Study Desk

Because he who is blessed in the earthWill be blessed by the God of truth,And he who swears in the earthWill swear by the God of truth;Because the former distresses are forgotten,And because they are hidden from My sight!

So I will choose their punishmentsAnd will bring on them what they dread,Because I called, but no one answered;I spoke, but they did not listen.And they did what was evil in My eyesAnd chose that in which I did not take pleasure."

But Yahweh said to me,"Do not say, ‘I am a youth,'Because everywhere I send you, you shall go,And all that I command you, you shall speak.

So it was, because of the lightness of her harlotry, that she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.

A voice is heard on the bare heights,The weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel;Because they have perverted their way,They have forgotten Yahweh their God.

Therefore, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts,"Because you have spoken this word,Behold, I am making My words in your mouth fireAnd this people wood, and it will devour them.

Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done?They were not even ashamed at all;They did not even know how to feel dishonor.Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;At the time that I punish them,They shall be cast down," says Yahweh.

Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing evil on this people,The fruit of their plans,Because they have not given heed to My words,And as for My law, they have rejected it also.

"But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at the first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of My people Israel.

And now, because you have done all these works," declares Yahweh, "and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you but you did not answer,

"Therefore, behold, days are coming," declares Yahweh, "when it will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place.

Therefore I will give their wives to others,Their fields to new possessors,Because from the least even to the greatestEveryone is greedy for gain;From the prophet even to the priestEveryone practices lying.

Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done?They certainly were not ashamed,And they did not know how to feel dishonor;Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;At the time of their punishment they shall be brought down,"Says Yahweh.

"Let everyone beware of his neighbor,And do not trust any brother,Because every brother surely supplants,And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.

Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts,"Behold, I will refine them and test them;For what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people?

"For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing,And for the pastures of the wilderness a funeral lamentation,Because they are turned into ruin so that no one passes through,And the lowing of the cattle is not heard;Both the birds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone.

Yahweh said, "Because they have forsaken My law, which I set before them, and have not listened to My voice nor walked according to it,

Woe is me, because of my injury!My wound is desperately sick.But I said, "Truly this is a sickness,And I must bear it."

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

Yahweh of hosts, who planted you, has spoken forth evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger by burning incense to Baal.