Study Desk

In despair, you will be led into exile with your hands on your heads, for the Lord has rejected the nations you trust. They will not help you at all.

"If a man divorces a woman and she goes and marries someone else, he will not take her back again, for that would surely corrupt the land. But you have prostituted yourself with many lovers, so why are you trying to come back to me?" says the Lord .

"Look at the shrines on every hilltop. Is there any place you have not been defiled by your adultery with other gods? You sit like a prostitute beside the road waiting for a customer. You sit alone like a nomad in the desert. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and your wickedness.

That's why even the spring rains have failed. For you are a brazen prostitute and completely shameless.

Therefore, go and give this message to Israel. This is what the Lord says: "O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever.

"Return home, you wayward children," says the Lord , "for I am your master. I will bring you back to the land of Israel— one from this town and two from that family— from wherever you are scattered.

"And when your land is once more filled with people," says the Lord , "you will no longer wish for ‘the good old days' when you possessed the Ark of the Lord 's Covenant. You will not miss those days or even remember them, and there will be no need to rebuild the Ark.

Voices are heard high on the windswept mountains, the weeping and pleading of Israel's people. For they have chosen crooked paths and have forgotten the Lord their God.

"My wayward children," says the Lord , "come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts." "Yes, we're coming," the people reply, "for you are the Lord our God.

From childhood we have watched as everything our ancestors worked for— their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters— was squandered on a delusion.

Let us now lie down in shame and cover ourselves with dishonor, for we and our ancestors have sinned against the Lord our God. From our childhood to this day we have never obeyed him."

"Shout to Judah, and broadcast to Jerusalem! Tell them to sound the alarm throughout the land: ‘Run for your lives! Flee to the fortified cities!'

Raise a signal flag as a warning for Jerusalem: ‘Flee now! Do not delay!' For I am bringing terrible destruction upon you from the north."

So put on clothes of mourning and weep with broken hearts, for the fierce anger of the Lord is still upon us.

Then I said, "O Sovereign Lord , the people have been deceived by what you said, for you promised peace for Jerusalem. But the sword is held at their throats!"

The time is coming when the Lord will say to the people of Jerusalem, "My dear people, a burning wind is blowing in from the desert, and it's not a gentle breeze useful for winnowing grain.

Our enemy rushes down on us like storm clouds! His chariots are like whirlwinds. His horses are swifter than eagles. How terrible it will be, for we are doomed!

They surround Jerusalem like watchmen around a field, for my people have rebelled against me," says the Lord .

My heart, my heart—I writhe in pain! My heart pounds within me! I cannot be still. For I have heard the blast of enemy trumpets and the roar of their battle cries.

At the noise of charioteers and archers, the people flee in terror. They hide in the bushes and run for the mountains. All the towns have been abandoned— not a person remains!