Study Desk

Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing evil on this people,The fruit of their plans,Because they have not given heed to My words,And as for My law, they have rejected it also.

For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from ShebaAnd the sweet cane from a distant land?Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me."

They take hold of bow and spear;They are cruel and have no compassion;Their voice roars like the sea,And they ride on horses,Arranged as a man for the battleAgainst you, O daughter of Zion!"

Do not go out into the fieldAnd do not walk on the road,For the enemy has a sword;Terror is on every side.

O daughter of my people, gird yourself with sackclothAnd roll in ashes;Mourn as for an only son,A lamentation most bitter.For suddenly the destroyerWill come upon us.

For if you truly make your ways and your deeds good, if you truly do justice between a man and his neighbor,

"As for you, do not pray for this people and do not lift up a cry of lamentation or prayer for them and do not intercede with Me, for I am not hearing you.

The children gather wood, and the fathers make the fire burn, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to provoke Me.

For I did not speak to your fathers or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Cut off your hair and cast it away,And lift up a funeral lamentation on the bare heights;For Yahweh has rejected and abandonedThe generation of His wrath.'

For the sons of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight," declares Yahweh, "they have set their detestable things in the house, which is called by My name, to defile it.

"Therefore, behold, days are coming," declares Yahweh, "when it will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place.

The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth; and no one will frighten them away.

Then I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land will become a waste place.

Therefore I will give their wives to others,Their fields to new possessors,Because from the least even to the greatestEveryone is greedy for gain;From the prophet even to the priestEveryone practices lying.

Why are we sitting still?Gather yourselves, and let us go into the fortified citiesAnd let us be silent thereBecause Yahweh our God has silenced usAnd given us poisoned water to drink,For we have sinned against Yahweh.

We waited for peace, but there was no good;For a time of healing, but behold, terror!

"For behold, I am sending serpents against you,Vipers, for which there is no charm,And they will bite you," declares Yahweh.

For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken;I mourn, desolation has taken hold of me.

Oh that I had in the desertA travelers' lodging place,That I might leave my peopleAnd go from them!For all of them are adulterers,A solemn assembly of treacherous men.