Study Desk

Israel, return to Yahweh your God; For you have fallen because of your sin.

Assyria can't save us. We won't ride on horses; Neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, 'Our gods!' For in you the fatherless finds mercy."

"I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; For my anger is turned away from him.

Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Who is prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of Yahweh are right, And the righteous walk in them; But the rebellious stumble in them.

Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; For it is cut off from your mouth.

For a nation has come up on my land, strong, and without number. His teeth are the teeth of a lion, And he has the fangs of a lioness.

Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth!

The field is laid waste. The land mourns, for the grain is destroyed, The new wine has dried up, And the oil languishes.

Be confounded, you farmers! Wail, you vineyard keepers; For the wheat and for the barley; For the harvest of the field has perished.

The vine has dried up, and the fig tree withered; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, Even all of the trees of the field are withered; For joy has withered away from the sons of men.

Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests! Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, For the meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from your God's house.

Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is at hand, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

The seeds rot under their clods. The granaries are laid desolate. The barns are broken down, for the grain has withered.

Yahweh, I cry to you, For the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, And the flame has burned all the trees of the field.

Yes, the animals of the field pant to you, For the water brooks have dried up, And the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Blow you the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of Yahweh comes, For it is close at hand:

Yahweh thunders his voice before his army; For his forces are very great; For he is strong who obeys his command; For the day of Yahweh is great and very awesome, And who can endure it?

Tear your heart, and not your garments, And turn to Yahweh, your God; For he is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, And relents from sending calamity.

Then Yahweh was jealous for his land, And had pity on his people.

Land, don't be afraid. Be glad and rejoice, for Yahweh has done great things.