Study Desk

[The LORD rebukes Jeremiah for his impatience, saying] "If you have raced with men on foot and they have tired you out, Then how can you compete with horses? If you fall down in a land of peace [where you feel secure], Then how will you do [among the lions] in the [flooded] thicket beside the Jordan?

"For even your [tribal] brothers and the household of your father, Even they have dealt treacherously (unfaithfully) with you; Indeed they are [like a pack of hounds] howling after you. Do not believe them, although they may say kind words and promise you good things."

"Destroyers have come On all the caravan roads in the desert, For the sword of the LORD (Babylon) is devouring From one end of the land even to the other; No one has peace or a way of escape.

'For as the waistband clings to the body of a man, so I caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,' says the LORD, 'that they might be for Me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory; but they did not listen and obey.'

Listen and pay close attention, do not be haughty and overconfident, For the LORD has spoken [says Jeremiah].

Give glory to the LORD your God, Before He brings darkness And before your feet stumble On the dark and shadowy mountains, And while you are longing for light He turns it into the shadow of death, And makes it into thick darkness.

But if you will not listen and obey, My soul will weep in secret for your pride; My eyes will weep bitterly And flow with tears, Because the LORD'S flock has been taken captive.

Say to the king and the queen mother, "Humble yourselves and take a lowly seat, For your beautiful crown [the crown of your glory] Has come down from your head."

"Their nobles have sent their servants for water; They have come to the cisterns and found no water. They have returned with empty vessels; They have been shamed and humiliated, And they cover their heads.

"And the wild donkeys stand on the barren heights; They pant for air like jackals, Their eyesight fails Because there is no grass.

"O LORD, though our many sins testify against us" [prays Jeremiah], "Act now [for us and] for Your name's sake [so that the faithless may witness Your faithfulness]! For our backslidings are countless; We have sinned against You.

"O Hope of Israel, Her Savior in time of distress and trouble, Why should You be like a sojourner (temporary resident) in the land Or like a traveler who turns aside and spreads his tent to linger [only] for a night?

Thus says the LORD to this people [Judah], "In the manner and to the degree [already pointed out] they have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet. Therefore the LORD does not accept them; He will now remember [in detail] their wickedness and punish them for their sins."

So the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for good things for this people.

"And the people to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword; and they will have no one to bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will pour out their [own] wickedness on them [and not only on the imposters posing as prophets, for the people could not have been deceived without their own consent].

"Therefore [Jeremiah] you will say this word to them, 'Let my eyes flow with tears night and day, And let them never cease; For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a great blow, With a very serious and severely infected wound.

'If I go out into the field, Then I gaze on those slaughtered with the sword! And if I enter the city, Then I gaze on [those tormented with] the diseases of famine! For both prophet and priest [who should have guided the people] Go about [bewildered and exiled] in a land (Babylon) that they do not know or understand.'"

Have You [O LORD] completely rejected Judah? Do You loathe Zion? Why have You stricken us so that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace and completeness, but nothing good came; And [we hoped] for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

We know and acknowledge, O LORD, Our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against You.

Do not treat us with contempt and condemn us, for Your own name's sake; Do not disgrace Your glorious throne; Remember [with consideration] and do not break Your [solemn] covenant with us.