Study Desk

He dug and cleared the field of stones and planted the best grapevines there. He built a tower in the middle of it and cut out a winepress as well. He hoped good grapes would grow there, but only bad ones grew.

The vineyard belonging to the Lord All-Powerful is the nation of Israel; the garden that he loves is the people of Judah. He looked for justice, but there was only killing. He hoped for right living, but there were only cries of pain.

So the Lord has become very angry with his people, and he has raised his hand to punish them. Even the mountains are frightened. Dead bodies lie in the streets like garbage. But the Lord is still angry; his hand is still raised to strike down the people.

I said, "Oh, no! I will be destroyed. I am not pure, and I live among people who are not pure, but I have seen the King, the Lord All-Powerful."

Then the Lord said, "Go and tell this to the people: ‘You will listen and listen, but you will not understand. You will look and look, but you will not learn.'

One-tenth of the people will be left in the land, but it will be destroyed again. These people will be like an oak tree whose stump is left when the tree is chopped down. The people who remain will be like a stump that will sprout again."

Now Ahaz was the son of Jotham, who was the son of Uzziah. When Ahaz was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to fight against it. But they were not able to defeat the city.

But I, the Lord God , say, "‘Their plan will not succeed; it will not happen,

But Ahaz said, "I will not ask for a sign or test the Lord ."

You are afraid of the kings of Israel and Aram now. But before the child learns to choose good and reject evil, the lands of Israel and Aram will be empty.

In this land there are now vineyards that have a thousand grapevines, which are worth about twenty-five pounds of silver. But these fields will become full of weeds and thorns.

People once worked and grew food on these hills, but at that time people will not go there, because the land will be filled with weeds and thorns. Only sheep and cattle will go to those places."

Make your plans for the fight, but they will be defeated. Give orders to your armies, but they will be useless, because God is with us.

"People are saying that others make plans against them, but you should not believe them. Don't be afraid of what they fear; do not dread those things.

But remember that the Lord All-Powerful is holy. He is the one you should fear; he is the one you should dread.

Then he will be a place of safety for you. But for the two families of Israel, he will be like a stone that causes people to stumble, like a rock that makes them fall. He will be like a trap for the people of Jerusalem, and he will catch them in his trap.

Some people say, "Ask the mediums and fortune-tellers, who whisper and mutter, what to do." But I tell you that people should ask their God for help. Why should people who are still alive ask something from the dead?

But suddenly there will be no more gloom for the land that suffered. In the past God made the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali hang their heads in shame, but in the future those lands will be made great. They will stretch from the road along the Mediterranean Sea to the land beyond the Jordan River and north to Galilee, the land of people who are not Israelites.

Before those people lived in darkness, but now they have seen a great light. They lived in a dark land, but a light has shined on them.

"These bricks have fallen, but we will build again with cut stones. These small trees have been chopped down, but we will put great cedars there."