Study Desk

"Ah, Lord GOD," I said, "I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!"

But the LORD told me: "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' For to everyone I send you, you must go, and all that I command you, you must speak.

Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you," declares the LORD.

"You have observed correctly," said the LORD, "for I am watching over My word to accomplish it."

For I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north," declares the LORD. "Their kings will come and set up their thrones at the entrance to Jerusalem's gates. They will attack all her surrounding walls and all the other cities of Judah.

I will pronounce My judgments against them for all the evil they did, when they abandoned Me to burn incense to other gods and to worship the works of their own hands.

Has a nation ever changed its gods? (though they were no gods at all!) Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for idols that are useless.

"For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me," declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.

"For long ago you broke your yoke and tore off your chains, saying, "I will not serve!" Indeed, on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down as a prostitute.

say to a tree, 'You are my father,' and to a stone, 'You gave birth to me.' For they have turned their backs to Me and not their faces, yet in the time of trouble they beg, 'Rise up and save us!'

But where are the gods you made for yourself? Let them rise up and save you if they can in your time of trouble; for your gods are as numerous as your cities, O Judah.

Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.

Moreover, you will leave that place with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not prosper by their help."

"Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been violated? You sat waiting for your lovers beside the highways, like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.

Go, proclaim this message toward the north: 'Return, O faithless Israel,' declares the LORD. 'I will no longer look on you with anger, for I am merciful,' declares the LORD. 'I will not be angry forever.

"Return, O faithless children," declares the LORD, "for I am your master, and I will take you-one from a city and two from a family-and bring you to Zion.

A voice is heard on the barren heights, the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy, because they have perverted their ways and forgotten the LORD their God.

"Return, O faithless children, and I will heal your faithlessness." "Here we are. We come to You, for You are the LORD our God.

From our youth, that shameful god has consumed what our fathers have worked for-their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.