Study Desk

Because of this put on sackcloth, lament and wail: "The fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from us."

They have closed in around her like watchers of a field, because she has rebelled against me, says the Lord .

Because of this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above grow black; for I have spoken, I have purposed; I have not relented nor will I turn back.

Therefore a lion from the forest shall kill them, a wolf from the desert shall destroy them. A leopard is watching against their cities; everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces— because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are great.

Therefore thus says the Lord , the God of hosts: Because they have spoken this word, I am now making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall devour them.

Hear, O earth; I am going to bring disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not given heed to my words; and as for my teaching, they have rejected it.

And now, because you have done all these things, says the Lord , and when I spoke to you persistently, you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer,

Therefore I will give their wives to others and their fields to conquerors, because from the least to the greatest everyone is greedy for unjust gain; from prophet to priest everyone deals falsely.

Why do we sit still? Gather together, let us go into the fortified cities and perish there; for the Lord our God has doomed us to perish, and has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord .

Take up weeping and wailing for the mountains, and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness, because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard; both the birds of the air and the animals have fled and are gone.

And the Lord says: Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, or walked in accordance with it,

For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion: "How we are ruined! We are utterly shamed, because we have left the land, because they have cast down our dwellings."

Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is severe. But I said, "Truly this is my punishment, and I must bear it."

The Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.

How long will the land mourn, and the grass of every field wither? For the wickedness of those who live in it the animals and the birds are swept away, and because people said, "He is blind to our ways."

They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns, they have tired themselves out but profit nothing. They shall be ashamed of their harvests because of the fierce anger of the Lord .

But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the Lord 's flock has been taken captive.

This is your lot, the portion I have measured out to you, says the Lord , because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies.

because the ground is cracked. Because there has been no rain on the land the farmers are dismayed; they cover their heads.

Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn because there is no grass.