Study Desk

Woe to me, because of my injury! My wound is incurable. But I said, "This certainly is a sickness, And I must endure it."

"So as for you, do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster.

The LORD of armies, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me by offering sacrifices to Baal.

and a remnant will not be left to them, because I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth—the year of their punishment."

How long is the land to mourn, And the vegetation of the countryside to dry up? Due to the wickedness of those who live in it, Animals and birds have been snatched away, Because people have said, "He will not see our final end."

"It has been made a desolation; Desolate, it mourns before Me; The whole land has been made desolate, Because no one takes it to heart.

"They have sown wheat but have harvested thorns, They have strained themselves to no profit. So be ashamed of your produce Because of the fierce anger of the LORD."

But if you do not listen to it, My soul will weep in secret for such pride; And my eyes will shed And stream down tears, Because the flock of the LORD has been taken captive.

"If you say in your heart, 'Why have these things happened to me?' Because of the magnitude of your wrongdoing Your skirts have been removed And your heels have suffered violence.

"This is your lot, the portion measured to you From Me," declares the LORD, "Because you have forgotten Me And trusted in falsehood.

Because the ground is cracked, For there has been no rain on the land. The farmers have been put to shame, They have covered their heads.

"For even the doe in the field has given birth only to abandon her young, Because there is no grass.

"The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; They pant for air like jackals, Their eyes fail Because there is no vegetation.

"And the people to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will pour out their own wickedness upon them.

"I will make them an object of terror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.

I did not sit in a circle of revelers and celebrate. Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone, For You filled me with indignation.

"Then you are to say to them, 'It is because your forefathers have abandoned Me,' declares the LORD, 'and have followed other gods, and served and worshiped them; but they have abandoned Me and have not kept My Law.

'So I will hurl you off this land to the land which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there you will serve other gods day and night, because I will show you no compassion.'

"I will first repay them double for their wrongdoing and their sin, because they have defiled My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and their abominations."

LORD, the hope of Israel, All who abandon You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down, Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, that is the LORD.