The Berean Pursuit
If only You would rend the heavens and come down,
so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
as fire kindles the brushwood
and causes the water to boil,
to make Your name known to Your enemies,
so that the nations will tremble at Your presence!
When You did awesome works that we did not expect,
You came down, and the mountains trembled at Your presence.
From ancient times no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides You,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.
You welcome those who gladly do right,
who remember Your ways.
Surely You were angry, for we sinned.
How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?
Each of us has become like something unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all wither like a leaf,
and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
No one calls on Your name
or strives to take hold of You.
For You have hidden Your face from us
and delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.
But now, O LORD, You are our Father;
we are the clay, and You are the potter;
we are all the work of Your hand.
Do not be angry, O LORD, beyond measure;
do not remember our iniquity forever.
Oh, look upon us, we pray;
we are all Your people!
Your holy cities have become a wilderness.
Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation.
Our holy and beautiful temple,
where our fathers praised You,
has been burned with fire,
and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.
After all this, O LORD,
will You restrain Yourself?
Will You keep silent
and afflict us beyond measure?
"I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me;
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
To a nation that did not call My name,
I said, 'Here I am! Here I am!'
All day long I have held out My hands
to an obstinate people
who walk in the wrong path,
who follow their own imaginations,
to a people who continually provoke Me to My face,
sacrificing in the gardens
and burning incense on altars of brick,
sitting among the graves,
spending nights in secret places,
eating the meat of pigs
and polluted broth from their bowls.
They say, 'Keep to yourself;
do not come near me, for I am holier than you!'
Such people are smoke in My nostrils,
a fire that burns all day long.
Behold, it is written before Me:
I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will pay it back into their laps,
both for your iniquities
and for those of your fathers,"
says the LORD.
"Because they burned incense on the mountains
and scorned Me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
full payment for their former deeds."
This is what the LORD says:
"As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes,
and men say, 'Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,'
so I will act on behalf of My servants;
I will not destroy them all.
And I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
and heirs from Judah;
My elect will possess My mountains,
and My servants will dwell there.
Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,
and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
for My people who seek Me.
But you who forsake the LORD,
who forget My holy mountain,
who set a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
I will destine you for the sword,
and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered,
because I called and you did not answer,
I spoke and you did not listen;
you did evil in My sight
and chose that in which I did not delight."
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says:
"My servants will eat,
but you will go hungry;
My servants will drink,
but you will go thirsty;
My servants will rejoice,
but you will be put to shame.
My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart,
but you will cry out with a heavy heart
and wail with a broken spirit.
You will leave behind your name
as a curse for My chosen ones,
and the Lord GOD will slay you;
but to His servants He will give another name.
Whoever invokes a blessing in the land
will do so by the God of truth,
and whoever takes an oath in the land
will swear by the God of truth.
For the former troubles will be forgotten
and hidden from My sight.
For behold, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I create;
for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy
and its people to be a delight.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and take delight in My people.
The sounds of weeping and crying
will no longer be heard in her.
No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days,
or an old man fail to live out his years.
For the youth will die at a hundred years,
and he who fails to reach a hundred
will be considered accursed.
They will build houses and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit,
nor plant for others to eat.
For as is the lifetime of a tree,
so will be the days of My people,
and My chosen ones will fully enjoy
the work of their hands.
They will not labor in vain
or bear children doomed to disaster;
for they will be a people blessed by the LORD-
they and their descendants with them.
Even before they call, I will answer,
and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
but the food of the serpent will be dust.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all My holy mountain,"
says the LORD.
This is what the LORD says:
"Heaven is My throne,
and earth is My footstool.
What kind of house will you build for Me?
Or where will My place of repose be?
Has not My hand made all these things?
And so they came into being,"
declares the LORD.
"This is the one I will esteem:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit,
who trembles at My word.
Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man;
whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog's neck;
whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig's blood;
whoever offers frankincense is like one who blesses an idol.
Indeed, they have chosen their own ways
and delighted in their abominations.
So I will choose their punishment
and I will bring terror upon them,
because I called and no one answered,
I spoke and no one listened.
But they did evil in My sight
and chose that in which I did not delight."
You who tremble at His word,
hear the word of the LORD:
"Your brothers who hate you
and exclude you because of My name
have said, 'Let the LORD be glorified
that we may see your joy!'
But they will be put to shame."
Hear the uproar from the city;
listen to the voice from the temple!
It is the voice of the LORD,
repaying His enemies what they deserve!
"Before she was in labor, she gave birth;
before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.
Who has heard of such as this?
Who has seen such things?
Can a country be born in a day
or a nation be delivered in an instant?
Yet as soon as Zion was in labor,
she gave birth to her children.
Shall I bring a baby to the point of birth and not deliver it?"
says the LORD.
"Or will I who deliver close the womb?"
says your God.
Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her,
all who love her.
Rejoice greatly with her,
all who mourn over her,
so that you may nurse and be satisfied
at her comforting breasts;
you may drink deeply and delight yourselves
in her glorious abundance.
For this is what the LORD says:
"I will extend peace to her like a river,
and the wealth of nations like a flowing stream;
you will nurse and be carried on her arm,
and bounced upon her knees.
As a mother comforts her son,
so will I comfort you,
and you will be consoled over Jerusalem."
When you see, you will rejoice,
and you will flourish like grass;
then the hand of the LORD will be revealed to His servants,
but His wrath will be shown to His enemies.
For behold, the LORD will come with fire-
His chariots are like a whirlwind-
to execute His anger with fury
and His rebuke with flames of fire.
For by fire and by His sword,
the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh,
and many will be slain by the LORD.
"Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves-to follow one in the center of those who eat the flesh of swine and vermin and rats-will perish together," declares the LORD.
"And I, knowing their deeds and thoughts, am coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see My glory.
I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from among them to the nations-to Tarshish, Put, and the archers of Lud; to Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory.
So they will proclaim My glory among the nations. And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the LORD on horses and chariots and wagons, on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem," says the LORD, "just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD."
"And I will select some of them as priests and Levites," says the LORD.
"For just as the new heavens and the new earth,
which I will make, will endure before Me,"
declares the LORD,
"so your descendants and your name will endure.
From one New Moon to another
and from one Sabbath to another,
all mankind will come to worship before Me,"
says the LORD.
"As they go forth, they will see the corpses
of the men who have rebelled against Me;
for their worm will never die,
their fire will never be quenched,
and they will be a horror
to all mankind."