Study Desk

"I opened to my beloved, But my beloved had turned away and had gone! My heart went out to him as he spoke. I searched for him but I did not find him; I called him but he did not answer me.

But my dove, my perfect one, is unique: She is her mother's only daughter; She is the pure child of the one who gave birth to her. The young women saw her and called her blessed, The queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,

"If she is a wall, We will build on her a battlement of silver; But if she is a door, We will barricade her with planks of cedar."

Listen, heavens, and hear, earth; For the LORD has spoken: "Sons I have raised and brought up, But they have revolted against Me.

"An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master's manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand."

But if you refuse and rebel, You will be devoured by the sword." For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

How the faithful city has become a prostitute, She who was full of justice! Righteousness once dwelt in her, But now murderers.

But wrongdoers and sinners together will be broken, And those who abandon the LORD will come to an end.

So the common person has been humbled And the person of importance has been brought low, But do not forgive them.

He dug it all around, cleared it of stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it, And also carved out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones.

"I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned nor hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also command the clouds not to rain on it."

For the vineyard of the LORD of armies is the house of Israel, And the people of Judah are His delightful plant. So He waited for justice, but behold, there was bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.

Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; But they do not pay attention to the deeds of the LORD, Nor do they consider the work of His hands.

But the LORD of armies will be exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.

For this reason the anger of the LORD has burned against His people, And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them. And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not spent, But His hand is still stretched out.

And He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on listening, but do not understand; And keep on looking, but do not gain knowledge.'

Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it.

But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, nor will I put the LORD to the test!"

As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the plow, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.

"Devise a plan, but it will fail; State a proposal, but it will not stand, For God is with us."