Study Desk

His children and relatives will be supported by him, like pans hanging from a peg on the wall.

Sidon, you are a mighty fortress built along the sea. But you will be disgraced like a married woman who never had children.

Children don't have the right to demand of their parents, "What have you done to make us what we are?"

You think that you alone are all-powerful, that you won't be a widow or lose your children. All you care about is pleasure, but listen to what I say.

Your magic powers and charms will suddenly fail, then you will be a widow and lose your children.

Jerusalem is a woman whose children were born while she was in deep sorrow over the loss of her husband. Now those children will come and seek room in the crowded city,

and Jerusalem will ask, "Am I really their mother? How could I have given birth when I was still mourning in a foreign land? Who raised these children? Where have they come from?"

But the Lord has promised to fight on our side and to rescue our children from those strong and violent enemies.

The Lord says, "Children, I didn't divorce your mother or sell you to pay debts; I divorced her and sold you because of your sins.

Not one of your many children is there to guide you or to offer a helping hand.

The Lord your God is angry, and on every street corner your children lie helpless, like deer trapped in nets.

Sing and shout, even though you have never had children! The Lord has promised that you will have more children than someone married for a long time.

I will teach your children and make them successful.

Then I will set up monuments in my temple with your names written on them. This will be much better than having children, because these monuments will stand there forever.

All you think about is sex under those green trees where idols are worshiped. You sacrifice your children on altars built in valleys under rocky slopes.

You falsely accuse others and tell lies in court; sin and trouble are the names of your children.

The Lord said: Open your eyes! Look around! Crowds are coming. Your sons are on their way from distant lands; your daughters are being carried like little children.

Their work won't be wasted, and their children won't die of dreadful diseases. I will bless their children and their grandchildren.

Who ever heard of such a thing or imagined it could happen? Can a nation be born in a day or come to life in a second? Jerusalem is like a mother who gave birth to her children as soon as she was in labor.

The Lord is the one who makes birth possible. And he will see that Zion has many more children. The Lord has spoken.