Study Desk

^[a](a)Oh that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the ^(b)daughter of my people!

^[b](c)Oh that I had in the desert A wayfarers' lodging place; That I might leave my people And go from them! For all of them are ^(d)adulterers, An assembly of ^(e)treacherous men.

"They ^(f)bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they ^(g)proceed from evil to evil, And they ^(h)do not know Me," declares the Lord .

"Let everyone ⁽ⁱ⁾be on guard against his neighbor, And ^(j)do not trust any brother; Because every ^(k)brother deals ^[c]craftily, And every neighbor ^(l)goes about as a slanderer.

"Everyone ^(m)deceives his neighbor And does not speak the truth, They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They ⁽ⁿ⁾weary themselves committing iniquity.

"Your ^(o)dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they ^(p)refuse to know Me," declares the Lord .

Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, "Behold, I will refine them and ^(q)assay them; For ^(r)what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people?

"Their ^(s)tongue is a deadly arrow; It speaks deceit; With his mouth one ^(t)speaks peace to his neighbor, But inwardly he ^(u)sets an ambush for him.

"^(v)Shall I not punish them for these things?" declares the Lord . "On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself?

"For the ^(w)mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing, And for the pastures of the ^(x)wilderness a dirge, Because they are ^(y)laid waste so that no one passes through, And the lowing of the cattle is not heard; Both the ^(z)birds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone.

"I will make Jerusalem a ^(aa)heap of ruins, A haunt of ^(ab)jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a ^(ac)desolation, without inhabitant."

Who is the ^(ad)wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom ^(ae)the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? ^(af)Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through?

The Lord said, "Because they have ^(ag)forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it,

but have ^(ah)walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the ^(ai)Baals, as their ^(aj)fathers taught them,"

therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, "behold, ^(ak)I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them ^(al)poisoned water to drink.

I will ^(am)scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the ^(an)sword after them until I have annihilated them."

Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Consider and call for the ^(ao)mourning women, that they may come; And send for the ^[d](ap)wailing women, that they may come!

"Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, That our ^(aq)eyes may shed tears And our eyelids flow with water.

"For a voice of ^(ar)wailing is heard from Zion, ‘^(as)How are we ruined! We are put to great shame, For we have ^(at)left the land, Because they have cast down our dwellings.'"

Now hear the word of the Lord , O you ^(au)women, And let your ear receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a dirge.

For ^(av)death has come up through our windows; It has entered our palaces To cut off the ^(aw)children from the streets, The young men from the town squares.

Speak, "Thus says the Lord , ‘The corpses of men will fall ^(ax)like dung on the open field, And like the sheaf after the reaper, But no one will gather them.'"

Thus says the Lord , "^(ay)Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the ^(az)mighty man boast of his might, let not a ^(ba)rich man boast of his riches;

but let him who boasts ^(bb)boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who ^(bc)exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I ^(bd)delight in these things," declares the Lord .

"Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord , "that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet ^(be)uncircumcised—

Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and ^(bf)all those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are ^(bg)uncircumcised of heart."

Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.

Thus says the Lord , "^(a)Do not learn the way of the nations, And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens Although the nations are terrified by them;

For the customs of the peoples are ^[a](b)delusion; Because ^(c)it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.

"They ^(d)decorate it with silver and with gold; They ^(e)fasten it with nails and with hammers So that it will not totter.

"Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they, And they ^(f)cannot speak; They must be ^(g)carried, Because they cannot walk! Do not fear them, For they ^(h)can do no harm, Nor can they do any good."

⁽ⁱ⁾There is none like You, O Lord ; You are ^(j)great, and great is Your name in might.

^(k)Who would not fear You, O ^(l)King of the nations? Indeed it is Your due! For among all the ^(m)wise men of the nations And in all their kingdoms, There is none like You.

But they are altogether ⁽ⁿ⁾stupid and foolish In their discipline of ^[b]delusion—^[c]their idol is wood!

Beaten ^(o)silver is brought from ^(p)Tarshish, And ^(q)gold from Uphaz, The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith; Violet and purple are their clothing; They are all the ^(r)work of skilled men.

But the Lord is the ^(s)true God; He is the ^(t)living God and the ^(u)everlasting King. At His wrath the ^(v)earth quakes, And the nations cannot ^(w)endure His indignation.

^[d]Thus you shall say to them, "The ^(x)gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will ^(y)perish from the earth and from under the ^[e]heavens."

It is ^(z)He who made the earth by His power, Who ^(aa)established the world by His wisdom; And by His understanding He has ^(ab)stretched out the heavens.

When He utters His ^(ac)voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the ^(ad)clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain, And brings out the ^(ae)wind from His storehouses.

Every man is ^(af)stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his ^[f]idols; For his molten images are deceitful, And there is no breath in them.

They are ^(ag)worthless, a work of mockery; In the ^(ah)time of their punishment they will perish.

The ^(ai)portion of Jacob is not like these; For the ^[g](aj)Maker of all is He, And ^(ak)Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; The ^(al) Lord of hosts is His name.

^(am)Pick up your bundle from the ground, You who dwell under siege!

For thus says the Lord , "Behold, I am ^(an)slinging out the inhabitants of the land At this time, And will cause them distress, That they may ^[h]be found."

^(ao)Woe is me, because of my ^[i]injury! My ^(ap)wound is incurable. But I said, "Truly this is a sickness, And I ^(aq)must bear it."

My ^(ar)tent is destroyed, And all my ropes are broken; My ^(as)sons have gone from me and are no more. There is ^(at)no one to stretch out my tent again Or to set up my curtains.

For the shepherds have become stupid And ^(au)have not sought the Lord ; Therefore they have not prospered, And ^(av)all their flock is scattered.

The sound of a ^(aw)report! Behold, it comes— A great commotion ^(ax)out of the land of the north— To ^(ay)make the cities of Judah A desolation, a haunt of jackals.

I know, O Lord , that ^(az)a man's way is not in himself, ^(ba)Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.

^(bb)Correct me, O Lord , but with justice; Not with Your anger, or You will ^[j]bring me to nothing.

^(bc)Pour out Your wrath on the nations that ^(bd)do not know You And on the families that ^(be)do not call Your name; For they have devoured Jacob; They have ^(bf)devoured him and consumed him And have laid waste his ^[k]habitation.

That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah in regard to the ^(a)drought:

"Judah mourns And ^(b)her gates languish; They sit on the ground ^(c)in mourning, And the ^(d)cry of Jerusalem has ascended.

"Their nobles have ^(e)sent their ^[a]servants for water; They have come to the ^(f)cisterns and found no water. They have returned with their vessels empty; They have been ^(g)put to shame and humiliated, And they ^(h)cover their heads.

"Because the ⁽ⁱ⁾ground is ^[b]cracked, For there has been ^(j)no rain on the land; The ^(k)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 ^(l)no grass.

"The ^(m)wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; They pant for air like jackals, Their eyes fail For there is ⁽ⁿ⁾no vegetation.

"Although our ^(o)iniquities testify against us, O Lord , act ^(p)for Your name's sake! Truly our ^(q)apostasies have been many, We have ^(r)sinned against You.

"O ^(s)Hope of Israel, Its ^(t)Savior in ^(u)time of distress, Why are You like a stranger in the land Or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?

"Why are You like a man dismayed, Like a mighty man who ^(v)cannot save? Yet ^(w)You are in our midst, O Lord , And we are ^(x)called by Your name; Do not forsake us!"

Thus says the Lord to this people, "Even so they have ^(y)loved to wander; they have not ^(z)kept their feet in check. Therefore the Lord does ^(aa)not accept them; now He will ^(ab)remember their iniquity and call their sins to account."

So the Lord said to me, "^(ac)Do not pray for the welfare of this people.

When they fast, I am ^(ad)not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer ^(ae)burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to ^(af)make an end of them by the ^(ag)sword, famine and pestilence."

But, "Ah, Lord ^[c] God !" I said, "Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You ^(ah)will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you ^[d]lasting ^(ai)peace in this place.'"

Then the Lord said to me, "The ^(aj)prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. ^(ak)I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a ^(al)false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own ^[e]minds.

Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them—yet they keep saying, ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land'—^(am)by sword and famine those prophets shall ^[f]meet their end!

The people also to whom they are prophesying will be ^(an)thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to ^(ao)bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters—for I will ^(ap)pour out their own wickedness on them.

"You will say this word to them, ‘^(aq)Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin ^(ar)daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, With a sorely ^(as)infected wound.

‘If I ^(at)go out to the country, Behold, those ^[g]slain with the sword! Or if I enter the city, Behold, diseases of famine! For ^(au)both prophet and priest Have ^[h]gone roving about in the land that they do not know.'"

Have You completely ^(av)rejected Judah? Or have ^[i]You loathed Zion? Why have You stricken us so that we ^(aw)are beyond healing? We ^(ax)waited for peace, but nothing good came; And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

We ^(ay)know our wickedness, O Lord , The iniquity of our fathers, for ^(az)we have sinned against You.

Do not despise us, ^(ba)for Your own name's sake; Do not disgrace the ^(bb)throne of Your glory; Remember and do not annul Your covenant with us.

Are there any among the ^[j](bc)idols of the nations who ^(bd)give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not You, O Lord our God? Therefore we ^[k](be)hope in You, For You are the one who has done all these things.