Study Desk

Israel sinned and built many high places. The high places of Aven will be destroyed. Thorns and weeds will grow on their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, "Cover us!" and to the hills, "Fall on us!"

But the more I called the Israelites, the more they left me. The Israelites gave sacrifices to the false gods and burned incense to the idols.

I led them with ropes, but they were ropes of love. I was like a person who set them free. I bent down and fed them.

I, the Lord , will roar like a lion, and my children will come and follow me. They will come from the west, shaking with fear.

They will come from Egypt, shaking like birds. They will come shaking like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will take them back home." This is what the Lord said.

Ephraim is wasting its time; Israel "chases the wind" all day long. The people tell more and more lies and steal more and more. They have made agreements with Assyria, and they are carrying their olive oil to Egypt.

But the people in Gilead have sinned. There are many terrible idols in that place. They offer sacrifices to bulls at Gilgal. They have many altars. There are rows and rows of altars—like the rows of dirt in a plowed field.

Now the Israelites sin more and more. They make idols for themselves. Workers make those fancy statues from silver, and then they talk to their statues. They offer sacrifices to them, and they kiss those calf idols.

That is why those people will soon disappear. They will be like a fog that comes early in the morning and then quickly disappears. The Israelites will be like chaff that is blown from the threshing floor. The Israelites will be like smoke that goes out a window and disappears.

I gave food to the Israelites, and they ate it. They became full and satisfied. They became proud, and then they forgot me.

The animals are hungry and groaning. The herds of cattle wander around confused because they have no grass to eat. The sheep are dying.

They don't trip each other. Each soldier walks in his own path. If one of the soldiers is hit and falls down, the others keep right on marching.

No, I will force the people from the north to leave your land and make them go into a dry, empty land. Some of them will go to the eastern sea and some to the western sea. They did such terrible things, but they will be like a dead and rotting body. There will be such a terrible smell!"

They threw lots for my people. They sold boys to buy a prostitute, and they sold girls to buy wine to drink.

I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah. Then they will sell them to the faraway Sabeans." This is what the Lord said.

This is what the Lord says: "I will definitely punish the people of Gaza for the many crimes they did. They took an entire nation of people and sent them as slaves to Edom.

This is what the Lord says: "I will definitely punish the people of Tyre for the many crimes they did. They took an entire nation and sent them as slaves to Edom. They did not remember the agreement they had made with their brothers.

This is what the Lord says: "I will definitely punish the Ammonites for the many crimes they did. They killed the pregnant women in Gilead. The Ammonites did this so that they could take that land and make their country larger.

Then their kings and leaders will be captured. They will all be taken together." This is what the Lord said.

This is what the Lord says: "I will definitely punish Judah for the many crimes they did. They refused to obey the Lord 's teachings and they did not keep his commands. Their ancestors believed lies, and those same lies caused the people of Judah to stop following God.