Study Desk

"Judah, I have set a harvest time for you when I will make the lives of my people good again.

Israel's pride will cause their defeat; they will not turn back to the Lord their God or look to him for help in all this.

Israel has become like a pigeon— easy to fool and stupid. First they call to Egypt for help. Then they run to Assyria.

When they go, I will catch them in a net, I will bring them down like birds from the sky; I will punish them countless times for their evil.

How terrible for them because they left me! They will be destroyed, because they turned against me. I want to save them, but they have spoken lies against me.

They do not call to me from their hearts. They just lie on their beds and cry. They come together to ask for grain and new wine, but they really turn away from me.

They chose their own kings without asking my permission. They chose their own leaders, people I did not know. They made their silver and gold into idols, and for all this they will be destroyed.

"Although Israel built more altars to remove sin, they have become altars for sinning.

I have written many teachings for them, but they think the teachings are strange and foreign.

The Israelites offer sacrifices to me as gifts and eat the meat, but the Lord is not pleased with them. He remembers the evil they have done, and he will punish them for their sins. They will be slaves again as they were in Egypt.

Israel, do not rejoice; don't shout for joy as the other nations do. You have been like a prostitute against your God. You love the pay of prostitutes on every threshing floor.

The time of punishment has come, the time to pay for sins. Let Israel know this: You think the prophet is a fool, and you say the spiritual person is crazy. You have sinned very much, and your hatred is great.

Is Israel a watchman? Are God's people prophets? Everywhere Israel goes, traps are set for him. He is an enemy in God's house.

But even if the Israelites bring up children, I will take them all away. How terrible it will be for them when I go away from them!

Israel is like a large vine that produced plenty of fruit. As the people became richer, they built more altars for idols. As their land became better, they put up better stone pillars to honor gods.

Their heart was false, and now they must pay for their guilt. The Lord will break down their altars; he will destroy their holy stone pillars.

Then they will say, "We have no king, because we didn't honor the Lord . As for the king, he couldn't do anything for us."

The people from Israel are worried about the calf-shaped idol at Beth Aven. The people will cry about it, and the priests will cry about it. They used to shout for joy about its glory,

but it will be carried off to Assyria as a gift to the great king. Israel will be disgraced, and the people will be ashamed for not obeying.

When I am ready, I will come to punish them. Nations will come together against them, and they will be punished for their double sins.