Study Desk

"Now then, say to the men of Judah and to the citizens of Jerusalem, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am shaping a disaster and working out a plan against you. Turn back, each of you from his evil way; correct your habits and change your actions for the better."'

"But they will say, 'That is hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act in accordance with the stubbornness of his evil heart.'

Making their land a desolation and a horror, A thing to be hissed at perpetually; Everyone who passes by will be astounded And shake his head [in scorn].

If I say, "I will not remember Him Or speak His name anymore," Then my heart becomes a burning fire Shut up in my bones. And I am weary of enduring and holding it in; I cannot endure it [nor contain it any longer].

"Please inquire of the LORD for us, because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal [favorably] with us according to all His wonderful works and force him to withdraw from us."

"Then afterward," says the LORD, "I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the virulent disease, the sword, and the famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemy, into the hand of those who seek their lives. And he will strike them with the edge of the sword; he will not spare them nor have mercy and compassion on them."'

"He who remains in this city [of Jerusalem] will die by the sword and by famine and by virulent disease. But he who goes outside and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and his life will be like a prize of war to him.

O house of David, thus says the LORD: "Administer justice in the morning, And rescue the one who has been robbed from the hand of his oppressor, That My wrath will not roar up like fire And burn so [hotly] that none can extinguish it, Because of the evil of their deeds.

'Thus says the LORD, "Execute justice and righteousness, and rescue the one who has been robbed from the hand of his oppressor. And do no wrong; do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.

"For if you will indeed obey this word, then kings will enter through the gates of this palace, sitting in David's place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people.

"For I will prepare and appoint destroyers [to execute My judgments] against you, Each with his weapons; And they will cut down your [palaces built of] choicest cedars And throw them in the fire.

Do not weep for the dead or mourn for him; But weep bitterly for the one who goes away [into exile], For he will never return And see his native country [again].

For thus says the LORD in regard to Shallum (Jehoahaz) the [third] son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father and who went from this place, "Shallum will not return here anymore;

"Woe (judgment is coming) to him who builds his house by [acts of] unrighteousness And his upper chambers by injustice, Who uses his neighbor's service without pay And does not give him wages [for his work],

Therefore thus says the LORD in regard to Jehoiakim the [second] son of Josiah, king of Judah, "The relatives will not lament (mourn over with expressions of grief) for him: 'Alas, my brother!' or, 'Alas, sister,' [how great our loss]! The subjects will not lament for him: 'Alas, master!' or 'Alas, majesty [how great was his glory]!'

"Is this man [King] Coniah a despised, broken jar? Is he a vessel in which no one takes pleasure? Why are he and his [royal] descendants hurled out And cast into a land which they do not know or understand?

"Thus says the LORD, 'Write this man [Coniah] down as childless, A man who will not prosper (succeed) in his lifetime; For not one of his descendants will succeed In sitting on the throne of David Or ruling again in Judah.'"

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

Concerning the prophets: My heart [says Jeremiah] is broken within me, All my bones shake; I have become like a drunken man, A man whom wine has overcome, Because of the LORD And because of His holy words [declared against unfaithful leaders].

"Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; They encourage and strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become like Sodom to Me, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.