Study Desk

"For, behold, I will call all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north," says the LORD; "and they will come and each one will set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its surrounding walls, and against all the cities of Judah [as My judicial act, the consequence of Judah's deliberate disobedience].

"Israel was holy [something set apart from ordinary purposes, consecrated] to the LORD, The first fruits of His harvest [in which no outsider was allowed to share]. All who ate of it [injuring Israel] became guilty; Evil came on them," says the LORD.'"

"The young lions have roared at him, They have made their voices heard and roared loudly. And they have made his land a waste; His cities have been destroyed and are burned ruins, without inhabitant.

Yet you keep saying, 'I am innocent; Surely His anger has turned away from me.' Behold (listen very carefully), I will bring you to judgment and will plead my case against you Because you say, 'I have not sinned.'

That is to say, "If a man divorces his wife And she goes [away] from him And becomes another man's [wife], Will he return to her again? [Of course not!] Will not that land [where such a thing happened] be completely desecrated? But you [rebelled against Me and you] are a prostitute with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me." says the LORD.

"A lion has left his lair, And a destroyer of nations is on his way. He has gone out from his place To desolate your land; Your cities will be in ruins Without an inhabitant.

"Behold, the enemy comes up like clouds, His chariots like the whirlwind; His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe (judgment is coming) to us, for we are ruined!"

I looked, and behold, the fertile land was a wilderness, And all its cities were pulled down Before the [presence of the] LORD, before His fierce anger.

Then I said, "[Surely] these are only the poor (uneducated); They are [sinfully] foolish and have no [spiritual] understanding, For they do not know the way of the LORD Or the ordinance of their God [and the requirements of His just and righteous law].

"They were like well-fed, lusty stallions, Each one neighing after his neighbor's wife.

They have lied about and denied the LORD By saying, "It is not He [who speaks through His prophets]; Misfortune and evil shall not come on us, Nor will we see war or famine.

"Shepherds with their flocks will come against her; They will pitch their tents all around her; They will pasture, each one in his place [eating up all her rich grasses].

Therefore, thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this people. The fathers and the sons together Will stumble against them; The neighbor and his friend will perish."

"For if you thoroughly change your ways and your behavior, if you thoroughly and honestly practice justice between a man and his neighbor,

'Cut off your hair [your crown, O Jerusalem] and throw it away, And take up a mournful cry on the barren heights, For the LORD has rejected and abandoned The generation of His wrath.'

"I have listened and heard, But they have spoken what is not right; No man repented of his wickedness, Saying, 'What have I done?' Everyone turns to his [individual] course, As the horse rushes like a torrent into battle.

The snorting of [Nebuchadnezzar's] horses is heard from Dan [on Palestine's northern border]. At the sound of the neighing of his strong stallions The whole land quakes; For they come and devour the land and all that is in it, The city and those who live in it.

"Let everyone beware of his neighbor And do not trust any brother. For every brother is a supplanter [like Jacob, a deceiver, ready to grab his brother's heel], And every neighbor goes around as a slanderer.

"Everyone deceives and mocks his neighbor And does not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They exhaust themselves with sin and cruelty.

"Their tongue is a murderous arrow; It speaks deceit; With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, But in his heart he lays traps and waits in ambush for him.