Study Desk

Don't be afraid of anyone, because I am with you to protect you," says the Lord .

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth. He said to me, "See, I am putting my words in your mouth.

The Lord said to me, "You have seen correctly, because I am watching to make sure my words come true."

Today I am going to make you a strong city, an iron pillar, a bronze wall. You will be able to stand against everyone in the land: Judah's kings, officers, priests, and the people of the land.

They will fight against you, but they will not defeat you, because I am with you to protect you!" says the Lord .

"How can you say to me, ‘I am not guilty. I have not worshiped the Baal idols'? Look at the things you did in the valley. Think about what you have done. You are like a she-camel in mating season that runs from place to place.

but you say, ‘I am innocent. God is not angry with me.' But I will judge you guilty of lying, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.'

Go and speak this message toward the north: ‘Come back, unfaithful people of Israel,' says the Lord . ‘I will stop being angry at you, because I am full of mercy,' says the Lord . ‘I will not be angry with you forever.

"Come back to me, you unfaithful children," says the Lord , "because I am your master. I will take one person from every city and two from every family group, and I will bring you to Jerusalem.

Raise the signal flag toward Jerusalem! Run for your lives, and don't wait, because I am bringing disaster from the north There will be terrible destruction."

Oh, how I hurt! How I hurt! I am bent over in pain. Oh, the torture in my heart! My heart is pounding inside me. I cannot keep quiet, because I have heard the sound of the trumpet. I have heard the shouts of war.

I hear a cry like a woman having a baby, distress like a woman having her first child. It is the sound of Jerusalem gasping for breath. She lifts her hands in prayer and says, "Oh! I am about to faint before my murderers!"

Surely you are afraid of me," says the Lord . "You should shake with fear in my presence. I am the one who made the beaches to be a border for the sea, a border the water can never go past. The waves may pound the beach, but they can't win over it. They may roar, but they cannot go beyond it.

But I am full of the anger of the Lord , and I am tired of holding it in. "Pour out my anger on the children who play in the street and on the young men gathered together. A husband and his wife will both be caught in his anger, as will the very old.

Hear this, people of the earth: I am going to bring disaster to the people of Judah because of the evil they plan. They have not listened to my messages and have rejected my teachings.

But I am not the one the people of Judah are really hurting, says the Lord . They are only hurting themselves and bringing shame upon themselves.

"Look! I am sending poisonous snakes to attack you. These snakes cannot be charmed, and they will bite you," says the Lord .

God, you are my comfort when I am very sad and when I am afraid.

Because my people are crushed, I am crushed. I cry loudly and am afraid for them.

"They use their tongues like a bow, shooting lies from their mouths like arrows. Lies, not truth, have grown strong in the land. They go from one evil thing to another. They do not know who I am," says the Lord .