Study Desk

God ^[a]says, "^(a)If a husband divorces his wife And she goes from him And belongs to another man, Will he still return to her? Will not that land be completely ^[b]polluted? But you ^(b)are a harlot with many ^[c]lovers; Yet you ^(c)turn to Me," declares the Lord .

"Lift up your eyes to the ^(d)bare heights and see; Where have you not been violated? By the roads you have ^(e)sat for them Like an Arab in the desert, And you have ^(f)polluted a land With your harlotry and with your wickedness.

"Therefore the ^(g)showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you had a ^(h)harlot's forehead; You refused to be ashamed.

"Have you not just now called to Me, ‘⁽ⁱ⁾My Father, You are the ^[d](j)friend of my ^(k)youth?

‘^(l)Will He be angry forever? Will He ^[e]be indignant to the end?' Behold, you have spoken And have done evil things, And you have ^[f]had your way."

Then the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king, "Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She ^(m)went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there.

⁽ⁿ⁾I ^[g]thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me'; but she did not return, and her ^(o)treacherous sister Judah saw it.

And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and ^(p)given her a writ of divorce, yet her ^(q)treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also.

Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she ^(r)polluted the land and committed adultery with ^(s)stones and trees.

Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in ^(t)deception," declares the Lord .

And the Lord said to me, "^(u)Faithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.

Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, ‘^(v)Return, faithless Israel,' declares the Lord ; ‘^(w)I will not ^[h]look upon you in anger. For I am ^(x)gracious,' declares the Lord ; ‘I will not be angry forever.

‘Only ^[i](y)acknowledge your iniquity, That you have transgressed against the Lord your God And have ^(z)scattered your ^[j]favors to the strangers ^(aa)under every green tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,' declares the Lord .

‘Return, O faithless sons,' declares the Lord ; ‘For I am a ^(ab)master to you, And I will take you one from a city and two from a family, And ^(ac)I will bring you to Zion.'

"Then I will give you ^(ad)shepherds after My own heart, who will ^(ae)feed you on knowledge and understanding.

It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land," declares the Lord , "they will ^(af)no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord .' And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again.

At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The ^(ag)Throne of the Lord ,' and ^(ah)all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the ^(ai)name of the Lord ; nor will they ^(aj)walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart.

^(ak)In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together ^(al)from the land of the north to the ^(am)land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.

"Then I said, ‘How I would set you among ^[k]My sons And give you a pleasant land, The most ^(an)beautiful inheritance of the nations!' And I said, ‘You shall call Me, ^(ao)My Father, And not turn away from following Me.'

"Surely, as a woman treacherously departs from her ^[l]lover, So you have ^(ap)dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel," declares the Lord .

A voice is heard on the ^(aq)bare heights, The weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel; Because they have perverted their way, They have ^(ar)forgotten the Lord their God.

"Return, O faithless sons, ^(as)I will heal your faithlessness." "Behold, we come to You; For You are the Lord our God.

"Surely, ^(at)the hills are a deception, A tumult on the mountains. Surely in the ^(au) Lord our God Is the salvation of Israel.

"But ^(av)the shameful thing has consumed the labor of our fathers since our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

Let us lie down in our ^(aw)shame, and let our humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, ^(ax)from our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God."

"If you will ^(a)return, O Israel," declares the Lord , "Then you should return to Me. And ^(b)if you will put away your detested things from My presence, And will not waver,

And you will ^(c)swear, ‘As the Lord lives,' ^(d)In truth, in justice and in righteousness; Then the ^(e)nations will bless themselves in Him, And ^(f)in Him they will glory."

For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, "^[a](g)Break up your fallow ground, And ^(h)do not sow among thorns.

"⁽ⁱ⁾Circumcise yourselves to the Lord And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My ^(j)wrath will go forth like fire And burn with ^(k)none to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds."

Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say, "^(l)Blow the trumpet in the land; Cry aloud and say, ‘^(m)Assemble yourselves, and let us go Into the fortified cities.'

"Lift up a ⁽ⁿ⁾standard toward Zion! Seek refuge, do not stand still, For I am bringing ^(o)evil from the north, And great destruction.

"A ^(p)lion has gone up from his thicket, And a ^(q)destroyer of nations has set out; He has gone out from his place To ^(r)make your land a waste. Your cities will be ruins Without inhabitant.

"For this, ^(s)put on sackcloth, Lament and wail; For the ^(t)fierce anger of the Lord Has not turned back from us."

"It shall come about in that day," declares the Lord , "that the ^(u)heart of the king and the heart of the princes will fail; and the priests will be appalled and the ^(v)prophets will be astounded."

Then I said, "Ah, Lord ^[b] God ! Surely You have utterly ^(w)deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘^(x)You will have peace'; whereas a sword touches the ^[c]throat."

In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "A ^(y)scorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness in the direction of the daughter of My people—not to winnow and not to cleanse,

a wind too strong for ^[d]this—will come ^[e]at My command; now I will also pronounce judgments against them.

"Behold, he ^(z)goes up like clouds, And his ^(aa)chariots like the whirlwind; His horses are ^(ab)swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for ^(ac)we are ruined!"

Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, That you may be saved. How long will your ^(ad)wicked thoughts Lodge within you?

For a voice declares from ^(ae)Dan, And proclaims wickedness from Mount Ephraim.

"Report it to the nations, now! Proclaim over Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers come from a ^(af)far country, And ^(ag)lift their voices against the cities of Judah.

‘Like watchmen of a field they are ^(ah)against her round about, Because she has ^(ai)rebelled against Me,' declares the Lord .

"Your ^(aj)ways and your deeds Have ^[f]brought these things to you. This is your evil. How ^(ak)bitter! How it has touched your heart!"

^(al)My ^[g]soul, my ^[h]soul! I am in anguish! ^[i]Oh, my heart! My ^(am)heart is pounding in me; I cannot be silent, Because ^[j]you have heard, O my soul, The ^(an)sound of the trumpet, The alarm of war.

^(ao)Disaster on disaster is proclaimed, For the ^(ap)whole land is devastated; Suddenly my ^(aq)tents are devastated, My curtains in an instant.

How long must I see the standard And hear the sound of the trumpet?

"^(ar)For My people are foolish, They know Me not; They are stupid children And have no understanding. They are shrewd to ^(as)do evil, But to do good they do not know."

I looked on the earth, and behold, it was ^[k](at) formless and void; And to the heavens, and they had no light.

I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were ^(au)quaking, And all the hills ^[l]moved to and fro.

I looked, and behold, there was no man, And all the ^(av)birds of the heavens had fled.

I looked, and behold, ^[m]the ^(aw)fruitful land was a wilderness, And all its cities were pulled down Before the Lord , before His fierce anger.

For thus says the Lord , "The ^(ax)whole land shall be a desolation, Yet I will ^(ay)not execute a complete destruction.

"For this the ^(az)earth shall mourn And the ^(ba)heavens above be dark, Because I have ^(bb)spoken, I have purposed, And I will not ^[n]change My mind, nor will I turn from it."

At the sound of the horseman and bowman ^(bc)every city flees; They ^(bd)go into the thickets and climb among the rocks; ^(be)Every city is forsaken, And no man dwells in them.

And you, O desolate one, ^(bf)what will you do? Although you dress in scarlet, Although you decorate yourself with ornaments of gold, Although you ^(bg)enlarge your eyes with paint, In vain you make yourself beautiful. Your ^[o](bh)lovers despise you; They seek your life.

For I heard a ^[p]cry as of a woman in labor, The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child, The ^[q]cry of the daughter of Zion ^(bi)gasping for breath, ^(bj)Stretching out her ^[r]hands, saying, "Ah, woe is me, for ^[s]I faint before murderers."

"^(a)Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, And look now and take note. And seek in her open squares, If you can ^(b)find a man, ^(c)If there is one who does justice, who seeks ^[a]truth, Then I will pardon her.

"And ^(d)although they say, ‘As the Lord lives,' Surely they swear falsely."

O Lord , do not ^(e)Your eyes look for ^[b]truth? You have ^(f)smitten them, But they did not ^[c]weaken; You have consumed them, But they ^(g)refused to take correction. They have ^(h)made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent.

Then I said, "They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they ⁽ⁱ⁾do not know the way of the Lord Or the ordinance of their God.

"I will go to the great And will speak to them, For ^(j)they know the way of the Lord And the ordinance of their God." But they too, with one accord, have ^(k)broken the yoke And burst the bonds.

Therefore ^(l)a lion from the forest will slay them, A ^(m)wolf of the deserts will destroy them, A ⁽ⁿ⁾leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces, Because their ^(o)transgressions are many, Their apostasies are numerous.

"Why should I pardon you? Your sons have forsaken Me And ^(p)sworn by those who are ^(q)not gods. When I had fed them to the full, They ^(r)committed adultery And trooped to the harlot's house.

"They were well-fed lusty horses, Each one neighing after his ^(s)neighbor's wife.

"Shall I not punish ^[d]these people," declares the Lord , "And on a nation such as this ^(t)Shall I not avenge Myself?

"Go up through her vine rows and destroy, But do not execute a complete destruction; Strip away her branches, For they are not the Lord's .

"For the ^(u)house of Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously with Me," declares the Lord .

They have ^(v)lied about the Lord And said, "^[e](w)Not He; Misfortune will ^(x)not come on us, And we ^(y)will not see sword or famine.

"The ^(z)prophets are as wind, And the word is not in them. Thus it will be done to them!"

Therefore, thus says the Lord , the God of hosts, "Because you have spoken this word, Behold, I am ^(aa)making My words in your mouth fire And this people wood, and it will consume them.

"Behold, I am ^(ab)bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel," declares the Lord . "It is an enduring nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose ^(ac)language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say.

"Their ^(ad)quiver is like an ^(ae)open grave, All of them are mighty men.

"They will ^(af)devour your harvest and your food; They will devour your sons and your daughters; They will devour your flocks and your herds; They will devour your ^(ag)vines and your fig trees; They will demolish with the sword your ^(ah)fortified cities in which you trust.

"Yet even in those days," declares the Lord , "I will not make you a complete destruction.

It shall come about ^(ai)when ^[f]they say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?' then you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will ^(aj)serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'

"Declare this in the house of Jacob And proclaim it in Judah, saying,

‘Now hear this, O foolish and ^[g]senseless people, Who have ^(ak)eyes but do not see; Who have ears but do not hear.

‘Do you not ^(al)fear Me?' declares the Lord . ‘Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have ^(am)placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, An eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.

‘But this people has a ^(an)stubborn and rebellious heart; They have turned aside and departed.

‘They do not say in their heart, "Let us now fear the Lord our God, Who ^(ao)gives rain in its season, Both ^(ap)the autumn rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us The ^(aq)appointed weeks of the harvest."

‘Your ^(ar)iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have withheld good from you.

‘For wicked men are found among My people, They ^(as)watch like fowlers ^[h]lying in wait; They set a trap, They catch men.

‘Like a cage full of birds, So their houses are full of ^(at)deceit; Therefore they have become great and rich.

‘They are ^(au)fat, they are sleek, They also ^[i]excel in deeds of wickedness; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the ^[j](av)orphan, that they may prosper; And they do not ^[k]defend the rights of the poor.

‘^(aw)Shall I not punish ^[l]these people?' declares the Lord , ‘On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself?'

"An appalling and ^(ax)horrible thing Has happened in the land:

The ^(ay)prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule ^[m]on their own authority; And My people ^(az)love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?