Study Desk

He will be a sanctuary;but for the two houses of Israel,he will be a stone to stumble overand a rock to trip over,and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

I will wait for the Lord,who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob.I will wait for him.

Go to God’s instruction and testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them.

For you have shattered their oppressive yokeand the rod on their shoulders,the staff of their oppressor,just as you did on the day of Midian.

For every trampling boot of battleand the bloodied garments of warwill be burned as fuel for the fire.

For a child will be born for us,a son will be given to us,and the government will be on his shoulders.He will be namedWonderful Counselor, Mighty God,Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Therefore the Lord does not rejoiceover Israel’s young menand has no compassionon its fatherless and widows,for everyone is a godless evildoer,and every mouth speaks folly.In all this, his anger has not turned away,and his hand is still raised to strike.

For wickedness burns like a firethat consumes thorns and briersand kindles the forest thicketsso that they go up in a column of smoke.

The land is scorchedby the wrath of the Lord of Armies,and the people are like fuel for the fire.No one has compassion on his brother.

What will you do on the day of punishmentwhen devastation comes from far away?Who will you run to for help?Where will you leave your wealth?

I will send him against a godless nation;I will command him to goagainst a people destined for my rage,to take spoils, to plunder,and to trample them down like clay in the streets.

For he says,“Aren’t all my commanders kings?

But when the Lord finishes all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for his arrogant acts and the proud look in his eyes.”

For he said:

For throughout the landthe Lord God of Armiesis carrying out a destruction that was decreed.

but he will judge the poor righteouslyand execute justice for the oppressed of the land.He will strike the landwith a scepter from his mouth,and he will kill the wickedwith a command from his lips.

They will not harm or destroy each otheron my entire holy mountain,for the land will be as fullof the knowledge of the Lordas the sea is filled with water.

On that day the root of Jessewill stand as a banner for the peoples.The nations will look to him for guidance,and his resting place will be glorious.

He will lift up a banner for the nationsand gather the dispersed of Israel;he will collect the scattered of Judahfrom the four corners of the earth.

There will be a highway for the remnant of his peoplewho will survive from Assyria,as there was for Israelwhen they came up from the land of Egypt.