Study Desk

They took clothes from the poor, and then they sat on those clothes while worshiping at their altars. They loaned money to the poor, and then they took their clothes as a promise for payment. They made people pay fines and used the money to buy wine for themselves to drink in the temple of their god.

"I was the one who brought you from the land of Egypt. For 40 years I led you through the desert. I helped you take the Amorites' land.

"There are many families on earth, but you are the only family I chose to know in a special way. And you turned against me, so I will punish you for all your sins."

Israel sinned, and I will punish them for their sins. And when I do, I will also destroy the altars at Bethel. The horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.

"Go to Bethel and sin. Go to Gilgal and sin even more. Offer your sacrifices in the morning. Bring a tenth of your crops for the three-day festival.

So the people from two or three cities staggered to another city to get water, but there was not enough water for everyone. Still you didn't come to me for help." This is what the Lord said.

"I made your crops die from heat and disease. I destroyed your gardens and your vineyards. Locusts ate your fig trees and olive trees. But you still didn't come to me for help." This is what the Lord said.

"I sent diseases against you, as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with swords. I took away your horses. I made your camp smell very bad from all the dead bodies, but still you didn't come back to me for help." This is what the Lord said.

"I destroyed you as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. And those cities were completely destroyed. You were like a burned stick pulled from a fire, but still you didn't come back to me for help." This is what the Lord says.

The Lord says this to the nation of Israel: "Come looking for me and live.

You should go to the Lord for help. He is the one who made the Pleiades and Orion. He changes darkness into the morning light. He changes the day into the dark night. He calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the earth. His name is Yahweh ! He keeps one strong city safe, and he lets another strong city be destroyed." You change justice to poison. You throw away fairness like trash. <

Israel, you offered me sacrifices and offerings in the desert for 40 years.

But you also carried statues of Sakkuth, your king, and Kaiwan. There was also that star god that you made for yourselves.

Oh, look at the people enjoying life in Zion, and those on Mount Samaria who feel so safe. They are such important leaders of a most important nation. The "House of Israel" comes to you for advice.

Do horses run over loose rocks? No, and people don't use cows for plowing. But you turned everything upside down. You changed justice and goodness to bitter poison.

This is what the Lord God showed me: I saw the Lord God calling for judgment by fire. The fire destroyed the ocean and was beginning to eat up the land.

The poor cannot pay their loans, so we will buy them as slaves. We will buy those helpless people for the price of a pair of sandals. Oh, and we can sell the wheat that was spilled on the floor."

There will be an earthquake that will shake the whole land because of what they did. Everyone living there will cry for those who died. The land will be tossed around. The whole land will rise and fall like the Nile River in Egypt."

I will change your festivals into days of crying for the dead. All your songs will be songs of sadness for those who are dead. I will put mourning clothes on every body and baldness on every head. I will cause mourning everywhere, like that for an only son who has died. It will be a very bitter end."

The Lord God says, "Look, the days are coming when I will cause a famine in the land. The people will not be hungry for bread. They will not be thirsty for water. No, they will be hungry for words from the Lord .