Study Desk

For the vineyard of the LORD of armies is the house of Israel, And the people of Judah are His delightful plant. So He waited for justice, but behold, there was bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.

"For ten acres of vineyard will yield only one bath of wine, And a homer of seed will yield only an ephah of grain."

Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; And their nobles are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Who declare the wicked innocent for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!

Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble, And dry grass collapses in the flame, So their root will become like rot, and their blossom blow away like dust; For they have rejected the Law of the LORD of armies, And discarded the word of the Holy One of Israel.

For this reason the anger of the LORD has burned against His people, And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them. And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not spent, But His hand is still stretched out.

He will also lift up a flag to the distant nation, And whistle for it from the ends of the earth; And behold, it will come with speed swiftly.

Then I said, "Woe to me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of armies."

He touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your guilt is taken away and atonement is made for your sin."

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

"Let's go up against Judah and terrorize it, and take it for ourselves by assault and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,"

"For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces, so that it is no longer a people),

"Ask for a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven."

Then he said, "Listen now, house of David! Is it too trivial a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?

"For before the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be abandoned.

On that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the canals of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone who is left within the land will eat curds and honey.

As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the plow, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.

Then the LORD said to me, "Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it in ordinary letters: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.