Study Desk

Perhaps you will tell me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God.' But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at this altar.'

But the chief adviser said, "My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you!"

"This is what Hezekiah says: ‘This is a day of distress, insults, and humiliation, as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through.

They have burned the gods of the nations, for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them.

"This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth: This year you will eat what grows wild, and next year what grows on its own. But the year after that you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce.

The grass dries up, the flowers wither, but the decree of our God is forever reliable."

But those who wait for the Lord 's help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles' wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired.

The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched from thirst. I, the Lord , will respond to their prayers; I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.

I look, but there is no one, among them there is no one who serves as an adviser, that I might ask questions and receive answers.

You see many things, but don't comprehend; their ears are open, but do not hear."

But these people are looted and plundered; all of them are trapped in pits and held captive in prisons. They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them; they were carried away as plunder, and no one says, "Bring that back!"

So he poured out his fierce anger on them, along with the devastation of war. Its flames encircled them, but they did not realize it; it burned against them, but they did not notice.

"But you did not call for me, O Jacob; you did not long for me, O Israel.

This is what the Lord , Israel's king, says, their protector, the Lord who commands armies: "I am the first and I am the last, there is no God but me.

Don't panic! Don't be afraid! Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it? You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me? There is no other sheltering rock; I know of none.

I am the Lord , I have no peer, there is no God but me. I arm you for battle, even though you do not recognize me.

I do this so people will recognize from east to west that there is no God but me; I am the Lord , I have no peer.

It is me—I stir him up and commission him; I will make all his ways level. He will rebuild my city; he will send my exiled people home, but not for a price or a bribe," says the Lord who commands armies.

Tell me! Present the evidence! Let them consult with one another! Who predicted this in the past? Who announced it beforehand? Was it not I, the Lord ? I have no peer, there is no God but me, a God who vindicates and delivers; there is none but me.

Listen to this, O family of Jacob, you who are called by the name ‘Israel,' and are descended from Judah, who take oaths in the name of the Lord , and invoke the God of Israel— but not in an honest and just manner.