Study Desk

"For this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above be dark; for I have spoken; I have purposed; I have not relented, nor will I turn back."

For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor, anguish as of one giving birth to her first child, the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands, "Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers."

O Lord , do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent.

Then I said, "These are only the poor; they have no sense; for they do not know the way of the Lord , the justice of their God.

I will go to the great and will speak to them, for they know the way of the Lord , the justice of their God." But they all alike had broken the yoke; they had burst the bonds.

They were well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor's wife.

Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord ; and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?

"Go up through her vine rows and destroy, but make not a full end; strip away her branches, for they are not the Lord 's.

For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly treacherous to me, declares the Lord .

Do you not fear me? declares the Lord . Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.

They do not say in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.'

For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men.

Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord , and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?"

Flee for safety, O people of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms out of the north, and great destruction.

"Prepare war against her; arise, and let us attack at noon! Woe to us, for the day declines, for the shadows of evening lengthen!

For thus says the Lord of hosts: "Cut down her trees; cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem. This is the city that must be punished; there is nothing but oppression within her.

Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and wives together, for I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land," declares the Lord .

"For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.

Thus says the Lord : "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.'

Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.