Study Desk

Then tell them that I, the Lord , am going to fill the people in this land with wine until they are drunk: the kings, who are David's descendants, the priests, the prophets, and all the people of Jerusalem.

The Lord says about these people, "They love to run away from me, and they will not control themselves. So I am not pleased with them. I will remember the wrongs they have done and punish them because of their sins."

I, the Lord , tell you what I am going to do to those prophets whom I did not send but who speak in my name and say war and starvation will not strike this land—I will kill them in war and by starvation.

What an unhappy man I am! Why did my mother bring me into the world? I have to quarrel and argue with everyone in the land. I have not lent any money or borrowed any; yet everyone curses me.

Then I said, " Lord , you understand. Remember me and help me. Let me have revenge on those who persecute me. Do not be so patient with them that they succeed in killing me. Remember that it is for your sake that I am insulted.

The Lord says, "I am sending for many fishermen to come and catch these people. Then I will send for many hunters to hunt them down on every mountain and hill and in the caves among the rocks.

"So then," says the Lord , "once and for all I will make the nations know my power and my might; they will know that I am the Lord ."

If at any time I say that I am going to uproot, break down, or destroy any nation or kingdom,

On the other hand, if I say that I am going to plant or build up any nation or kingdom,

Now then, tell the people of Judah and of Jerusalem that I am making plans against them and getting ready to punish them. Tell them to stop living sinful lives—to change their ways and the things they are doing.

So I prayed, " Lord , hear what I am saying and listen to what my enemies are saying about me.

The Lord told me to say, "Kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem, listen to what I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, have to say. I am going to bring such a disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will be stunned.

I am going to do this because the people have abandoned me and defiled this place by offering sacrifices here to other gods—gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah have known anything about. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people,

that the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, had said, "I am going to bring on this city and on every nearby town all the punishment that I said I would, because you are stubborn and will not listen to what I say."

The Lord himself has said, ‘I am going to make you a terror to yourself and to your friends, and you will see them all killed by the swords of their enemies. I am going to put all the people of Judah under the power of the king of Babylonia; he will take some away as prisoners to his country and put others to death.

Lord , you have deceived me, and I was deceived. You are stronger than I am, and you have overpowered me. Everyone makes fun of me; they laugh at me all day long.

Whenever I speak, I have to cry out and shout, "Violence! Destruction!" Lord , I am ridiculed and scorned all the time because I proclaim your message.

to tell Zedekiah that the Lord , the God of Israel, had said, "Zedekiah, I am going to defeat your army that is fighting against the king of Babylonia and his army. I will pile up your soldiers' weapons in the center of the city.

Then the Lord told me to say to the people, "Listen! I, the Lord , am giving you a choice between the way that leads to life and the way that leads to death.

The Lord told me to give this message to the royal house of Judah, the descendants of David: "Listen to what I, the Lord , am saying. See that justice is done every day. Protect the person who is being cheated from the one who is cheating him. If you don't, the evil you are doing will make my anger burn like a fire that cannot be put out.