Study Desk

O My people! Children make it hard for them. And women rule over them. O My people! Your leaders lead you in the wrong way. You do not know which path to take.

Let me sing for my loved one a love song about His grape-field: My loved one had a grape-field on a hill that grows much fruit.

He dug all around it and took away its stones, and planted it with the best vine. He built a tower in the center of it, and cut out a place in it for crushing grapes. Then He expected it to give good grapes, but it gave only wild grapes.

What more was there to do for My grape-field that I have not done for it? When I expected it to give good grapes, why did it give wild grapes?

For the grape-field of the Lord of All is the people of Israel, and the men of Judah are the vines He planted. So He looked for what is right and fair, but He saw blood poured out. He looked for what is right and good, but He heard a cry of those in trouble.

It is bad for those who join house to house and field to field until there is no empty space, and you have to live alone in the land.

The Lord of All has sworn in my ears, "For sure, many houses will be laid waste. Large and beautiful houses will be empty.

For ten fields of vines will give only eleven large bottles of wine. And 110 jars of seed will give only eleven jars of grain."

It is bad for those who get up early in the morning to run after strong drink! It is bad for those who stay up late in the evening that they may get drunk!

It is bad for those who pull sin along with ropes of lies, who pull wrong-doing as with a wagon rope,

It is bad for those who call what is sinful good, and good sinful, who say dark is light and light is dark, who make bitter sweet, and sweet bitter!

It is bad for those who are wise in their own eyes, and who think they know a lot!

It is bad for those who are good at drinking wine, and are proud as they mix strong drink!

They take money in secret for saying that bad people are good. And they take away the rights of those who are not guilty.

So, as fire destroys what is left of the cut grain and dry grass falls into the fire, so their root will waste away and their flower blow away like dust. For they have turned away from the Law of the Lord of All. They have hated the Word of the Holy One of Israel.

Because of this the anger of the Lord has burned against His people. He has put out His hand against them and destroyed them. The mountains shook. Their dead bodies lay like waste in the center of the streets. For all this His anger is not turned away but His hand is still put out.

He will raise up flags as a sign to the nations far away. He will call for them from the ends of the earth, and they will hurry to come.

Then I said, "It is bad for me, for I am destroyed! Because I am a man whose lips are unclean. And I live among a people whose lips are unclean. For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of All."

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom should I send? Who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

For the head of Syria is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin. (Within another sixty-five years Ephraim will be destroyed so that it is no longer a people.)