Study Desk

Lawmakers, you will have to explain what you have done. What will you do then? Your destruction is coming from a faraway country. Where will you run for help? Your money and your riches will not help you.

I will send Assyria to fight against the people who do evil. I am angry with them, and I will command Assyria to fight against them. Assyria will defeat them and take their wealth. Israel will be like dirt for Assyria to walk on in the streets.

He will judge the poor fairly and honestly. He will be fair when he decides what to do for the poor of the land. If he decides people should be beaten, he will give the command, and they will be beaten. If he decides people must die, he will give the command, and those evil people will be killed. Goodness and fairness will be like a belt he wears around his waist.

He will gather the people of Israel and Judah who were forced to leave their country. They were scattered to all the faraway places on earth. But he will raise the flag as a sign for the other nations, and he will gather his people together again.

Then Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, and Judah will have no enemies left. And Judah will not cause trouble for Ephraim.

"Raise a flag on that mountain where nothing grows. Call out to the men. Wave your arms to let them know they should enter through the gates for important leaders.

The Lord 's special day is near. So cry and be sad for yourselves. A time is coming when the enemy will steal your wealth. God All-Powerful will make that happen.

The Lord says, "I will cause bad things to happen to the world. I will punish the evil people for their sin. I will make proud people lose their pride. I will stop the bragging of cruel people.

The place of death is excited that you are coming. Sheol is waking the spirits of all the leaders of the earth for you. Sheol is making the kings stand up from their thrones to meet you.

"I will change Babylon. It will be a place for animals, not people. It will be a swamp. I will use the ‘broom of destruction' to sweep Babylon away." The Lord All-Powerful said this.

The Lord All-Powerful made this promise: "This will happen exactly as I meant for it to happen. It will happen just the way I planned.

This is what I plan to do for this land. I will use my power to punish all those nations."

But what will the messengers from that nation report about us? They will say, "The Lord made Zion strong, and his poor people went there for safety."

The king's family and the people of Dibon go to the places of worship to cry. The people of Moab are crying for Nebo and Medeba. They have shaved their heads and beards to show their sadness.

My heart cries, full of sorrow for Moab. Its people run away to Zoar for safety. They run to Eglath Shelishiyah. The people are crying as they go up the road to Luhith. They are crying loudly as they walk on the road to Horonaim.

The women of Moab try to cross the river Arnon. They run around looking for help, like little birds that have fallen from their nest.

Because of their pride, everyone in Moab will mourn. They will wish for the way things used to be. They will wish for the raisin cakes from Kir Hareseth.

I will cry with the people of Jazer and Sibmah, because the grapes have been destroyed. I will cry with the people of Heshbon and Elealeh because there will be no harvest. There will be no summer fruit, and there will be no shouts of joy for the harvest.

So I will hum a sad song for Moab and Kir Heres, like a harp playing a funeral song.

"That time will also be like the olive harvest. People knock olives from the trees, but a few olives are usually left at the top of each tree. Four or five olives are left on some of the top branches. It will be the same for those cities," says the Lord All-Powerful.