Study Desk

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for [the hands of] the righteous.

In the [reverent] fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And His children will [always] have a place of refuge.

Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) and Abaddon (the abyss, the place of eternal punishment) lie open before the LORD— How much more the hearts and inner motives of the children of men.

Grandchildren are the crown of aged men, And the glory of children is their fathers [who live godly lives].

The righteous man who walks in integrity and lives life in accord with his [godly] beliefs— How blessed [happy and spiritually secure] are his children after him [who have his example to follow].

Her children rise up and call her blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired); Her husband also, and he praises her, saying,

If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he is not respected and is not given a proper burial [he is not laid to rest in the sepulcher of his fathers], then I say, "Better the miscarriage than he,

Most certainly [LORD] You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with influences from the east, And they are soothsayers [who foretell] like the Philistines; Also they strike bargains with the children of foreigners (pagans).

And I will make mere boys their princes, And capricious (impulsive, unpredictable) children will rule over them.

O My people! Children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. O My people! Your leaders lead you astray And confuse (destroy, swallow up) the direction of your paths.

Listen carefully, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders [that will occur] in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

Their children also will be smashed to pieces Before their eyes; Their houses will be looted And their wives ravished.

Their bows will cut down the young men [of Babylon]; They will take no pity on the fruit of the womb, Their eyes will not look with compassion on the children.

"The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, And the kingdom from Damascus And the remnant of Aram (Syria); They will be like the [departed] glory of [her ally] the children of Israel," Declares the LORD of hosts.

In that day the strong cities of Aram and Israel will be like deserted places in the forest, Or like branches which they abandoned before the children of Israel; And the land will be a desolation.

Be ashamed, O Sidon [mother-city of Tyre, now like a widow bereaved of her children]; For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying, "I have neither labored nor given birth [to children]; I have neither brought up young men nor reared virgins."

For when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, They will sanctify My Name; They will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob And will stand in awe and reverent fear of the God of Israel.

"Woe (judgment is coming) to the rebellious children," declares the LORD, "Who carry out a plan, but not Mine, And make an alliance [by pouring out a libation], but not of My Spirit, In order to add sin to sin;

They said to him, "This is what Hezekiah says, 'This day is a day of distress, rebuke and disgrace; for children have come to birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.

"Now, then, hear this, you who live a luxuriant life, You who dwell safely and securely, Who say in your heart (mind), 'I am [the queen], and there is no one besides me. I shall not sit as a widow, Nor know the loss of children.'