Study Desk

When it is My desire, I will discipline them; And the peoples will be gathered against them When they are bound for their double guilt.

The more they called them, The more they went away from them; They kept sacrificing to the Baals And burning incense to idols.

They will walk after the LORD, He will roar like a lion; Indeed He will roar, And His sons will come trembling from the west.

They will come trembling like birds from Egypt, And like doves from the land of Assyria; And I will settle them in their houses, declares the LORD.

And Ephraim said, "I have certainly become rich, I have found wealth for myself; In all my labors they will find in me No wrongdoing, which would be sin."

And now they sin more and more, And make for themselves cast metal images, Idols skillfully made from their silver, All of them the work of craftsmen. They say of them, "Let the people who sacrifice kiss the calves!"

Therefore they will be like the morning cloud And like dew which soon disappears, Like chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor, And like smoke from a chimney.

As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, And as they became satisfied, their heart became proud; Therefore they forgot Me.

Samaria will pay the penalty for her guilt, Because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword, Their children will be slaughtered, And their pregnant women will be ripped open.

Those who live in his shadow Will again raise grain, And they will blossom like the vine. His fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.

Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run.

They run like warriors, They climb the wall like soldiers; And each of them marches in line, Nor do they lose their way.

I will gather all the nations And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; And they have divided up My land.

"They have also cast lots for My people, Traded a boy for a prostitute, And sold a girl for wine so that they may drink.

"I will also sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation," for the LORD has spoken.

Egypt will become a wasteland, And Edom will become a desolate wilderness, Because of the violence done to the sons of Judah, In whose land they have shed innocent blood.

This is what the LORD says: "For three offenses of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke its punishment, Because they threshed Gilead with iron sledges.

This is what the LORD says: "For three offenses of Gaza, and for four, I will not revoke its punishment, Because they led into exile an entire population To turn them over to Edom.

This is what the LORD says: "For three offenses of Tyre, and for four, I will not revoke its punishment, Because they turned an entire population over to Edom And did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.

This is what the LORD says: "For three offenses of the sons of Ammon, and for four, I will not revoke its punishment, Because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead In order to enlarge their borders.