Study Desk

Her heads judge for a bribe, Her priests teach for pay, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the LORD, and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No harm can come upon us."

He shall judge between many peoples,And rebuke strong nations afar off;They shall beat their swords into plowshares,And their spears into pruning hooks;Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,Neither shall they learn war anymore. Isaiah 2:2-4 ">[fn]

And He shall stand and feed His flock In the strength of the LORD, In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God; And they shall abide, For now He shall be great To the ends of the earth;

They shall waste with the sword the land of Assyria, And the land of Nimrod at its entrances; Thus He shall deliver us from the Assyrian, When he comes into our land And when he treads within our borders.

The faithful man has perished from the earth, And there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; Every man hunts his brother with a net.

That they may successfully do evil with both hands-- The prince asks for gifts, The judge seeks a bribe, And the great man utters his evil desire; So they scheme together.

In that day they [fn] shall come to youFrom Assyria and the fortified cities, [fn] From the fortress [fn] to the River, [fn] From sea to sea,And mountain to mountain.

The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; They shall put their hand over their mouth; Their ears shall be deaf.

They shall lick the dust like a serpent; They shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth. They shall be afraid of the LORD our God, And shall fear because of You.

For while tangled like thorns, And while drunken like drunkards, They shall be devoured like stubble fully dried.

Thus says the LORD: "Though they are safe, and likewise many, Yet in this manner they will be cut down When he passes through. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more;

He remembers his nobles; They stumble in their walk; They make haste to her walls, And the defense is prepared.

Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear. There is a multitude of slain, A great number of bodies, Countless corpses-- They stumble over the corpses--

Yet she was carried away, She went into captivity; Her young children also were dashed to pieces At the head of every street; They cast lots for her honorable men, And all her great men were bound in chains.

Your commanders are like swarming locusts, And your generals like great grasshoppers, Which camp in the hedges on a cold day; When the sun rises they flee away, And the place where they are is not known.

They are terrible and dreadful; Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.

Their horses also are swifter than leopards, And more fierce than evening wolves. Their chargers charge ahead; Their cavalry comes from afar; They fly as the eagle that hastens to eat.

They scoff at kings, And princes are scorned by them. They deride every stronghold, For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it.

They take up all of them with a hook, They catch them in their net, And gather them in their dragnet. Therefore they rejoice and are glad.

Therefore they sacrifice to their net, And burn incense to their dragnet; Because by them their share is sumptuous And their food plentiful.