Study Desk

"For your gods are as many as your cities, Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars for burning incense to Baal.

"So as for you, do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster.

But, LORD of armies, who judges righteously, Who puts the feelings and the heart to the test, Let me see Your vengeance on them, For to You I have committed my cause.

But You know me, LORD; You see me And examine my heart's attitude toward You. Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter, And set them apart for a day of slaughter!

"For even your brothers and the household of your father, Even they have dealt treacherously with you, Even they have called aloud after you. Do not believe them, though they say nice things to you."

"On all the bare heights in the wilderness Destroyers have come, For the sword of the LORD is devouring From one end of the land even to the other; There is no peace for anyone.

'For as the undergarment clings to the waist of a man, so I made the entire household of Israel and the entire household of Judah cling to Me,' declares the LORD, 'so that they might be My people, for renown, for praise, and for glory; but they did not listen.'

then say to them, 'This is what the LORD says: "Behold, I am going to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings who sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness!

Listen and pay attention, do not be haughty; For the LORD has spoken.

Give glory to the LORD your God Before He brings darkness And before your feet stumble On the mountains in the dark, And while you are hoping for light He makes it into gloom, And turns it into thick darkness.

But if you do not listen to it, My soul will weep in secret for such pride; And my eyes will shed And stream down tears, Because the flock of the LORD has been taken captive.

Say to the king and the queen mother, "Take a lowly seat, For your beautiful crown Has come down from your head."

"As for your adulteries and your lustful neighings, The outrageous sin of your prostitution On the hills in the field, I have seen your abominations. Woe to you, Jerusalem! How long will you remain unclean?"

"Their nobles have sent their servants for water; They have come to the cisterns and found no water. They have returned with their containers empty; They have been put to shame and humiliated, And they cover their heads,

Because the ground is cracked, For there has been no rain on the land. The farmers have been put to shame, They have covered their heads.

"For even the doe in the field has given birth only to abandon her young, Because there is no grass.

"The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; They pant for air like jackals, Their eyes fail Because there is no vegetation.

"Though our wrongdoings testify against us, LORD, act for the sake of Your name! Our apostasies have indeed been many, We have sinned against You.

"Hope of Israel, Its Savior in time of distress, Why are You like a stranger in the land, Or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?

So the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for a good outcome on behalf of this people.