Study Desk

I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, "Here I am, here I am," to a nation that was not called by my name.

who say, "Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you." These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day.

both your iniquities and your fathers' iniquities together, says the Lord ; because they made offerings on the mountains and insulted me on the hills, I will measure into their lap payment for their former deeds."

Thus says the Lord : "As the new wine is found in the cluster, and they say, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,' so I will do for my servants' sake, and not destroy them all.

Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for my people who have sought me.

But you who forsake the Lord , who forget my holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,

behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart and shall wail for breaking of spirit.

You shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse, and the Lord God will put you to death, but his servants he will call by another name,

"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.

But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness.

No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord , and their descendants with them.

Thus says the Lord : "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?

I also will choose harsh treatment for them and bring their fears upon them, because when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my eyes and chose that in which I did not delight."

Hear the word of the Lord , you who tremble at his word: "Your brothers who hate you and cast you out for my name's sake have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy'; but it is they who shall be put to shame.

Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children.

"Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her;

For thus says the Lord : "Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees.

"For behold, the Lord will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.