Study Desk

Woe (judgment is coming) to the wicked! It shall go badly with him, For what his hand has done shall be done to him.

The LORD enters into judgment with the elders of His people and their princes, "For it is you who have devoured the vineyard [with your oppression, you have robbed the people and ruined the country]; The plunder of the poor is in your houses.

And Jerusalem's gates will lament (cry out in grief) and mourn [as those who wail for the dead]; And she, being ruined and desolate, will sit upon the ground.

It will come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy (set apart for God)—everyone who is recorded for [eternal] life in Jerusalem.

then the LORD will create over the entire site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies, a cloud by day, smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory and brilliance will be a canopy [a defense, a covering of His divine love and protection].

And there will be a pavilion for shade from the heat by day, and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and the rain.

Now let me sing for my greatly Beloved [LORD] A song of my Beloved about His vineyard (His chosen people). My greatly Beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile slope (the promised land, Canaan).

"What more could have been done for My vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to produce good grapes, why did it yield worthless ones?

For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house (nation) of Israel And the men of Judah are His delightful planting [which He loves]. So He looked for justice, but in fact, [He saw] bloodshed and lawlessness; [He looked] for righteousness, but in fact, [He heard] a cry of distress and oppression.

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who join house to house and join field to field [to increase their holdings by depriving others], Until there is no more room [for others], So that you have to live alone in the midst of the land!

"For ten acres of vineyard will yield [only] one bath of wine, And a homer (six bushels) of seed will produce [only] one ephah of grain."

Woe (judgment is coming) 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 justify the wicked and acquit the guilty for a bribe, And take away the rights of those who are in the right!

He will lift up a flag to [call] the distant nations [to bring His judgment on Judah], And will whistle for them from the ends of the earth; And indeed, they will come with great speed swiftly.

No one among them is weary or stumbles, No one slumbers or sleeps; Nor is the belt at their waist undone [as if unprepared for action], Nor is the strap of their sandal broken.

Then I said, "Woe is me! For I am ruined, Because I am a man of [ceremonially] unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."

He touched my mouth with it and said, "Listen carefully, this has touched your lips; your wickedness [your sin, your injustice, your wrongdoing] is taken away and your sin atoned for and forgiven."

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!"

for this is what the Lord GOD says, "It shall not stand nor shall it happen.

"For the head (capital) of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is [King] Rezin (now within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces and will no longer be a people).