Study Desk

The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says, "Very soon I will punish Amon, the god of Thebes, and I will punish Pharaoh, Egypt, and her gods. I will punish the kings of Egypt, and I will punish the people who depend on Pharaoh.

This message is about the country of Moab. This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says: "It will be bad for Mount Nebo. Mount Nebo will be ruined. The town of Kiriathaim will be humbled. It will be captured. The strong place will be humbled. It will be shattered.

"You trust in the things you made and in your wealth, so you will be captured. The god Chemosh will be taken into captivity, and his priests and officials will be taken with him.

Then the people of Moab will be ashamed of their false god, Chemosh. They will be like the people of Israel who trusted that god in Bethel but were ashamed when he did not help them.

"People in Heshbon, cry because the town of Ai is destroyed! Women in Rabbah of Ammon, cry! Put on sackcloth and cry. Run to the city for safety, because the enemy will take away the god Milcom, with his priests and officials.

But this is what the Lord God All-Powerful says: "I will bring troubles to you from every side. You will all run away, and no one will be able to bring you together again."

"Announce this to all nations! Lift up a flag and announce the message! Speak the whole message and say, ‘The nation of Babylon will be captured. The god Bel will be put to shame. The god Marduk will be very afraid. Babylon's idols will be put to shame. Her gods will be filled with terror.'

The Lord says, "At that time the people of Israel and the people of Judah will be together. They will cry and cry together, and together, they will go look for the Lord their God.

So this is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will soon punish the king of Babylon and his country as I punished the king of Assyria.

The Lord has opened up his storeroom and brought out the weapons of his anger. The Lord God All-Powerful brought out those weapons, because he has work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.

People are running out of Babylon. They are escaping from that country and coming to Zion. They are telling everyone the good news about what the Lord is doing. The Lord our God is giving Babylon the punishment it deserves. The Lord is destroying Babylon, because it destroyed his Temple!

"Babylon, you are too proud, and I am against you," says the Lord God All-Powerful. "I am against you, and the time has come for you to be punished.

But God will get them back. His name is the Lord God All-Powerful. He will defend them very strongly. He will argue their case so that he can let their land rest. But there will be no rest for those living in Babylon."

God completely destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns around them. In the same way no one will live in Babylon, and no one will ever go to live there." This is what the Lord says.

The Lord All-Powerful did not leave Israel and Judah alone, like a widow. No, they are guilty of leaving the Holy One of Israel. Their God did not leave them. They left him!

We tried to heal Babylon, but she cannot be healed. So let us leave her, and let each of us go to our own country. God in heaven will decide Babylon's punishment. He will decide what will happen to Babylon.

The Lord got even for us. Come, let's tell about that in Zion. Let's tell what the Lord our God has done.

God used his great power and made the earth. He used his wisdom to build the world and his understanding to stretch out the skies.

But people are so stupid. They don't understand what God has done. Skilled workers make statues of false gods. Those statues are only false gods. They show how foolish those workers are. Those statues are not alive.

But God, who is Jacob's Portion, is not like those worthless statues. People didn't make God; God made his people. He made everything. His name is the Lord All-Powerful.