Study Desk

"Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Like the wood of the grapevine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the people of Jerusalem;

Therefore, O prostitute [Israel], hear the word of the LORD.

therefore, listen, I will gather all your lovers (pagan allies) with whom you took pleasure, and all those whom you loved with all those whom you hated; I will even gather them against you from every direction and will expose your nakedness to them that they may see all your nakedness [making you, Israel, an object of loathing and of mockery, a spectacle among the nations].

"Because you have not remembered the days of your youth but have enraged Me with all these things, therefore, I in turn will bring your conduct down on your own head," says the Lord GOD, "so that you will not commit this lewdness on top of all your other repulsive acts.

"They were haughty and committed repulsive acts before Me; therefore I removed them when I saw it.

Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "As I live, I will bring down on his own head My oath [made on My behalf by Nebuchadnezzar] which Zedekiah dishonored and My covenant which he broke.

"Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each one in accordance with his conduct," says the Lord GOD. "Repent (change your way of thinking) and turn away from all your transgressions, so that sin may not become a stumbling block to you.

"For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," says the Lord GOD. "Therefore, repent and live!"

"[Therefore] I also gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live;

"Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Again in this your fathers have blasphemed Me, in that they acted faithlessly and treacherously against Me.

"Therefore, say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Will you [exiles] defile yourselves in the same manner as your fathers? And will you prostitute yourselves before their loathsome and heinous things?

"Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go from its sheath against all flesh from south to north,

"Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against My people; it is against all the princes of Israel. They are thrown to the sword along with My [terrified] people. Therefore strike your thigh and strike your chest [in grief].

"Therefore, son of man, prophesy and strike your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time [in intensity], the sword for the slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter which surrounds them [so that no one can escape, even by hiding in their inner rooms],

"Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have caused your guilt to be remembered, in that your rebellion is uncovered, so that your sins appear in everything that you do—because you have come to mind, you will be seized with the hand [of the enemy].

"You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols which you have made. Thus you have caused your day [of judgment and punishment] to approach and have arrived at [the completion of] your years; therefore, I have made you an object of scorn to the [pagan] nations and a thing to be mocked by all countries.

"Behold, therefore, I strike My hands [together] at your dishonest gain which you have acquired and at the bloodshed which is among you.

"Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you [O Israel] into the midst of Jerusalem.

"Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; I have repaid their way [by bringing it] upon their own heads," says the Lord GOD.

"Therefore, I placed her in the hand of her lovers (allies), into the hand of the Assyrians whom she adored.