, and may know that I am the LORD."

"The inhabited cities will be in ruins, and the land will be a desolation. So you will know that I am the LORD."'"

"Therefore say to them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "I will put an end to this proverb so that they will no longer use it as a proverb in Israel." But tell them, "The days are approaching as well as the fulfillment of every vision.

"So My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will have no place in the council of My people, nor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, so that you may know that I am the Lord GOD.

so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall. A flooding rain will come, and you, hailstones, will fall, and a violent wind will break out.

"So I will tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and hurl it down to the ground, so that its foundation is exposed; and when it falls, you will perish in its midst. And you will know that I am the LORD.

"So I will expend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I will say to you, 'The wall is gone and those who plastered it are gone,

therefore you women will no longer see deceitful visions or practice divination, and I will save My people from your hands. So you will know that I am the LORD."

"I will set My face against that person and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will eliminate him from among My people. So you will know that I am the LORD.

"But if the prophet is persuaded so that he speaks a word, it is I, the LORD, who have persuaded that prophet; and I will stretch out My hand against him and eliminate him from among My people Israel.

"And they will bear the punishment for their wrongdoing; as the wrongdoing of the inquirer is, so the wrongdoing of the prophet will be,

in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their offenses. So they will be My people, and I shall be their God,"' declares the Lord GOD."

"If I were to cause vicious animals to pass through the land and they depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the animals,

"Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: 'As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

'So I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,'" declares the Lord GOD.

"Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My garment over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine," declares the Lord GOD.

"So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk, and colorfully woven cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty.