Study Desk

The lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken [to the prophets]! Who can but prophesy?

Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "An adversary (Assyria), even one surrounding the land, Shall pull down your strength from you And your fortresses will be looted."

"Hear and testify against the house of Jacob," Says the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,

The Lord GOD has sworn [an oath] by His holiness That, "Behold, the days are coming upon you When they shall take you away with meat hooks, And the last of you with fish hooks.

"Offer [by burning] a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, And [boastfully] proclaim freewill offerings, announce them. For this you so love to do, O children of Israel!" Says the Lord GOD.

"I overthrew and destroyed [some among] you, as [I, your] God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And you were [rescued] like a log pulled out of the flame; Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance]," says the LORD.

"Therefore this is what I shall do to you, O Israel; Because I will do this to you, Prepare to meet your God [in judgment], O Israel!"

For behold, He who forms the mountains and creates the wind And declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes the dawn into darkness And treads on the heights of the earth— The LORD God of hosts is His name.

For thus says the Lord GOD, "The city which goes forth a thousand strong Will have a hundred left, And the one which goes forth a hundred strong Will have ten left to the house of Israel."

Seek (long for, require) good and not evil, that you may live; And so may the LORD God of hosts be with you, Just as you have said!

Hate evil and love good, And establish justice in the [court of the city] gate. Perhaps the LORD God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph [that is, those who remain after God's judgment].

Therefore, thus says the LORD God of hosts, the Lord, "There is wailing in all the public plazas, And in all the streets they say, 'Alas! Alas!' And they call the farmers to mourning [for those who have died] And professional mourners to wailing.

"You carried along your king Sikkuth and Kayyun [your man-made gods of Saturn], your images of your star-god which you made for yourselves [but you brought Me none of the appointed sacrifices].

"Therefore, I will send you to go into exile far beyond Damascus," says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.

The Lord GOD has sworn [an oath] by Himself—the LORD God of hosts, says: "I loathe and reject the [self-centered] arrogance of Jacob (Israel), And I hate his palaces and citadels; Therefore, I shall hand over the [idolatrous] city [of Samaria] with all that it contains [to the Assyrian invaders]."

"For behold, I am going to stir up a nation against you, O house of Israel," says the LORD, the God of hosts, "And they will afflict and torment you [to the entire limits of Israel] from the entrance of Hamath [in the north] To the brook of the Arabah [in the south]."

Thus the Lord GOD showed me [a vision], and behold, He was forming a swarm of locusts when the spring crop began to sprout. And behold, the spring crop was after the king's mowing.

And when the locusts had finished eating the plants of the land, then I said, "O Lord GOD, please forgive! How can Jacob stand, For he is so small [that he cannot endure this]?"

Thus the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, the Lord GOD called for punishment with fire, and it devoured the great deep [underground sources of water] and began to consume the land.

Then I said, "O Lord GOD, please stop! How can Jacob stand, For he is so small [that he cannot endure this]?"