Study Desk

"From this place as well you will go out With your hands on your head; For the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust, And you will not prosper with them."

God says, "If a husband divorces his wife And she leaves him And becomes another man's wife, Will he return to her again? Would that land not be completely defiled? But you are a prostitute with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me," declares the LORD.

"Raise your eyes to the bare heights and see; Where have you not been violated? You have sat for them by the roads Like an Arab in the desert, And you have defiled a land With your prostitution and your wickedness.

"And because of the thoughtlessness of her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.

"Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception," declares the LORD.

"In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.

"However, as a woman treacherously leaves her lover, So you have dealt treacherously with Me, House of Israel," declares the LORD.

"Circumcise yourselves to the LORD And remove the foreskins of your hearts, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will spread like fire And burn with no one to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds."

And you, desolate one, what will you do? Although you dress in scarlet, Although you adorn yourself with jewelry of gold, Although you enlarge your eyes with makeup, In vain you make yourself beautiful. Your lovers despise you; They seek your life.

"For the house of Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously with Me," declares the LORD.

"They will devour your harvest and your food; They will devour your sons and your daughters; They will devour your flocks and your herds; They will devour your vines and your fig trees; They will demolish your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.

"Flee to safety, you sons of Benjamin, From the midst of Jerusalem! Blow a trumpet in Tekoa And raise a warning signal over Beth-haccerem; For evil looks down from the north, Along with a great destruction.

"As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not plead with Me; for I am not listening to you.

"How can you say, 'We are wise, And the Law of the LORD is with us'? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie.

Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land: "Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not within her?" "Why have they provoked Me with their carved images, with foreign idols?"

"Their tongue is a deadly arrow; It speaks deceit; With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, But inwardly he sets an ambush for him.

"Have them hurry and take up a wailing for us, So that our eyes may shed tears, And our eyelids flow with water.

For the customs of the peoples are futile; For it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.

"They decorate the idol with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers So that it will not totter.

Correct me, LORD, but with justice; Not with Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.