Study Desk

I hear a cry, like that of a woman in labor, the groans of a woman giving birth to her first child. It is beautiful Jerusalem gasping for breath and crying out, "Help! I'm being murdered!"

Lord , you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to be corrected. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent.

So now a lion from the forest will attack them; a wolf from the desert will pounce on them. A leopard will lurk near their towns, tearing apart any who dare to venture out. For their rebellion is great, and their sins are many.

"How can I pardon you? For even your children have turned from me. They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all! I fed my people until they were full. But they thanked me by committing adultery and lining up at the brothels.

They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor's wife.

Should I not punish them for this?" says the Lord . "Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?

"Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy the grapevines, leaving a scattered few alive. Strip the branches from the vines, for these people do not belong to the Lord .

God's prophets are all windbags who don't really speak for him. Let their predictions of disaster fall on themselves!'"

Have you no respect for me? Why don't you tremble in my presence? I, the Lord , define the ocean's sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set.

They do not say from the heart, ‘Let us live in awe of the Lord our God, for he gives us rain each spring and fall, assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.'

"Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait for victims like a hunter hiding in a blind. They continually set traps to catch people.

Should I not punish them for this?" says the Lord . "Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?

"Run for your lives, you people of Benjamin! Get out of Jerusalem! Sound the alarm in Tekoa! Send up a signal at Beth-hakkerem! A powerful army is coming from the north, coming with disaster and destruction.

Enemies will surround you, like shepherds camped around the city. Each chooses a place for his troops to devour.

They shout, ‘Prepare for battle! Attack at noon!' ‘No, it's too late; the day is fading, and the evening shadows are falling.'

This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies says: "Cut down the trees for battering rams. Build siege ramps against the walls of Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished, for she is wicked through and through.

Their homes will be turned over to their enemies, as will their fields and their wives. For I will raise my powerful fist against the people of this land," says the Lord .

They offer superficial treatments for my people's mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace.

This is what the Lord says: "Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that's not the road we want!'

I posted watchmen over you who said, ‘Listen for the sound of the alarm.' But you replied, ‘No! We won't pay attention!'