Study Desk

if you do not make it hard for the stranger from another land, or the child whose parents have died, or the woman whose husband has died, and do not kill those who are not guilty in this place, and stop going after other gods, for that will destroy you,

"But go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a place for My name. And see what I did to it because of the sin of My people Israel.

"As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not lift up a cry or prayer for them. Do not speak with Me about them, for I do not hear you.

The children gather wood. The fathers make the fire. And the women make bread and cakes for the queen of heaven. They pour out drink gifts to other gods to make Me angry.

For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to them or tell them what to do about burnt gifts and animals killed on the altar.

Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants who speak for Me. I have risen up early and sent them day after day.

Cut off your hair and throw it away. And cry in sorrow on the open hill-tops. For the Lord has turned away and left the people who made Him angry.'

For the sons of Judah have done what is sinful in My eyes," says the Lord. "They have put their hated things in the house that is called by My name, to make it unclean.

So the days are coming," says the Lord, "when it will not be called Topheth any more, or the valley of the son of Hinnom. But it will be called the valley of Killing. For they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place.

The dead bodies of these people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the earth. And no one will send them away in fear.

Then in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, I will put an end to the voice of joy and the voice of happiness, the voice of the man to be married and the voice of the bride. For the land will become a waste.

And they will spread them out to the sun, the moon, and to all the stars of heaven. For these they have loved, and served, and followed, and looked for, and worshiped. The bones will not be gathered or buried. They will be as animal waste on top of the ground.

"For sure I will take them away," says the Lord. "There will be no grapes on the vine, and no figs on the fig tree, and the leaves will dry up. What I have given them will pass away."

Why are we sitting here? Gather together, and let us go into the strong cities and die there. For the Lord our God has given us up to die. He has given us poison in our water to drink, for we have sinned against Him.

We waited for peace, but no good came. We waited for a time of healing, but see, there is much trouble.

The noise of his horses is heard from Dan. The whole land shakes at the sound of his war horses. For they come and destroy the land and everything that is in it, the city and those who live in it.

"For see, I am sending the worst of snakes against you, poison snakes which cannot be stopped. And they will bite you," says the Lord.

If only my head were a well of water, and my eyes a well of tears, that I might cry day and night for my people who have been killed!

If only I had a place in the desert for travelers to stay, that I might leave my people, and go away from them! For none of them are faithful. They are a gathering of men who cannot be trusted.

"They use their tongue like their bow. Lies, and not truth, rule the land. For they go from sin to sin, and they do not know Me," says the Lord.