Study Desk

For the Lord says, "Do not go into a house where the people have lost a loved one. Do not go to cry or to comfort them. For I have taken My peace, My loving-kindness and My pity from these people," says the Lord.

"Both great men and small will die in this land. They will not be buried. No one will cry for them. And no one will cut himself or cut off his hair for them.

No one will give food to comfort those who sorrow for the dead. And no one will give them the cup of comfort to drink even for the death of their father or mother.

For the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, "Before your eyes and in your time, I am going to bring an end to the voice of joy, the voice of happiness, the voice of the man to be married and the voice of the bride in this place.

And you have sinned even more than your fathers before you. For see, each one of you is following the strong-will of his own sinful heart instead of listening to Me.

So I will throw you out of this land into a land which you and your fathers have not known. There you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.'

But it will be said, ‘As the Lord lives, Who brought the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had sent them.' For I will return them to their own land which I gave to their fathers.

"See, I am going to send for many fishermen," says the Lord, "and they will fish for them. After this I will send for many men who hunt. And they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes in the rocks.

For I see all their ways. They are not hidden from My face, and their sin is not hidden from My eyes.

And I will pay them back twice as much for their wrong-doing and their sin, because they have made My land unclean. They have filled My land with the bodies of their hated false gods and with sinful things offered to them."

And you yourself will let your land go that I gave you. I will make you serve those who hate you in a land which you do not know. For you have made My an-ger start a fire which will burn forever.

The Lord says, "Cursed is the man who trusts in man, who trusts in the flesh for his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord.

For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when good comes. He will live in dry wastes in the desert, in a land of salt where no other people live.

Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed. Save me and I will be saved. For You are my praise.

But as for me, I have not run away from being a shepherd who follows You. And I have not been hoping for the day of trouble. You know what I said was spoken in front of You.

Let those who make it hard for me be put to shame, but do not let me be put to shame. Let them be afraid, but do not let me be afraid. Bring on them a day of trouble, and destroy them with twice as much!

The Lord says, "Be careful for your lives. Do not carry any load on the Day of Rest or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem.

So now speak to the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem. Tell them, ‘The Lord says, "See, I am making trouble for you and making a plan against you. So each of you turn from your sinful way. Change your ways and your works."'

But they will say, ‘There is no hope! For we are going to follow our own plans. Each of us will act in the strong-will of his sinful heart.'

They said, "Come and let us make plans against Jeremiah. For the Law is not going to be lost to the religious leader, or wise words to the wise man, or the Word of God to the man of God! Come and let us hurt him with our tongue, and let us not listen to any of his words."