Study Desk

"And they, righteous men, will judge and condemn them with the judgment (punishment) of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

"And say to the Ammonites, 'Hear the word of the Lord GOD, for thus says the Lord GOD, "Because you said, 'Aha!' against My sanctuary when it was profaned and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate and against the house of Judah when they went into exile,

'For thus says the Lord GOD, "Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the contempt, and malice, and spite of your soul against the land of Israel,

'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because Moab and Seir (Edom) say, 'Behold, the house of Judah is like all the [pagan] nations,'

'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because Edom has acted against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended and has incurred grievous guilt by taking revenge on them,"

'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because the Philistines have acted revengefully and have taken vengeance [contemptuously] with malice in their hearts to destroy with everlasting hostility and hatred,"

"Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, 'Aha! The gateway of the people is broken; she is open to me. I will be filled, now that she is a desolate waste,'

"Because of the great number of his horses, their dust will cover you; your walls [O Tyre] will shake from the noise of the horsemen and the wagons and the chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city that is breached.

"Tarshish [in Spain] was your customer and traded with you because of the abundance of your riches of all kinds; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they paid for your wares.

"Aram traded with you because of the abundance of the goods you made. They paid for your merchandise with emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies.

"Damascus traded with you because of the abundance of your handiworks and the immense wealth of every kind, with the wine of Helbon [Aleppo] and the white wool [of Sachar in Syria].

"Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because your heart is lifted up And you have said and thought, 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods In the heart of the seas'; Yet you are [only] a man [weak, feeble, made of earth] and not God, Though you [imagine yourself to be more than mortal and] think your mind is as [wise as] the mind of God—

By your great wisdom and by your trade You have increased your riches and power, And your heart is proud and arrogant because of your wealth;

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have imagined your mind [to be] Like the mind of God [having thoughts and plans like God Himself],

"Your heart was proud and arrogant because of your beauty; You destroyed your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I lay you before kings, That they might look at you.

"And all the inhabitants of Egypt will know [without any doubt] that I am the LORD, Because they have been [only] a staff made of [fragile] reeds to the house of Israel.

and the land of Egypt will be a desolation and a wasteland. And they will know [without any doubt] that I am the LORD. "Because you said, 'The Nile is mine and I have made it,'

"I have given him the land of Egypt for the hard work which he did [against Tyre], because they did it for Me," says the Lord GOD.

'Therefore it towered higher than all the trees of the forest And its boughs multiplied and its branches grew long; Because there was so much water they spread outward.

'Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Because it is high in stature and has set its top among the thick boughs and the clouds, and its heart is proud of its height,