Study Desk

Therefore the Lord ^[s](al)longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He ^[t]waits on ^(am)high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a ^(an)God of justice; How blessed are all those who ^[u](ao)long for Him.

^[v]O people in Zion, ^(ap)inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will ^(aq)weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will ^(ar)answer you.

Although the Lord has given you ^(as)bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer ^(at)hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher.

Your ears will hear a word behind you, "^[w]This is the ^(au)way, walk in it," whenever you ^(av)turn to the right or to the left.

And you will defile your graven ^(aw)images overlaid with silver, and your molten ^(ax)images plated with gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing, and say to ^[x]them, "^(ay)Be gone!"

Then He will ^(az)give you rain for ^[y]the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be ^[z]rich and ^[aa]plenteous; on that day ^(ba)your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture.

Also the oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will eat salted fodder, which ^[ab]has been ^(bb)winnowed with shovel and fork.

On every lofty mountain and on ^(bc)every high hill there will be ^[ac]streams running with water on the day of the great ^(bd)slaughter, when the towers fall.

^(be)The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day ^(bf)the Lord binds up the ^(bg)fracture of His people and ^(bh)heals the bruise ^[ad]He has inflicted.

Behold, ^(bi)the name of the Lord comes from a ^[ae]remote place; ^(bj)Burning is His anger and ^[af]dense is His ^[ag]smoke; His lips are filled with ^(bk)indignation And His tongue is like a ^(bl)consuming fire;

His ^(bm)breath is like an overflowing torrent, Which ^(bn)reaches to the neck, To ^(bo)shake the nations back and forth in a ^[ah]sieve, And to put in the jaws of the peoples ^(bp)the bridle which ^[ai]leads to ruin.

You will have ^[aj]songs as in the night when you keep the festival, And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute, To go to the mountain of the Lord , to the Rock of Israel.

And the Lord will cause ^[ak]His voice of authority to be heard, And the ^[al]descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger, And in the flame of a consuming fire In cloudburst, downpour and hailstones.

For ^(bq)at the voice of the Lord ^(br)Assyria will be terrified, When He strikes with the ^(bs)rod.

And every ^[am]blow of the ^[an](bt)rod of punishment, Which the Lord will lay on him, Will be with the music of ^(bu)tambourines and lyres; And in battles, ^(bv)brandishing weapons, He will fight them.

For ^[ao](bw)Topheth has long been ready, Indeed, it has been prepared for the king. He has made it deep and large, ^[ap]A pyre of fire with plenty of wood; The ^(bx)breath of the Lord , like a torrent of ^(by)brimstone, sets it afire.