Study Desk

For this is what the LORD says regarding Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in the place of his father Josiah, who went out from this place: "He will never return there;

"Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness, And his upstairs rooms without justice, Who uses his neighbor's services without pay And does not give him his wages,

Therefore this is what the LORD says regarding Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: "They will not mourn for him: 'Oh, my brother!' or, 'Oh, sister!' They will not mourn for him: 'Oh, for the master!' or, 'Oh, for his splendor!'

"Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered jar? Or is he an undesirable vessel? Why have he and his descendants been hurled out And cast into a land that they had not known?

"This is what the LORD says: 'Write this man down as childless, A man who will not prosper in his days; For no man among his descendants will prosper Sitting on the throne of David Or ruling again in Judah.'"

"In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will live securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, 'The LORD Our Righteousness.'

As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, All my bones tremble; I have become like a drunken man, And like a man overcome by wine, Because of the LORD And because of His holy words.

"Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: The committing of adultery and walking in deceit; And they strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to Me like Sodom, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.

"They keep saying to those who despise Me, 'The LORD has said, "You will have peace"'; And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, They say, 'Disaster will not come on you.'

"But who has stood in the council of the LORD, That he should see and hear His word? Who has paid attention to His word and listened?

"The anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has performed and carried out the purposes of His heart; In the last days you will clearly understand it.

"The prophet who has a dream may report his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word truthfully. What does straw have in common with grain?" declares the LORD.

"Then as for the prophet or the priest or the people who say, 'The pronouncement of the LORD,' I will bring punishment upon that person and his household.

"This is what each one of you will say to his neighbor and to his brother: 'What has the LORD answered?' or, 'What has the LORD spoken?'

'But like the bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness,' indeed, this is what the LORD says, 'so will I give up Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and the ones who live in the land of Egypt.

"And the LORD has sent to you all His servants the prophets again and again, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear,

saying, 'Turn now, everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and live on the land which the LORD has given to you and your forefathers forever and ever;

To Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, and all his people;

"Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them, 'The LORD will roar from on high And raise His voice from His holy dwelling; He will roar forcefully against His fold. He will shout like those who tread the grapes, Against all the inhabitants of the earth.

"He has left His hiding place like the lion; For their land has become a horror Because of the fierceness of the oppressing sword And because of His fierce anger."