Study Desk

For You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us And Israel does not recognize us. You, LORD, are our Father, Our Redeemer from ancient times is Your name.

Why, LORD, do You cause us to stray from Your ways And harden our heart from fearing You? Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.

Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for a little while, Our adversaries have trampled it down.

For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of one who waits for Him.

You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned, We continued in our sins for a long time; Yet shall we be saved?

For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our wrongdoings, like the wind, take us away.

There is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have surrendered us to the power of our wrongdoings.

"I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, 'Here am I, here am I,' To a nation which did not call on My name.

"Who say, 'Keep to yourself, do not come near me, For I am holier than you!' These are smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day.

This is what the LORD says: "Just as the new wine is found in the cluster, And one says, 'Do not destroy it, for there is benefit in it,' So I will act in behalf of My servants In order not to destroy all of them.

"Sharon will be a pasture land for flocks, And the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, For My people who seek Me.

"But as for you who abandon the LORD, Who forget My holy mountain, Who set a table for Fortune, And fill a jug of mixed wine for Destiny,

I will destine you for the sword, And all of you will bow down to the slaughter. Because I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not listen. Instead, you did evil in My sight And chose that in which I did not delight."

"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.

"But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness.

"No longer will there be in it an infant who lives only a few days, Or an old person who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of a hundred, And the one who does not reach the age of a hundred Will be thought accursed.

"They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands.

"They will not labor in vain, Or give birth to children for disaster; For they are the descendants of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them.

This is what the LORD says: "Heaven is My throne and the earth is the footstool for My feet. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?

"For My hand made all these things, So all these things came into being," declares the LORD. "But I will look to this one, At one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at My word.