Study Desk

I will not look on you with pity or spare you.I will punish you for your waysand for your detestable practices within you.Then you will knowthat it is I, the Lord, who strikes.

The time has come; the day has arrived.Let the buyer not rejoiceand the seller not mourn,for wrath is on her whole crowd.

They have blown the trumpetand prepared everything,but no one goes to war,for my wrath is on her whole crowd.

They will throw their silver into the streets,and their gold will seem like something filthy.Their silver and gold will be unable to save themin the day of the Lord’s wrath.They will not satisfy their appetitesor fill their stomachs,for these were the stumbling blocksthat brought about their iniquity.

He appointed his beautiful ornaments for majesty,but they made their detestable images from them,their abhorrent things.Therefore, I have made theseinto something filthy to them.

Forge the chain,for the land is filled with crimes of bloodshed,and the city is filled with violence.

Anguish is coming!They will look for peace, but there will be none.

Disaster after disaster will come,and there will be rumor after rumor.Then they will look for a vision from a prophet,but instruction will perish from the priestsand counsel from the elders.

He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his idol? For they are saying, ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has abandoned the land.’”

Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house, and I saw women sitting there weeping for Tammuz.

And he said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the detestable acts they are doing here, that they must also fill the land with violence and repeatedly anger me, even putting the branch to their nose?

He answered me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity. For they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land; he does not see.’

But as for me, I will not show pity or spare them. I will bring their conduct down on their own heads.”

When the cherubim stopped, the wheels stood still, and when they ascended, the wheels ascended with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them.

The city will not be a pot for you, and you will not be the meat within it. I will judge you at the border of Israel,

“Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Though I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.’

But as for those whose hearts pursue their desire for abhorrent acts and detestable practices, I will bring their conduct down on their own heads.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

“Son of man, you are living among a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.

“Now you, son of man, get your bags ready for exile and go into exile in their sight during the day. You will go into exile from your place to another place while they watch; perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house.

And while they look on, lift the bags to your shoulder and take them out in the dark; cover your face so that you cannot see the land. For I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.”