Study Desk

We have heard of Moab’s pride,great pride, indeed—his insolence, arrogance, pride,and haughty heart.

I know his outburst.

In Moab, I will stop”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the one who offers sacrifices on the high place and burns incense to his gods.

“How broken it is! They wail! How Moab has turned his back! He is ashamed. Moab will become a laughingstock and a shock to all those around him.”

Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated;cry out, daughters of Rabbah!Clothe yourselves with sackcloth, and lament;run back and forth within your walls,because Milcom will go into exiletogether with his priests and officials.

But I will strip Esau bare;I will uncover his secret places.He will try to hide, but he will be unable.His descendants will be destroyedalong with his relatives and neighbors.He will exist no longer.

Cut off the sower from Babylonas well as him who wields the sickle at harvest time.Because of the oppressor’s sword,each will turn to his own people,each will flee to his own land.

Israel is a stray lamb, chased by lions.The first who devoured him was the king of Assyria;the last who crushed his boneswas King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

Therefore, this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am about to punish the king of Babylon and his land just as I punished the king of Assyria.

I will return Israel to his grazing land,and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan;he will be satisfiedin the hill country of Ephraim and of Gilead.

The Lord opened his armoryand brought out his weapons of wrath,because it is a task of the Lord God of Armiesin the land of the Chaldeans.

There is a voice of fugitives and refugeesfrom the land of Babylon.The voice announces in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God,the vengeance for his temple.

The arrogant will stumble and fallwith no one to pick him up.I will set fire to his cities,and it will consume everything around him.

Their Redeemer is strong;the Lord of Armies is his name.He will fervently champion their causeso that he might bring rest to the earthbut turmoil to those who live in Babylon.

A sword is against his horses and chariotsand against all the foreigners among them,and they will be like women.A sword is against her treasuries,and they will be plundered.

The king of Babylon has heard about them;his hands have become weak.Distress has seized him—pain, like a woman in labor.

Don’t let the archer string his bow;don’t let him put on his armor.Don’t spare her young men;completely destroy her entire army!

We tried to heal Babylon,but she could not be healed.Abandon her!Let each of us go to his own land,for her judgment extends to the skyand reaches as far as the clouds.

Sharpen the arrows!Fill the quivers!The Lord has roused the spiritof the kings of the Medesbecause his plan is aimed at Babylonto destroy her,for it is the Lord’s vengeance,vengeance for his temple.

He made the earth by his power,established the world by his wisdom,and spread out the heavens by his understanding.