Study Desk

This is because you obey the laws of Omri. You do all the evil things that Ahab's family does. You follow their teachings, so I will let you be destroyed. People will whistle in amazement when they see your destroyed city. Then you will bear the shame that the other nations bring to you."

So I will look to the Lord for help. I will wait for God to save me. My God will hear me.

I sinned against the Lord , so he was angry with me. But he will argue my case for me in court. He will do what is right for me. Then he will bring me out into the light, and I will see that he is right.

So rule your people with your rod. Rule the flock of people who belong to you. That flock lives alone in the woods and up on Mount Carmel. That flock lives in Bashan and Gilead as they did in the past.

Why are you making plans against the Lord ? He will bring complete destruction, so you will not cause trouble again.

An enemy is coming to attack you, so guard the strong places of your city. Watch the road. Get ready for war. Prepare for battle!

So, Nineveh, you will also fall like a drunk. You will try to hide. You will look for a safe place away from the enemy.

The law is weak and not fair to people. Evil people win their fights against good people. So the law is no longer fair, and justice does not win anymore.

Your eyes are too good to look at evil. You cannot stand to see people doing wrong. So why do you permit such evil? How can you watch while the wicked destroy people who are so much better?

His net helps him live like the rich and enjoy the best food. So the enemy worships his net. He makes sacrifices and burns incense to honor his net.

The Lord answered me, "Write down what I show you. Write it clearly on a sign so that the message will be easy to read.

But soon enough, all those people will laugh at him and tell stories about his defeat. They will laugh and say, ‘It's too bad that the man who took so many things will not get to keep them! He made himself rich by collecting debts.'

You have stolen things from many nations, so they will take much from you. You have killed many people and destroyed lands and cities. You have killed all the people there.

You hurt many people in Lebanon and stole many animals there. So you will be afraid because of the people who died and because of the bad things you did to that country. You will be afraid because of what you did to those cities and to the people who lived there."

Their false god will not help them, because it is only a statue that someone covered with metal. It is only a statue, so whoever made it cannot expect it to help. That statue cannot even speak!

But the Lord is in his holy temple, so the whole earth should be silent in his presence and show him respect.

before you become like a dry and dying flower. In the heat of day, a flower will wilt and die. You will be like that when the Lord shows his terrible anger. So change your lives before the Lord shows his anger against you!

So, as surely as I am alive, Moab and the people of Ammon will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah. I am the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, and I promise those countries will be destroyed completely forever. Their land will be overgrown with weeds. It will be like the land covered with salt by the Dead Sea. The survivors of my people will take that land and everything left in it."

This will happen to the people of Moab and Ammon because they were so proud and cruel and humiliated the people of the Lord All-Powerful.

Nineveh is so proud now. It is such a happy city. The people think they are safe. They think Nineveh is the greatest place in the world, but it will be destroyed! It will be an empty place where only wild animals go to rest. People who pass by will whistle and shake their heads when they see how badly the city was destroyed.