Study Desk

But the LORD said to me, Don't say, I am a child; for to whoever I shall send you, you shall go, and whatever I shall command you, you shall speak.

Don't be afraid because of them; for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.

Then said the LORD to me, You have well seen: for I watch over my word to perform it.

For, behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set everyone his throne at the entrance of the gates of Yerushalayim, and against all the walls of it round about, and against all the cities of Yehudah.

For, behold, I have made you this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Yehudah, against the princes of it, against the Kohanim of it, and against the people of the land.

They shall fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you: for I am with you, says the LORD, to deliver you.

Go, and cry in the ears of Yerushalayim, saying, Thus says the LORD, I remember for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your weddings; how you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

For pass over to the isles of Kittiyim, and see; and send to Kedar, and consider diligently; and see if there has been such a thing.

Has a nation changed [its] gods, which yet are no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.

For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

For of old time I have broken your yoke, and burst your bonds; and you said, I will not serve; for on every high hill and under every green tree you did bow yourself, playing the prostitute.

For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before me, says the Lord GOD.

Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst: but you said, It is in vain; no, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

who tell a stock, You are my father; and to a stone, You have brought me forth: for they have turned their back to me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.

But where are your gods that you have made you? let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble: for according to the number of your cities are your gods, Yehudah.

From there also shall you go forth, with your hands on your head: for the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust, and you shall not prosper with them.

Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see; where have you not been lain with? By the ways have you sat for them, as an `Aravian in the wilderness; and you have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your wickedness.

I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Yisra'el had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce, yet treacherous Yehudah, her sister, didn't fear; but she also went and played the prostitute.

Yet for all this her treacherous sister Yehudah has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense, says the LORD.

Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, you backsliding Yisra'el, says the LORD; I will not look in anger on you; for I am merciful, says the LORD, I will not keep [anger] forever.