Study Desk

Therefore this is what the LORD of armies says: "Behold, I will refine them and put them to the test; For what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people?

"Their tongue is a deadly arrow; It speaks deceit; With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, But inwardly he sets an ambush for him.

"Shall I not punish them for these things?" declares the LORD. "Shall I not avenge Myself On a nation such as this?

"I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, And for the pastures of the wilderness a song of mourning, Because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, And the sound of the livestock is not heard; Both the birds of the sky and the animals have fled; they are gone.

This is what the LORD of armies says: "Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come; And send for the skillful women, that they may come!

"Have them hurry and take up a wailing for us, So that our eyes may shed tears, And our eyelids flow with water.

"For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion: 'How devastated we are! We are put to great shame, For we have abandoned the land Because they have torn down our homes.'"

For death has come up through our windows; It has entered our palaces To eliminate the children from the streets, The young men from the public squares.

but let the one who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises mercy, justice, and righteousness on the earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.

Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all those inhabiting the desert who trim the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart."

For the customs of the peoples are futile; For it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.

"They are like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, And they cannot speak; They must be carried, Because they cannot walk! Do not fear them, For they can do no harm, Nor can they do any good."

Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? For it is Your due! For among all the wise men of the nations And in all their kingdoms, There is none like You.

When He utters His voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens, And He makes the clouds ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain, And brings out the wind from His storehouses.

Every person is stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, For his cast metal images are deceitful, And there is no breath in them.

The Portion of Jacob is not like these; For He is the Maker of everything, And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; The LORD of armies is His name.

For this is what the LORD says: "Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land At this time, And I will cause them distress, So that they may be found."

For the shepherds have become stupid And have not sought the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, And all their flock is scattered.

Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You, And on the families who do not call upon Your name; For they have devoured Jacob; They have devoured him and consumed him, And have laid waste his settlement.

'For I solemnly warned your fathers on the day I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, warning them persistently, saying, "Listen to My voice."