Study Desk

"Behold, the enemy comes up like clouds, His chariots like the whirlwind; His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe (judgment is coming) to us, for we are ruined!"

For a voice declares from Dan [far in the north], And proclaims evil from Mount Ephraim.

My soul, my soul! I writhe in anguish and pain! Oh, the walls of my heart! My heart is pounding and throbbing within me; I cannot be silent, For you have heard, O my soul, The sound of the trumpet, The alarm of war.

News of one [terrible] disaster comes close after another, For the whole land is devastated; Suddenly my tents are spoiled and destroyed, My [tent] curtains [ruined] in a moment.

How long [O LORD] must I see the banner [marking the way for flight] And hear the sound of the trumpet [urging the people to run for safety]?

"For My people are stupid and foolish," [says the LORD to Jeremiah]; "They do not know Me; They are foolish children And have no understanding. They are shrewd [enough] to do evil, But they do not know [how] to do good."

"For this reason the earth shall mourn And the heavens above shall become dark, Because I have spoken, I have decided, And I will not change my mind (relent), nor will I turn back from it."

For I heard a cry like a woman in labor, The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child, The cry of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem), who gasps for breath, Who stretches out her hands, saying, "Woe is me [my judgment comes]! I faint [in fear] before the murderers."

"Roam back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, And look now and take note. And look in her open squares To see if you can find a man [as Abraham sought in Sodom], One who is just, who [has integrity and moral courage and] seeks truth (faithfulness); Then I will pardon Jerusalem—[for the sake of one uncompromisingly righteous person].

O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You [have seen their faithless heart and] have stricken them, But they did not weaken; You have consumed them, But they refused to take correction or instruction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent and return to You.

Then I said, "[Surely] these are only the poor (uneducated); They are [sinfully] foolish and have no [spiritual] understanding, For they do not know the way of the LORD Or the ordinance of their God [and the requirements of His just and righteous law].

"I will go to the great [men] And speak to them, For they [must] know the way of the LORD, The ordinance of their God." But [I found the reverse to be true, that] they too had all alike broken the yoke [of God's law] And had burst the bonds [of obedience to Him].

"Shall I not punish them [for these things]?" says the LORD; "Shall I not avenge Myself On a nation such as this?"

"Go up through the rows of Jerusalem's vineyards and destroy [them], But do not completely destroy everything. Strip away her branches and the tendrils [of her vines], For they are not the LORD'S.

"For the house of Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously (faithlessly) with Me," declares the LORD.

'Do you not fear Me?' says the LORD. 'Do you not tremble [in awe] in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, An eternal decree and a perpetual barrier beyond which it cannot pass. Though the waves [of the sea] toss and break, yet they cannot prevail [against the sand ordained to hold them back]; Though the waves and the billows roar, yet they cannot cross over [the barrier]. [Is not such a God to be feared?]

'They do not say in their heart, "Let us now fear and worship the LORD our God [with profound awe and reverence], Who gives rain in its season, Both the autumn and the spring rain, Who keeps for us The appointed weeks of the harvest."

'For wicked men are found among My people, They watch like fowlers who lie in wait; They set a trap, They catch men.

'Shall I not punish them [for these things]?' says the LORD. 'Shall I not avenge Myself On such a nation as this?'

"Run for safety, you children of Benjamin, Out of the midst of Jerusalem! And blow a trumpet in Tekoa [in Judah] And raise a signal-fire in Beth-haccherem [near Jerusalem]; For evil is looking down [with eager anticipation] from the north, And great destruction.