Study Desk

All of Jerusalem's people groan, looking for bread. They are trading their precious things for food so they can stay alive. The city says, "Look, Lord , and see. I am hated."

"He sent fire from above that went down into my bones. He stretched out a net for my feet and turned me back. He made me so sad and lonely that I am weak all day.

"Look at me, Lord . I am upset and greatly troubled. My heart is troubled, because I have been so stubborn. Out in the streets, the sword kills; inside the houses, death destroys.

"Look at all their evil. Do to them what you have done to me because of all my sins. I groan over and over again, and I am afraid."

My eyes have no more tears, and I am sick to my stomach. I feel empty inside, because my people have been destroyed. Children and babies are fainting in the streets of the city.

I am a man who has seen the suffering that comes from the rod of the Lord 's anger.

I am sad when I see what has happened to all the women of my city.

Water came up over my head, and I said, "I am going to die."

He said, "Human, I am sending you to the people of Israel. That nation has turned against me and broken away from me. They and their ancestors have sinned against me until this very day.

I am sending you to people who are stubborn and who do not obey. You will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.'

But you, human, listen to what I say to you. Don't turn against me as those people do. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you."

He said to me, "Human, eat this scroll which I am giving you, and fill your stomach with it." Then I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

I am making you as hard as a diamond, harder than stone. Don't be afraid of them or be frightened by them, though they are a people who turn against me."

He also said to me, "Human, I am going to cut off the supply of bread to Jerusalem. They will eat the bread that is measured out to them, and they will worry as they eat. They will drink water that is measured out to them, and they will be in shock as they drink it.

"So this is what the Lord God says: I myself am against you, and I will punish you as the nations watch.

Your people will be killed and fall among you. Then you will know that I am the Lord .

Then they will know that I am the Lord . I did not bring this terrible thing on them for no reason.

Their people will lie dead among their idols around the altars, on every high hill, on all the mountain tops, and under every green tree and leafy oak—all the places where they offered sweet-smelling incense to their idols. Then you will know that I am the Lord .

I will use my power against them to make the land empty and wasted from the desert to Diblah, wherever they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord .'"

I will have no pity on you; I will not hold back punishment from you. Instead, I will make you pay for the way you have lived and for your actions that I hate. Then you will know that I am the Lord .