Study Desk

The pronouncement of the word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach, with ^(C1)Damascus as its resting place (for the eyes of mankind, especially of all the tribes of Israel, are toward the LORD),

And ^(C1)Hamath also, which borders on it; ^(C2)Tyre and ^(C3)Sidon, ^(F1)though ^(F2)they are ^(C2)very wise.

For Tyre built herself a ^(C1)fortress, And ^(C2)piled up silver like dust, And ^(C3)gold like the mud of the streets.

Behold, the Lord will ^(C1)dispossess her And throw her wealth into the sea; And she will be ^(C2)consumed with fire.

Ashkelon will see it and be afraid. Gaza too will writhe in great pain; Also Ekron, because her hope has been ruined. Moreover, the king will perish from Gaza, And Ashkelon will not be inhabited.

And a people of mixed origins will live in ^(C1)Ashdod, And I will eliminate the pride of the Philistines.

And I will remove their blood from their mouth And their detestable things from between their teeth. Then they also will be a remnant for our God, And be like a ^(F1)clan in Judah, And Ekron will be like a Jebusite.

But I will camp around My house ^(F1)because of an army, Because of ^(C1)him who passes by and returns; And ^(C2)no oppressor will pass over them anymore, For now I have seen with My eyes.

^(C1)Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your ^(C2)king is coming to you; He is ^(F1)(C3)righteous and ^(C4)endowed with salvation, ^(C5)Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a ^(C6)colt, the ^(F2)foal of a donkey.

And I will ^(C1)eliminate the chariot from Ephraim And the ^(C2)horse from Jerusalem; And the ^(C3)bow of war will be eliminated. And He will speak ^(C4)peace to the nations; And His ^(C5)dominion will be from sea to sea, And from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.

As for you also, because of the ^(C1)blood of My covenant with you, I have set your ^(C2)prisoners free from the ^(F1)waterless pit.

Return to the ^(F1)(C1)stronghold, you prisoners ^(F2)who have the ^(C2)hope; This very day I am declaring that I will restore ^(C3)double to you.

For I will ^(C1)bend Judah ^(F1)as My bow, I will fill the bow with Ephraim. And I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, ^(C2)Greece; And I will make you like a ^(C3)warrior's sword.

Then the LORD will appear ^(C1)over them, And His ^(C2)arrow will go forth like lightning; And the Lord ^(F1)GOD will blow the ^(C3)trumpet, And march in the ^(C4)storm winds of the south.

^(C1)The LORD of armies will protect them. And they will ^(C2)devour and trample on the ^(C3)slingstones; And they will drink and be ^(C4)boisterous as with wine; And they will be filled like a sacrificial basin, Drenched like the ^(C5)corners of the altar.

And the LORD their God will ^(C1)save them on that day As the flock of His people; For they are like the precious stones of a ^(C2)crown, Sparkling on His land.

For how great will ^(F1)their ^(C1)loveliness and ^(C2)beauty be! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine, the virgins.

Ask for ^(C1)rain from the LORD at the time of the spring rain— The LORD who ^(C2)makes the ^(F1)storm winds; And He will give them ^(C3)showers of rain, vegetation in the field to each person.

For the ^(F1)(C1)household idols speak deception, And the ^(C2)diviners see ^(F2)an illusion And tell ^(C3)deceitful dreams; They comfort in vain. Therefore the people ^(F3)wander like ^(C4)sheep, They are wretched because there is no shepherd.

"My ^(C1)anger is kindled against the shepherds, And I will punish the ^(F1)male goats; For the LORD of armies has ^(C2)visited His flock, the house of Judah, And will make them like His majestic horse in battle.

-"From ^(F1)them will come the ^(C1)cornerstone, From ^(F1)them the tent peg, From ^(F1)them the bow of ^(C2)battle, From ^(F1)them every tyrant, all of them together.

-"And they will be like warriors, ^(C1)Trampling down the enemy in the mud of the streets in battle; And they will fight, because the LORD will be with them; And the ^(C2)riders on horses will be put to shame.

-"And I will ^(C1)strengthen the house of Judah, And I will ^(C2)save the house of Joseph, And I will ^(F1)(C3)bring them back, Because I have had ^(C4)compassion on them; And they will be as though I had ^(C5)not rejected them, For I am the LORD their God and I will ^(C6)answer them.

-"Ephraim will be like a warrior, And their heart will be joyful as if from wine; Indeed, their ^(C1)children will see it and be joyful, ^(F1)Their heart will rejoice in the LORD.

-"I will ^(C1)whistle for them and gather them together, For I have redeemed them; And they will be as ^(C2)numerous as they ^(F1)(C3)were before.

-"When I ^(F1)scatter them among the peoples, They will ^(C1)remember Me in distant countries, And they with their children will live and come back.

-"I will ^(C1)bring them back from the land of Egypt And gather them from Assyria; And I will bring them into the land of ^(C2)Gilead and Lebanon ^(F1)Until ^(C3)no room can be found for them.

-"And they will pass through the ^(C1)sea of distress And He will strike the waves in the sea, So that all the depths of the ^(C2)Nile will dry up; And the pride of ^(C3)Assyria will be brought down, And the scepter of ^(C4)Egypt will depart.

-"And I will ^(C1)strengthen them in the LORD, And in His name ^(C2)they will walk," declares the LORD.

Open your doors, Lebanon, So that a ^(C1)fire may feed on your ^(C2)cedars.

Wail, juniper, because the cedar has fallen, For the magnificent trees have been destroyed; Wail, oaks of Bashan, Because the ^(F1)impenetrable forest has come down.

There is a sound of the shepherds' ^(C1)wail, For their splendor is ruined; There is a ^(C2)sound of the young lions' roar, For the ^(F1)pride of the Jordan is ruined.

This is what the LORD my God says: "Pasture the flock doomed to ^(C1)slaughter.

"Those who buy them slaughter them and ^(F1)go ^(C1)unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, 'Blessed be the LORD, for ^(C2)I have become rich!' And their ^(C3)own shepherds have no compassion for them.

"For I will ^(C1)no longer have compassion for the inhabitants of the land," declares the LORD; "but behold, I will ^(C2)let the people fall, each into another's ^(F1)power and into the ^(F1)power of his king; and they will crush the land, and I will ^(C3)not rescue them from their ^(F1)power."

So I ^(C1)pastured the flock doomed to slaughter, ^(F1)therefore also the ^(C2)afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two ^(C3)staffs: the one I called ^(F2)(C4)Favor, and the other I called ^(C5)Union; so I pastured the flock.

Then I did away with the three shepherds in ^(C1)one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also ^(F1)was tired of me.

Then I said, "I will not pasture you. What is to ^(C1)die, ^(F1)let it die, and what is to perish, ^(F2)let it perish; and ^(F3)let those who are left eat one another's flesh."

And I took my staff ^(F1)(C1)Favor and cut it in pieces, to ^(F2)(C2)break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples.

So it was ^(F1)broken on that day, and ^(F2)so the ^(C1)afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the LORD.

And I said to them, "If it is good in your sight, give me my ^(C1)wages; but if not, ^(F1)never mind!" So they weighed out ^(C2)thirty shekels of silver as my wages.

Then the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the ^(C1)potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them." So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

Then I cut in pieces my second staff ^(C1)Union, to ^(C2)break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

And the LORD said to me, "Take again for yourself the equipment of a ^(C1)foolish shepherd.

"For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will ^(C1)not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or provide for the one who is exhausted, but will ^(C2)devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs.

-"^(C1)Woe to the worthless shepherd Who abandons the flock! A ^(C2)sword will be on his arm And on his right eye! His ^(C3)arm will be totally withered, And his right eye will be ^(F1)blind."