Study Desk

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.

"But in the future I will make good things happen to Elam." This message is from the Lord .

The Lord says, "At that time people will try hard to find Israel's guilt, but there will be no guilt. People will try to find Judah's sins, but no sins will be found. That is because I am saving a few survivors from Israel and Judah. And I am forgiving them for all their sins."

Babylon was called ‘The Hammer of the Whole Earth.' But now the ‘Hammer' is shattered. Babylon is the most ruined of the nations.

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."

Babylon will never again be filled with people. Wild dogs, ostriches, and other desert animals will live there. But no one will live there ever again.

But Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Cry for her! Get medicine for her pain, and maybe she can be healed.

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.

Babylon, you live near much water. You are rich with treasures, but your end as a nation has come. It is time for you to be destroyed.

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.

Those idols are worthless. People made them, and they are nothing but a joke. Their time of judgment will come, and those idols will be destroyed.

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.

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.

The Lord says, "Babylon, you are like a volcano that destroys the whole country. But I have turned against you, and I will turn you into a burned-out mountain.

"Don't be sad, my people. Rumors will spread, but don't be afraid. One rumor comes this year. Another rumor will come next year. There will be rumors about terrible fighting in the country. There will be rumors about rulers fighting against other rulers.

You people escaped the swords. You must hurry and leave Babylon. Don't wait! You are in a faraway land, but remember the Lord where you are and remember Jerusalem."

Babylon might grow until she touches the sky. Babylon might make her forts strong, but I will send people to fight against that city. And they will destroy her." This is what the Lord said.

This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "Babylon's thick, strong wall will be pulled down. Her high gates will be burned. The people of Babylon will work hard, but it will not help. They will get very tired trying to save the city. But they will only be fuel for the flames."

But the Babylonian army chased King Zedekiah and caught him on the plains of Jericho. All of Zedekiah's soldiers ran away.

But Nebuzaradan left some of the poorest people behind in the land. He left them to work in the vineyards and the fields.