Study Desk

"A multitude of camels will cover you, The young camels of Midian and Ephah; All those from Sheba will come; They will bring gold and frankincense, And proclaim good news of the praises of the LORD.

"All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you, The rams of Nebaioth will serve you; They will go up on My altar with acceptance, And I will glorify My glorious house.

"The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you, And all those who despised you will bow down at the soles of your feet; And they will call you the city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, They will raise up the former devastations; And they will repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.

Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs.

Then their offspring will be known among the nations, And their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them Because they are the offspring whom the LORD has blessed.

On your walls, Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; All day and all night they will never keep silent. You who profess the LORD, take no rest for yourselves;

And they will call them, "The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD"; And you will be called, "Sought Out, A City Not Abandoned."

But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.

Both your own wrongdoings and the wrongdoings of your fathers together," says the LORD. "Because they have burned incense on the mountains And scorned Me on the hills, Therefore I will measure their former work into their laps."

"Because the one who is blessed on the earth Will be blessed by the God of truth; And the one who swears an oath on the earth Will swear by the God of truth; Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My sight!

"They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

"They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands.

"They will not labor in vain, Or give birth to children for disaster; For they are the descendants of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them.

"The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent's food. They will do no evil or harm on all My holy mountain," says the LORD.

"But the one who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a person; The one who sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog's neck; One who offers a grain offering is like one who offers pig's blood; One who burns incense is like one who blesses an idol. As they have chosen their own ways, And their souls delight in their abominations,

So I will choose their punishments And bring on them what they dread. Because I called, but no one answered; I spoke, but they did not listen. Instead, they did evil in My sight And chose that in which I did not delight."

"For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all the nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory.

"And I will put a sign among them and send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal, and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard of My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations.

"Then they shall bring all your countrymen from all the nations as a grain offering to the LORD, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem," says the LORD, "just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.