Study Desk

'Return, O faithless children [of the twelve tribes],' says the LORD, 'For I am a master and husband to you, And I will take you [not as a nation, but individually]—one from a city and two from a [tribal] family— And I will bring you to Zion.'

"Raise a banner toward Zion [to mark the way for those seeking safety inside Jerusalem's walls]! Seek refuge, do not stand [immobile], For I am bringing evil from the north (the army of Babylon), And great destruction.

Therefore, thus says the LORD God of hosts, "Because you [people] have spoken this word, Behold, I am making My words a fire in your mouth [Jeremiah] And this people wood, and My words will consume them.

"Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from far away, O house of Israel," says the LORD. "It is a mighty and enduring nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Whose words you do not comprehend.

But I am full of the wrath (judgment) of the LORD; I am tired of restraining it. "[I will] pour it out on the children in the street And on the young men gathered together; For both the husband and wife shall be taken, The aged and the very old [though full of days they are not exempt from judgment].

"Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people, The fruit of their schemes, Because they have not listened and paid attention to My words, And as for My law, they have rejected it also.

Therefore, thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this people. The fathers and the sons together Will stumble against them; The neighbor and his friend will perish."

"For behold, I am sending serpents among you, Vipers which cannot be charmed, And they will bite you," says the LORD.

For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I (Jeremiah) am broken; I mourn, anxiety has gripped me.

but let the one who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me [and acknowledges Me and honors Me as God and recognizes without any doubt], that I am the LORD who practices lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on the earth, for in these things I delight," says the LORD.

For thus says the LORD; "Behold, I am slinging out at this time the people of this land, And will cause them [great] distress, That they may find it [to be as I have said]."

Therefore thus says the LORD, "Behold I am bringing disaster and suffering on them which they will not be able to escape; though they cry to Me, I will not listen to them.

Therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, I am about to punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and their daughters will die by famine;

"Then say to them, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am about to fill with drunkenness all the people of this land, even the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets and all the people of Jerusalem.

"You have abandoned (rejected) Me," says the LORD. "You keep going backward. Therefore I shall stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am tired of delaying [your punishment]!

"And I will make you to this people A fortified wall of bronze; They will fight against you, But they will not prevail over you, For I am with you [always] to save you And protect you," says the LORD.

"Now then, say to the men of Judah and to the citizens of Jerusalem, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am shaping a disaster and working out a plan against you. Turn back, each of you from his evil way; correct your habits and change your actions for the better."'

and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, "Behold (listen carefully), I am going to bring such disaster on this place that the ears of everyone who hears about it will tingle [in shock].

"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am going to bring on this city and on all its towns, all the devastation that I have declared against it, because they have become stiff-necked and refused to hear and obey My words.'"

[Jeremiah said,] O LORD, You have persuaded me and I was deceived; You are stronger than I and You have prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; Everyone mocks me.