Study Desk

The priests, the Lord 's servants, should cry between the altar and the entrance to the Temple. They should say, " Lord , have mercy on your people. Don't let them be put to shame; don't let other nations make fun of them. Don't let people in other nations ask, ‘Where is their God?'"

I will gather all the nations together and bring them down into the Valley Where the Lord Judges. There I will judge them, because those nations scattered my own people Israel and forced them to live in other nations. They divided up my land

and threw lots for my people. They traded boys for prostitutes, and they sold girls to buy wine to drink.

I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabean people far away." The Lord said this.

But Egypt will become empty, and Edom an empty desert, because they were cruel to the people of Judah. They killed innocent people in that land.

The People of Phoenicia This is what the Lord says: "For the many crimes of Tyre, I will punish them. They sold all the people of one area as slaves to Edom, and they forgot the agreement among relatives they had made with Israel.

The People of Edom This is what the Lord says: "For the many crimes of Edom, I will punish them. They hunted down their relatives, the Israelites, with the sword, showing them no mercy. They were angry all the time and kept on being very angry.

The People of Ammon This is what the Lord says: "For the many crimes of Ammon, I will punish them. They ripped open the pregnant women in Gilead so they could take over that land and make their own country larger.

Then their king and leaders will be taken captive; they will all be taken away together," says the Lord .

This is what the Lord says: "For the many crimes of Judah, I will punish them. They rejected the teachings of the Lord and did not keep his commands; they followed the same gods as their ancestors had followed.

They walk on poor people as if they were dirt, and they refuse to be fair to those who are suffering. Fathers and sons have sexual relations with the same woman, and so they ruin my holy name.

As they worship at their altars, they lie down on clothes taken from the poor. They fine people, and with that money they buy wine to drink in the house of their god.

"When I punish Israel for their sins, I will also destroy the altars at Bethel. The corners of the altar will be cut off, and they will fall to the ground.

This is what the Lord, the Lord God All-Powerful, says: "People will be crying in all the streets; they will be saying, ‘Oh, no!' in the public places. They will call the farmers to come and weep and will pay people to cry out loud for them.

They make promises by the idol in Samaria and say, ‘As surely as the god of Dan lives... ' and, ‘As surely as the god of Beersheba lives, we promise... ' So they will fall and never get up again."

If they hide at the top of Mount Carmel, I will find them and take them away. If they try to hide from me at the bottom of the sea, I will command a snake to bite them.

If they are captured and taken away by their enemies, I will command the sword to kill them. I will keep watch over them, but I will keep watch to give them trouble, not to do them good."

I will bring my people Israel back from captivity; they will build the ruined cities again, and they will live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink the wine from them; they will plant gardens and eat their fruit.

I will plant my people on their land, and they will not be pulled out again from the land which I have given them," says the Lord your God.

"You will really be ruined! If thieves came to you, if robbers came by night, they would steal only enough for themselves. If workers came and picked the grapes from your vines, they would leave a few behind.