As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth.
“But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.
All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.
In vain have I struck your children; they took no correction; your own sword devoured your prophets like a ravening lion.
The people did not turn to him who struck them, nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.
The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him, for all this.
I have heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the Lord my God.
O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent.
Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
“The godless in heart cherish anger; they do not cry for help when he binds them.
“But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins,
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds; for grain and wine they gash themselves; they rebel against me.
All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers. All their kings have fallen, and none of them calls upon me.
Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old—
All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?” All your enemies rail against you; they hiss, they gnash their teeth, they cry: “We have swallowed her! Ah, this is the day we longed for; now we have it; we see it!” The Lord has done what he purposed; he has carried out his word, which he commanded long ago; he has thrown down without pity; he has made the enemy rejoice over you and exalted the might of your foes.
Behold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. All the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end of them.
There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.
Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.
Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.
Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us!
But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.
Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com.