12Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say,

‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord;

‘I will not look upon you in anger.

For I am gracious,’ declares the Lord;

‘I will not be angry forever.

13Only acknowledge your iniquity,

That you have transgressed against the Lord your God

And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every green tree,

And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the Lord.

14‘Return, O faithless sons,’ declares the Lord;

‘For I am a master to you,

And I will take you one from a city and two from a family,

And I will bring you to Zion.’

15“Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding. 16It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land,” declares the Lord, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again. 17At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the Lord,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.

An Interlude

1After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.”

The 144,000

4And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

5from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,

6from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,

7from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,

8from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

1) How does return language shape exile living now?

2) What does sealing imply about identity and protection?

3) Where do you see firstfruits of regathering?

Job’s Lament

1Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2And Job said,

3“Let the day perish on which I was to be born,

And the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’

4May that day be darkness;

Let not God above care for it,

Nor light shine on it.

5Let darkness and black gloom claim it;

Let a cloud settle on it;

Let the blackness of the day terrify it.

6As for that night, let darkness seize it;

Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;

Let it not come into the number of the months.

7Behold, let that night be barren;

Let no joyful shout enter it.

8Let those curse it who curse the day,

Who are prepared to rouse Leviathan.

9Let the stars of its twilight be darkened;

Let it wait for light but have none,

And let it not see the breaking dawn;

10Because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s womb,

Or hide trouble from my eyes.

11“Why did I not die at birth,

Come forth from the womb and expire?

12Why did the knees receive me,

And why the breasts, that I should suck?

13For now I would have lain down and been quiet;

I would have slept then, I would have been at rest,

14With kings and with counselors of the earth,

Who rebuilt ruins for themselves;

15Or with princes who had gold,

Who were filling their houses with silver.

16Or like a miscarriage which is discarded, I would not be,

As infants that never saw light.

17There the wicked cease from raging,

And there the weary are at rest.

18The prisoners are at ease together;

They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.

19The small and the great are there,

And the slave is free from his master.

20“Why is light given to him who suffers,

And life to the bitter of soul,

21Who long for death, but there is none,

And dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

22Who rejoice greatly,

And exult when they find the grave?

23Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,

And whom God has hedged in?

24For my groaning comes at the sight of my food,

And my cries pour out like water.

25For what I fear comes upon me,

And what I dread befalls me.

26I am not at ease, nor am I quiet,

And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.”

The Futility of Pleasure and Possessions

1I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility. 2I said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?” 3I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives. 4I enlarged my works: I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself; 5I made gardens and parks for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees; 6I made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees. 7I bought male and female slaves and I had homeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. 8Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of men—many concubines.

9Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. 10All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor. 11Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.

Wisdom Excels Folly

12So I turned to consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except what has already been done? 13And I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. 14The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one fate befalls them both. 15Then I said to myself, “As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. Why then have I been extremely wise?” So I said to myself, “This too is vanity.” 16For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die! 17So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.

The Futility of Labor

18Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me. 19And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity. 20Therefore I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. 21When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, then he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil. 22For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun? 23Because all his days his task is painful and grievous; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity.

24There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. 25For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? 26For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind.

Judah’s Apostasy

1Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2“Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord,

“I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth,

The love of your betrothals,

Your following after Me in the wilderness,

Through a land not sown.

3Israel was holy to the Lord,

The first of His harvest.

All who ate of it became guilty;

Evil came upon them,” declares the Lord.’ ”

4Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. 5Thus says the Lord,

“What injustice did your fathers find in Me,

That they went far from Me

And walked after emptiness and became empty?

6They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord

Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,

Who led us through the wilderness,

Through a land of deserts and of pits,

Through a land of drought and of deep darkness,

Through a land that no one crossed

And where no man dwelt?’

7I brought you into the fruitful land

To eat its fruit and its good things.

But you came and defiled My land,

And My inheritance you made an abomination.

8The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’

And those who handle the law did not know Me;

The rulers also transgressed against Me,

And the prophets prophesied by Baal

And walked after things that did not profit.