Study Desk

But the water of Nimrim has dried up. The grass has dried up, and all the plants are dead; nothing green is left.

The water of the city Dibon is full of blood, and I, the Lord , will bring even more troubles to Dibon. A few people living in Moab have escaped the enemy, but I will send lions to kill them.

We have heard that the people of Moab are proud and very conceited. They are very proud and angry, but their bragging means nothing.

But the fields of Heshbon and the vines of Sibmah cannot grow grapes; foreign rulers have destroyed the grapevines. The grapevines once spread as far as the city of Jazer and into the desert; they had spread as far as the sea.

The people of Moab will go to their places of worship and will try to pray. But when they go to their temple to pray, they will not be able.

Now the Lord says, "In three years all those people and what they take pride in will be hated. (This is three years as a hired helper would count time.) There will be a few people left, but they will be weak."

You plant your grapevines one day and try to make them grow, and the next day you make them blossom. But at harvest time everything will be dead; a sickness will kill all the plants.

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.

At night the people will be very frightened. Before morning, no one will be left. So our enemies will come to our land, but they will become nothing.

The Lord will punish the Egyptians, but then he will heal them. They will come back to the Lord , and he will listen to their prayers and heal them.

The watchman answers, "Morning is coming, but then night will come again. If you have something to ask, then come back and ask."

This city was a very busy city, full of noise and wild parties. Now your people have been killed, but not with swords, nor did they die in battle.

All your leaders ran away together, but they have been captured without using a bow. All you who were captured tried to run away before the enemy came.

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.

But look, the people are happy and are having wild parties. They kill the cattle and the sheep; they eat the food and drink the wine. They say, "Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we will die."

The profits will be saved for the Lord . Tyre will not keep the money she earns but will give them to the people who serve the Lord , so they will have plenty of food and nice clothes.

People in the streets will ask for wine, but joy will have turned to sadness; all the happiness will have left.

We hear songs from every part of the earth praising God, the Righteous One. But I said, "I am dying! I am dying! How terrible it will be for me! Traitors turn against people; with their dishonesty, they turn against people."

like the heat in the desert. But you, God, stop their violent attack. As a cloud cools a hot day, you silence the songs of those who have no mercy.

The Lord will protect Jerusalem, but he will crush our enemy Moab like straw that is trampled down in the manure.