Study Desk

"Now behold, I have made you today like a fortified city and like a pillar of iron and walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its leaders, to its priests, and to the people of the land.

"Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, 'This is what the LORD says: "I remember regarding you the devotion of your youth, Your love when you were a bride, Your following after Me in the wilderness, Through a land not sown.

"They did not say, 'Where is the LORD Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, Through a land of deserts and of pits, Through a land of drought and of deep darkness, Through a land that no one crossed And where no person lived?'

"Has a nation changed gods, When they were not gods? But My people have exchanged their glory For that which is of no benefit.

"Is Israel a slave? Or is he a servant born in the home? Why has he become plunder?

"The young lions have roared at him, They have roared loudly. And they have made his land a waste; His cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant.

"For long ago I broke your yoke And tore off your restraints; But you said, 'I will not serve!' For on every high hill And under every leafy tree You have lain down as a prostitute.

"Yet I planted you as a choice vine, A completely faithful seed. How then have you turned yourself before Me Into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?

"How can you say, 'I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baals'? Look at your way in the valley! Know what you have done! You are a swift young camel running about senselessly on her ways,

A wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness, That sniffs the wind in her passion. Who can turn her away in her mating season? None who seek her will grow weary; In her month they will find her.

"Like the shame of a thief when he is discovered, So the house of Israel is shamed; They, their kings, their leaders, Their priests, and their prophets,

Who say to a tree, 'You are my father,' And to a stone, 'You gave me birth.' For they have turned their backs to Me, And not their faces; But in the time of their trouble they will say, 'Arise and save us!'

"In vain I have struck your sons; They did not accept discipline. Your sword has devoured your prophets Like a destroying lion.

"You generation, look to the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, Or a land of thick darkness? Why do My people say, 'We are free to roam; We will no longer come to You'?

"Can a virgin forget her jewelry, Or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me For days without number.

God says, "If a husband divorces his wife And she leaves him And becomes another man's wife, Will he return to her again? Would that land not be completely defiled? But you are a prostitute with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me," declares the LORD.

"Raise your eyes to the bare heights and see; Where have you not been violated? You have sat for them by the roads Like an Arab in the desert, And you have defiled a land With your prostitution and your wickedness.

"Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you had a prostitute's forehead; You refused to be ashamed.

"And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and prostituted herself also.

'Return, you faithless sons,' declares the LORD; 'For I am a master to you, And I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, And bring you to Zion.'