Study Desk

At that time I will confuse every horse and cause its rider to go crazy," says the Lord . "I will watch over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the enemies.

"At that time I will make the leaders of Judah like a fire burning a stack of wood or like a fire burning straw. They will destroy all the people around them left and right. But the people of Jerusalem will remain safe.

But someone will ask, ‘What are the deep cuts on your body?' And each will answer, ‘I was hurt at my friend's house.'

I will bring all the nations together to fight Jerusalem. They will capture the city and rob the houses and attack the women. Half the people will be taken away as captives, but the rest of the people won't be taken from the city.

All the land south of Jerusalem from Geba to Rimmon will be turned into a plain. Jerusalem will be raised up, but it will stay in the same place. The city will reach from the Benjamin Gate and to the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses.

But the Lord will bring a terrible disease on the nations that fought against Jerusalem. Their flesh will rot away while they are still standing up. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

The Lord said, "I have loved you." But you ask, "How have you loved us?" The Lord said, "Esau and Jacob were brothers. I loved Jacob,

but I hated Esau. I destroyed his mountain country and left his land to the wild dogs of the desert."

The people of Edom might say, "We were destroyed, but we will go back and rebuild the ruins." But the Lord All-Powerful says, "If they rebuild them, I will destroy them. People will say, ‘Edom is a wicked country. The Lord is always angry with the Edomites.'

The Lord All-Powerful says, "A son honors his father, and a servant honors his master." I am a father, so why don't you honor me? I am a master, so why don't you respect me? You priests do not respect me. "But you ask, ‘How have we shown you disrespect?'

"You have shown it by bringing unclean food to my altar. "But you ask, ‘What makes it unclean?' "It is unclean because you don't respect the altar of the Lord .

"Now ask God to be kind to you, but he won't accept you with such offerings," says the Lord All-Powerful.

"But you don't honor me. You say about the Lord's altar, ‘It is unclean, and the food has no worth.'

You say, ‘We are tired of doing this,' and you sniff at it in disgust," says the Lord All-Powerful. "And you bring hurt, crippled, and sick animals as gifts. You bring them as gifts, but I won't accept them from you," says the Lord .

"The person who cheats will be cursed. He has a male animal in his flock and promises to offer it, but then he offers to the Lord an animal that has something wrong with it. I am a great king," says the Lord All-Powerful, "and I am feared by all the nations.

But you priests have stopped obeying me. With your teachings you have caused many people to do wrong. You have broken the agreement with the tribe of Levi!" says the Lord All-Powerful.

"You have not been careful to do what I say, but instead you take sides in court cases. So I have caused you to be hated and disgraced in front of everybody."

Whoever does this might bring offerings to the Lord All-Powerful, but the Lord will still cut that person off from the community of Israel.

Since the time of your ancestors, you have disobeyed my rules and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord All-Powerful. "But you ask, ‘How can we return?'

"Should a person rob God? But you are robbing me. "You ask, ‘How have we robbed you?' "You have robbed me in your offerings and the tenth of your crops.