Study Desk

"Run for cover,^(a) Benjaminites, out of Jerusalem! Sound the ram's horn^(b) in Tekoa;^(c) raise a smoke signal^(d) over Beth-haccherem,^[a] for disaster threatens from the north,^(e) even great destruction.

Though she is beautiful and delicate, I will destroy^[b] Daughter Zion.

Shepherds and their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents all around her.^(f) Each will pasture his own portion.

Set them apart for war^(g) against her; rise up, let's attack at noon. Woe to us, for the day is passing; the evening shadows grow long.

Rise up, let's attack by night. Let us destroy her fortresses."

For this is what the Lord of Hosts says: Cut down the trees;^(h) raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This city must be punished. There is nothing but oppression within her.⁽ⁱ⁾

As a well gushes out its water, so she pours out her evil.^[c] Violence and destruction^(j) resound in her. Sickness and wounds keep coming to My attention.

Be warned, Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you;^(k) I will make you a desolation, a land without inhabitants.^(l)

This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Glean the remnant of Israel^(m) as thoroughly as a vine. Pass your hand once more like a grape gatherer over the branches.

Who can I speak to and give such a warning^[d] that they will listen? Look, their ear is uncircumcised,^[e](n) so they cannot pay attention. See, the word of the Lord has become contemptible to them— they find no pleasure in it.^(o)

But I am full of the Lord 's wrath; I am tired of holding it back.^(p) Pour it out on the children in the street,^(q) on the gang of young men as well. For both husband and wife will be captured, the old with the very old.^[f]

Their houses will be turned over to others,^(r) their fields and wives as well, for I will stretch out My hand^(s) against the inhabitants of the land. This is the Lord 's declaration.

For from the least to the greatest of them,^(t) everyone is making profit dishonestly.^(u) From prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.^(v)

They have treated My people's brokenness superficially, claiming, "Peace, peace,"^(w) when there is no peace.

Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently? They weren't at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation.^(x) Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse,^(y) says the Lord .

This is what the Lord says: Stand by the roadways and look. Ask about the ancient paths:^(z) Which is the way to what is good? Then take it and find rest for yourselves.^(aa) But they protested, "We won't!"

I appointed watchmen over you^(ab) and said: Listen for the sound of the ram's horn. But they protested, "We won't listen!"

Therefore listen, you nations and you witnesses, learn what the charge is against them.

Listen, earth! I am about to bring disaster on these people, the fruit of their own plotting,^(ac) for they have paid no attention to My word. They have rejected My instruction.^(ad)

What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba^(ae) or sweet cane^(af) from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.^(ag)

Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am going to place stumbling blocks before these people; fathers and sons together will stumble over them;^(ah) friends and neighbors will also perish.

This is what the Lord says: Look, an army is coming from a northern land;^(ai) a great nation will be awakened from the remote regions of the earth.^(aj)

They grasp bow and javelin. They are cruel and show no mercy.^(ak) Their voice roars like the sea,^(al) and they ride on horses, lined up like men in battle formation against you, Daughter Zion.

We have heard about it, and we are discouraged.^[g] Distress has seized us— pain like a woman in^(am) labor.^(an)

Don't go out to the fields; don't walk on the road. For the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side.^(ao)

My dear^[h] people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in the dust.^(ap) Mourn as you would for an only son,^(aq) a bitter lament, for suddenly the destroyer^(ar) will come on us.^(as)

I have appointed you to be an assayer among My people— a refiner^[i]— so you may know and assay their way of life.^(at)

All are stubborn rebels spreading slander.^(au) They are bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt.^(av)

The bellows blow, blasting the lead with fire. The refining is completely in vain; the evil ones are not separated out.

They are called rejected silver, for the Lord has rejected them.^(aw)

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord :

"Listen to the words of this covenant^(a) and tell them to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem.

You must tell them: This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘Let a curse be on the man who does not obey the words of this covenant,^(b)

which I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt,^(c) out of the iron furnace.'^(d) I declared: ‘Obey Me, and do everything that I command you, and you will be My people, and I will be your God,'^(e)

in order to establish the oath I swore to your ancestors,^(f) to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is today." I answered, "Amen, Lord ."^(g)

The Lord said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Obey the words of this covenant and carry them out.

For I strongly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt until today, warning them time and time again,^[a](h) ‘Obey My voice.'

Yet they would not obey or pay attention; each one followed the stubbornness of his evil heart.⁽ⁱ⁾ So I brought on them all the curses of this covenant, because they had not done what I commanded them to do."

The Lord said to me, "A conspiracy has been discovered among the men of Judah^(j) and the residents of Jerusalem.

They have returned to the sins of their ancestors^(k) who refused to obey My words and have followed other gods to worship them.^(l) The house of Israel and the house of Judah broke My covenant I made with their ancestors.

"Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to bring on them disaster that they cannot escape.^(m) They will cry out to Me, but I will not hear them.

Then the cities of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods they have been burning incense to, but they certainly will not save them in their time of disaster.⁽ⁿ⁾

Your gods are indeed as numerous as your cities, Judah,^(o) and the altars you have set up to Shame^[b](p)—altars to burn incense to Baal—as numerous as the streets of Jerusalem.

"As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf,^(q) for I will not be listening when they call out to Me at the time of their disaster.

What right does My beloved have to be in My house,^(r) having carried out so many evil schemes? Can holy meat^[c](s) prevent your disaster^[d] so you can rejoice?

The Lord named you a flourishing olive tree,^(t) beautiful with well-formed fruit. He has set fire to it, and its branches are consumed^[e](u) with a great roaring sound.^(v)

"The Lord of Hosts who planted you^(w) has decreed disaster against you, because of the harm the house of Israel and the house of Judah brought on themselves, provoking Me to anger by burning incense to Baal."

The Lord informed me, so I knew. Then You helped me to see their deeds,

for I was like a docile^[f] lamb led to slaughter.^(x) I didn't know that they had devised plots against me: "Let's destroy the tree with its fruit;^[g] let's cut him off from the land of the living^(y) so that his name will no longer be remembered."

But, Lord of Hosts, who judges righteously, who tests^(z) heart^[h] and mind,^(aa) let me see Your vengeance on them, for I have presented my case to You.^(ab)

Therefore, here is what the Lord says concerning the people of Anathoth^(ac) who want to take your life. They warn, "You must not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, or you will certainly die at our hand."

Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: "I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword; their sons and daughters will die by famine.^(ad)

They will have no remnant, for I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth^(ae) in the year of their punishment."

You will be righteous, Lord ,^(a) even if I bring a case against You. Yet, I wish to contend with You:^(b) Why does the way of the wicked prosper?^(c) Why do all the treacherous live at ease?

You planted them,^(d) and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips,^[a] but far from their conscience.^[b](e)

As for You, Lord , You know me; You see me.^(f) You test whether my heart is with You.^(g) Drag the wicked away like sheep to slaughter^(h) and set them apart for the day of killing.

How long will the land mourn⁽ⁱ⁾ and the grass of every field wither? Because of the evil of its residents, animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, "He cannot see what our end will be."^[c](j)

If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble^[d] in a peaceful land, what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?^(k)

Even your brothers—your own father's household— even they were treacherous to you;^(l) even they have cried out loudly after you.^(m) Do not have confidence in them, though they speak well of you.

I have abandoned My house;⁽ⁿ⁾ I have deserted My inheritance. I have given the love of My life into the hands of her enemies.

My inheritance has acted toward Me like a lion in the forest. She has roared against Me. Therefore, I hate her.^(o)

Is My inheritance like a hyena^[e] to Me? Are birds of prey circling her? Go, gather all the wild animals;^(p) bring them to devour her.

Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of land.^(q) They have turned My desirable plot into a desolate wasteland.

They have made it a desolation. It mourns, desolate, before Me. All the land is desolate, but no one takes it to heart.^(r)

Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the Lord has a sword that devours from one end of the earth to the other. No one has peace.^(s)

They have sown wheat but harvested thorns.^(t) They have exhausted themselves but have no profit.^(u) Be put to shame by your harvests because of the Lord 's burning anger.^(v)

This is what the Lord says: "Concerning all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people, Israel, I am about to uproot them^(w) from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from them.

After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion^(x) on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.

If they will diligently learn the ways of My people^(y)—to swear by My name, ‘As Yahweh lives,' just as they taught My people to swear by Baal—they will be built up among My people.

However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation."^(z) This is the Lord 's declaration.