Study Desk

Watch! The Lord God All-Powerful with his great power will chop them down like a great tree. Those who are great will be cut down; those who are important will fall to the ground.

God will raise a banner as a sign for all nations, and he will gather the people of Israel who were forced from their country. He will gather the scattered people of Judah from all parts of the earth.

God is the one who saves me; I will trust him and not be afraid. The Lord , the Lord gives me strength and makes me sing. He has saved me."

God showed Isaiah son of Amoz this message about Babylon:

Babylon is the most beautiful of all kingdoms, and the Babylonians are very proud of it. But God will destroy it like Sodom and Gomorrah.

I will go up above the tops of the clouds. I will be like God Most High."

That time will also be like the olive harvest, when a few olives are left. Two or three olives are left in the top branches. Four or five olives are left on full branches," says the Lord , the God of Israel.

At that time people will look to God, their Maker; their eyes will see the Holy One of Israel.

You have forgotten the God who saves you; you have not remembered that God is your place of safety. You plant the finest grapevines and grapevines from faraway places.

The people roar like the waves, but when God speaks harshly to them, they will run away. They will be like chaff on the hills being blown by the wind, or like tumbleweeds blown away by a storm.

The Lord God All-Powerful says, "I will hand Egypt over to a hard master, and a powerful king will rule over them."

So the Lord will show himself to the Egyptians, and then they will know he is the Lord . They will worship God and offer many sacrifices. They will make promises to the Lord and will keep them.

At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians will go to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship God together.

My people are crushed like grain on the threshing floor. My people, I tell you what I have heard from the Lord All-Powerful, from the God of Israel.

At that time only a few of the archers, the soldiers of Kedar, will be left alive." The Lord , the God of Israel, has spoken.

The Lord God All-Powerful has chosen a special day of riots and confusion. People will trample each other in the Valley of Vision. The city walls will be knocked down, and the people will cry out to the mountain.

You made a pool between the two walls to save water from the old pool, but you did not trust the God who made these things; you did not respect the One who planned them long ago.

The Lord God All-Powerful told the people to cry and be sad, to shave their heads and wear rough cloth.

The Lord All-Powerful said to me: "You people will die before this guilt is forgiven." The Lord God All-Powerful said this.

This is what the Lord God All-Powerful says: "Go to this servant Shebna, the manager of the palace.