Study Desk

He wrestled with the angel and prevailed; He wept [in repentance] and sought His favor. He met Him at Bethel And there God spoke with [him and through him with] us—

Even the LORD, the God of hosts, The name of Him [who spoke with Jacob] is the LORD.

Therefore, return [in repentance] to your God, Observe and highly regard kindness and justice, And wait [expectantly] for your God continually.

But I have been the LORD your God since [you became a nation in] the land of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, As in the days of the appointed and solemn festival.

Yet I have been the LORD your God Since [the time you became a nation in] the land of Egypt; And you were not to know any god except Me, For there is no savior besides Me.

Samaria will be found guilty [and become desolate], Because she rebelled against her God; They will fall by the sword, Their infants will be dashed in pieces, And their pregnant women will be ripped open.

O Israel, return [in repentance] to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled and fallen [visited by tragedy], because of your sin.

Clothe yourselves with sackcloth And lament (cry out in grief), O priests; Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth [and pray without ceasing], O ministers of my God, For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God.

Consecrate a fast, Proclaim a solemn assembly, Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land To the house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD [in penitent pleadings].

Has not the food been cut off before our eyes, Joy and gladness from the house of our God?

Rip your heart to pieces [in sorrow and contrition] and not your garments." Now return [in repentance] to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness [faithful to His covenant with His people]; And He relents [His sentence of] evil [when His people genuinely repent].

Who knows whether He will relent [and revoke your sentence], And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a drink offering [from the bounty He provides you] For the LORD your God?

Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar, And let them say, "Have compassion and spare Your people, O LORD, And do not make Your inheritance (Israel) an object of ridicule, Or a [humiliating] byword among the [Gentile] nations. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"

So rejoice, O children of Zion, And delight in the LORD, your God; For He has given you the early [autumn] rain in vindication And He has poured down the rain for you, The early [autumn] rain and the late [spring] rain, as before.

"You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied And praise the name of the LORD your God Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame.

"And you shall know [without any doubt] that I am in the midst of Israel [to protect and bless you], And that I am the LORD your God, And there is no other; My people will never be put to shame.

Then you will know and understand fully that I am the LORD your God, Dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, And strangers [who do not belong] will no longer pass through it.

"And I will cut off and destroy the inhabitants from Ashdod, And the ruler who holds the scepter, from Ashkelon; And I will unleash My power and turn My hand [in judgment] against Ekron, And the rest of the Philistines [in Gath and the towns dependent on these four Philistine cities] shall die," Says the Lord GOD.

"They stretch out beside every [pagan] altar on clothes taken in pledge [to secure a loan, disregarding God's command], And in the house of their God [in contempt of Him] they frivolously drink the wine [which has been] taken from those who have been fined.

Surely the Lord GOD does nothing Without revealing His secret plan [of the judgment to come] To His servants the prophets.