Study Desk

"I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, 'Here am I, here am I.'

"I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.'

All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations-

All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations—

a people who continually provoke me to my very face, offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on altars of brick;

a people who continually provoke me to my very face, offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on altars of brick;

who sit among the graves and spend their nights keeping secret vigil; who eat the flesh of pigs, and whose pots hold broth of unclean meat;

who sit among the graves and spend their nights keeping secret vigil; who eat the flesh of pigs, and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;

who say, 'Keep away; don't come near me, for I am too sacred for you!' Such people are smoke in my nostrils, a fire that keeps burning all day.

who say, ‘Keep away; don't come near me, for I am too sacred for you!' Such people are smoke in my nostrils, a fire that keeps burning all day.

"See, it stands written before me: I will not keep silent but will pay back in full; I will pay it back into their laps-

"See, it stands written before me: I will not keep silent but will pay back in full; I will pay it back into their laps—

both your sins and the sins of your fathers," says the LORD. "Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains and defied me on the hills, I will measure into their laps the full payment for their former deeds."

both your sins and the sins of your ancestors," says the Lord. "Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains and defied me on the hills, I will measure into their laps the full payment for their former deeds."