Study Desk

"Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol; proclaim it in Memphis and Tahpanhes: 'Take your positions and prepare yourself, for the sword devours those around you.'

Why have your warriors been laid low? They cannot stand, for the LORD has thrust them down.

Pack your bags for exile, O daughter dwelling in Egypt! For Memphis will be laid waste, destroyed and uninhabited.

Even the mercenaries among her are like fattened calves. They too will turn back; together they will flee; they will not stand their ground, for the day of their calamity is coming upon them-the time of their punishment.

Egypt will hiss like a slithering snake, for the enemy will advance in force; with axes they will come against her like woodsmen cutting down trees.

They will chop down her forest, declares the LORD, dense though it may be, for they are more numerous than locusts; they cannot be counted.

But you, O Jacob My servant, do not be afraid, and do not be dismayed, O Israel, for surely I will save you from a distant place, and your descendants from the land of their captivity! Jacob will return and be undisturbed and secure, with no one to make him afraid.

And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid, declares the LORD, for I will be with you. I will bring destruction on all the nations to which I have banished you, but I will not make a full end of you. I will discipline you, but with justice; I will by no means leave you unpunished."

at the sound of the galloping hooves of stallions, the rumbling of chariots, and the clatter of their wheels. The fathers will not turn back for their sons; their hands will hang limp.

For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every remaining ally. Indeed, the LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.

Concerning Moab, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "Woe to Nebo, for it will be devastated. Kiriathaim will be captured and disgraced; the fortress will be shattered and dismantled.

There is no longer praise for Moab; in Heshbon they devise evil against her: 'Come, let us cut her off from nationhood.' You too, O people of Madmen, will be silenced; the sword will pursue you.

For on the Ascent to Luhith they weep bitterly as they go, and on the descent to Horonaim cries of distress resound over the destruction:

'Flee! Run for your lives! Become like a juniper in the desert.'

Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste; her cities will become desolate, with no one to dwell in them.

How can you say, 'We are warriors, mighty men ready for battle'?

Mourn for him, all you who surround him, everyone who knows his name; tell how the mighty scepter is shattered-the glorious staff!

Come down from your glory; sit on parched ground, O daughter dwelling in Dibon, for the destroyer of Moab has come against you; he has destroyed your fortresses.

Moab is put to shame, for it has been shattered. Wail and cry out! Declare by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.

Was not Israel your object of ridicule? Was he ever found among thieves? For whenever you speak of him you shake your head."