Study Desk

This is what the Lord says: "Some people don't deserve to be punished, but they suffer. But, Edom, you deserve to be punished, so you will really be punished. You will not escape the punishment you deserve. You will be punished."

Edom, you made other nations afraid, so you thought you were important. But your pride has fooled you. You live in caves, high on the cliff. Your home is high in the hills. But even if you build your home as high as an eagle's nest, I will bring you down from there." This is what the Lord said.

So listen to what the Lord has planned to do to the people of Edom. Listen to what he has decided to do to the people in Teman. The enemy will drag away the young kids of Edom's flock. Edom's pastures will be empty because of what they did.

Just as an eagle flies high to see the animal it will attack, so the Lord will spread his wings over Bozrah. And Edom's soldiers will be filled with fear like a woman giving birth.

So the young men will die in the public squares of that city. All her soldiers will be killed at that time." This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.

"There is a nation that feels so safe and secure that it does not have gates or fences to protect it. And no one lives near enough to help them. So attack that nation!" says the Lord .

The Lord will show his anger, so no one will live there. Babylon will be completely empty. Everyone who passes by Babylon will be afraid. They will shake their heads when they see how badly it has been destroyed.

Don't let the people from Babylon plant their crops. Don't let them gather the harvest. The soldiers of Babylon brought many prisoners to their city. Now the enemy soldiers have come, so the prisoners are going back home. They are running back to their own countries.

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.

Babylon, I set a trap for you, and you were caught before you knew it. You fought against the Lord , so you were found and captured.

"Call for the archers. Tell them to attack Babylon. Tell them to surround the city. Don't let anyone escape. Pay her back for the bad things she has done. Do to her what she has done to other nations. Babylon did not respect the Lord . Babylon was very rude to the Holy One of Israel. So punish Babylon.

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."

Sword, strike the waters of Babylon. Those waters will be dried up. Babylon has many, many idols. These idols show that the people of Babylon are foolish. So bad things will happen to them.

Babylon was like a golden cup in the Lord 's hand. Babylon made the whole world drunk. The nations drank Babylon's wine, so they went crazy.

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.

Sharpen the arrows! Get your shields! The Lord has stirred up the kings of the Medes because he wants to destroy Babylon. The army from Babylon destroyed his Temple in Jerusalem, so he will give them the punishment they deserve.

The Lord All-Powerful used his name to make this promise: "Babylon, I will fill you with so many enemy soldiers they will be like a cloud of locusts. They will win their war against you. They will stand over you shouting their victory cry."

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 I will repay Babylonia and all the Babylonians for all the evil things they did to Zion. I will pay them back so that you can see it, Judah." This is what the Lord said.

"Lift up the war flag in the land! Blow the trumpet in all the nations! Prepare the nations for war against Babylon. Call these kingdoms to come fight against Babylon: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Choose a commander to lead the army against her. Send so many horses that they are like a swarm of locusts.