Study Desk

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who devise wickedness And plot evil on their beds! When morning comes, they practice evil Because it is in the power of their hands.

They covet fields and seize them, And houses, and take them away. They oppress and rob a man and his house, A man and his inheritance.

"On that day they shall take up a [taunting, deriding] parable against you And wail with a doleful and bitter song of mourning and say, 'We are completely destroyed! God exchanges the inheritance of my people; How He removes it from me! He divides our fields to the rebellious [our captors].'

"The breaker [the Messiah, who opens the way] shall go up before them [liberating them]. They will break out, pass through the gate and go out; So their King goes on before them, The LORD at their head."

Then they will cry to the LORD, But He will not answer them; Instead, He will even hide His face from them at that time [withholding His mercy] Because they have practiced and tolerated and ignored evil acts.

The seers shall be ashamed And the diviners discredited and embarrassed; Indeed, they shall all cover their mouths [in shame] Because there is no answer from God.

Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, Her priests teach for a fee, And her prophets foretell for money; Yet they lean on the LORD, saying, "Is not the LORD among us? No tragedy or distress will come on us."

And He will judge between many peoples And render decisions for strong and distant nations. Then they shall hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks [so that the implements of war may become the tools of agriculture]; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Nor shall they ever again train for war.

"But they (Gentile nations) do not know the thoughts of the LORD, Nor do they understand His purpose and plan; For He has gathered them (Gentiles) like sheaves to the threshing floor [for destruction].

And He shall stand and shepherd and guide His flock In the strength of the LORD, In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God; And they shall dwell [secure in undisturbed peace], Because at that time He shall be great [extending His authority] [Even] to the ends of the earth.

They shall devastate the land of Assyria with the sword and The land of Nimrod within her [own] gates. And He (the Messiah) shall rescue us from the Assyrian (all enemy nations) When he attacks our land And when he tramples our territory.

"And in anger and wrath I shall execute vengeance On the nations which have not obeyed [such vengeance as they have not known before]."

The godly person [who is faithful and loyal to God] has perished from the earth, And there is no upright person [one with good character and moral integrity] among men. They all lie in wait to shed blood; Each hunts the other with a net.

Concerning evil, both of their hands pursue it and do it diligently and thoroughly; The prince asks, also the judge, for a bribe, And a great man speaks the [evil] desire of his soul. So they twist the course of justice between them.

The [pagan] nations shall see [God's omnipotence in delivering Israel] and be ashamed Of all their might [which cannot be compared to His]. They shall put their hand on their mouth [in silent astonishment]; Their ears shall be deaf.

They shall lick the dust like a serpent; Like crawling things of the earth They shall come trembling out of their fortresses and hiding places. They shall turn and come with fear and dread to the LORD our God And they shall be afraid and stand in awe before You [O LORD].

This is what the LORD says, "Though they are at full strength and many in number, Even so, they will be cut off and pass away. Though I have afflicted you and caused you grief [O Jerusalem], I will afflict you no longer.

He remembers and summons his nobles; They stumble in their march [terrified because of the attack]. They hurry to the city wall, And the mantelet is prepared and firmly set up.

Yet she became an exile; She went into captivity. Her young children were dashed to pieces At the head of every street; They cast lots for her honorable men, And all her great men were bound with chains.

Your guardsmen are like the swarming locusts. Your marshals are like the hordes of grasshoppers Settling in the stone walls on a cold day. When the sun rises, they fly away, And no one knows the place where they are.