Study Desk

And the fading flower of its glorious beauty, Which is at the head of the rich valley, Will be like the early fig before the summer, Which one sees, And as soon as it is in his hand He [greedily] swallows it [and so will the Assyrians rapidly devour Samaria, Israel's capital].

For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, so that there is no place [that is clean.]

It will be as when a hungry man dreams That he is eating, But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied; Or as when a thirsty man dreams That he is drinking, But when he awakens, in fact, he is faint And his thirst is not quenched. So will the multitude of all the nations be Who fight against Mount Zion.

Now, go, write it on a tablet before them And inscribe it on a scroll, So that it may serve in the time to come As a witness [against them] forevermore.

Whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter's jar, Crushed so savagely that there cannot be found among its pieces a potsherd [large enough] To take [coals of] fire from a fireplace, Or to scoop water from a cistern."

For so the LORD says to me, "As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey, And though a large group of shepherds is called out against him He will not be terrified at their voice nor cringe at their noise, So the LORD of hosts will come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill."

Like flying birds, so will the LORD of hosts protect Jerusalem; He will protect and save it, He will pass over and rescue it.

Return to Him from whom you have so deeply defected, O sons of Israel.

Your spoil [of Israel's foe] is gathered [by the people of Jerusalem] as the caterpillar gathers; As locusts swarming so people swarm on it.

So their slain will be thrown out, And the stench of their corpses will rise, And the mountains will flow with their blood.

"Listen carefully, you rely on the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.

"So now, exchange pledges with my master the king of Assyria and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to put riders on them.

So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

"Listen carefully, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land."'"

So the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah [a fortified city of Judah], for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.

'Listen carefully, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, utterly destroying them. So will you be rescued?

"Now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know and fully realize that You alone, LORD, are God."

So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned and lived at Nineveh.

"I lay down until morning. Like a lion, so He breaks all my bones; From day until night You bring me to an end.

"Like a swallow, like a crane, so I chirp; I coo like a dove. My eyes look wistfully upward; O Lord, I am oppressed, take my side and be my security.