Study Desk

If the clouds are full, they pour out rain on the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it lies.

on the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and strong men are bent over, the grinders stop working because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dim;

The words of the wise are like goads, and masters of these collections are like driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd.

"Draw me after you and let's run together! The king has brought me into his chambers." The Chorus "We will rejoice in you and be joyful; We will praise your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you."

"The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me, They struck me and wounded me; The guards of the walls took my shawl away from me.

But my dove, my perfect one, is unique: She is her mother's only daughter; She is the pure child of the one who gave birth to her. The young women saw her and called her blessed, The queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,

Listen, heavens, and hear, earth; For the LORD has spoken: "Sons I have raised and brought up, But they have revolted against Me.

"I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am tired of bearing them.

"Come now, and let us debate your case," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They shall become as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be like wool.

Your rulers are rebels And companions of thieves; Everyone loves a bribe And chases after gifts. They do not obtain justice for the orphan, Nor does the widow's case come before them.

The strong man will become like flax fiber, And his work a spark. So they shall both burn together And there will be no one to extinguish them.

And He will judge between the nations, And will mediate for many peoples; And they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not lift up a sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.

For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with influences from the east, And they are soothsayers like the Philistines. They also strike bargains with the children of foreigners.

On that day people will throw away to the moles and the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves to worship,

The expression of their faces testifies against them, And they display their sin like Sodom; They do not even conceal it. Woe to them! For they have done evil to themselves.

Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; But they do not pay attention to the deeds of the LORD, Nor do they consider the work of His hands.

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.

"Make the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes blind, So that they will not see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed."

They will all come and settle on the steep ravines, on the ledges of the cliffs, on all the thorn bushes, and on all the watering places.

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.