Study Desk

'I will also give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me wholeheartedly.

'I will make them an object of terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a disgrace and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all the places where I will scatter them.

'This entire land will be a place of ruins and an object of horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

To Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, and its kings and its officials, to make them places of ruins, objects of horror, hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;

"For behold, I am beginning to inflict disaster on this city which is called by My name, so should you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth," declares the LORD of armies.'

'A clamor has come to the end of the earth, Because the LORD has a controversy with the nations. He is entering into judgment with humanity; As for the wicked, He has turned them over to the sword,' declares the LORD."

This is what the LORD of armies says: "Behold, evil is going out From nation to nation, And a great storm is being stirred up From the remotest parts of the earth.

"Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; Wallow in the dust, you masters of the flock; For the days of your slaughter and your dispersions have come, And you will fall like a precious vessel.

"He has left His hiding place like the lion; For their land has become a horror Because of the fierceness of the oppressing sword And because of His fierce anger."

"This is what the LORD says: 'Stand in the courtyard of the LORD'S house, and speak to all the cities of Judah who have come to worship in the LORD'S house all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. Do not omit a word!

then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth."'"

Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, "A death sentence for this man! For he has prophesied against this city, just as you have heard with your own ears!"

"Micah of Moresheth used to prophesy in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, 'This is what the LORD of armies has said: "Zion will be plowed like a field, And Jerusalem will become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the house like the high places of a forest."'

"Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah actually put him to death? Did he not fear the LORD and plead for the favor of the LORD, and the LORD relented of the disaster which He had pronounced against them? But we are committing a great evil against our own lives!"

Indeed, there was also a man who used to prophesy in the name of the LORD, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land words similar to all those of Jeremiah.

And they brought Uriah from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who killed him with a sword and threw his dead body into the burial place of the common people.

'For they are prophesying a lie to you in order to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you away and you will perish.

"So do not listen to the words of the prophets who talk to you, saying, 'You will not serve the king of Babylon,' for they are prophesying a lie to you;

Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying: "This is what the LORD says: 'Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, "Behold, the vessels of the LORD'S house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon"; for they are prophesying a lie to you.

'Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city become a place of ruins?