Study Desk

"I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will end the arrogance of the proud and humble the insolence of tyrants.

For Adonai will have compassion on Ya‘akov — he will once again choose Isra'el and resettle them in their own land, where foreigners will join them, attaching themselves to the house of Ya‘akov.

"Sh'ol below is stirred up to meet you when you come. It awakens for you the ghosts of the dead who were leaders on earth; it makes all the kings of the nations arise from their thrones.

Get ready to slaughter his sons for the iniquity of their fathers; so they won't arise, take over the earth and cover the world with their cities."

"I will make it a haunt for hedgehogs, it will become a swampy waste, I will sweep it with the broom of destruction," says Adonai -Tzva'ot.

This is the program planned for all the earth, this is the hand stretched out over all the nations.

Do not rejoice, P'leshet, any of you, that the rod which struck you is broken; for out of the snake's root will come a viper, and his offspring will be a flying fiery serpent.

Howl, gate! Cry, city! Melt away, P'leshet, all of you! For a smoke is coming from the north, with not a straggler in its ranks.

My heart cries out for Mo'av! Its fugitives flee to Tzo‘ar, a calf three years old. They ascend the slope of Luchit, weeping as they go; on their way to Horonayim, they utter heartrending cries.

For the cry has circulated throughout Mo'av's territory — its howling has reached Eglayim, its howling has reached Be'er-Elim.

For the waters of Dimon are full of blood, yet I have worse in store for Dimon — a lion for those who escape from Mo'av and for those who remain in its land.

Send lambs for the ruler of the land from the crags toward the desert to the mountain of the daughter of Tziyon.

Let our outcasts live with you! Protect Mo'av from the attacks of robbers!" For when the extorting ends, the spoiling ceases, and those trampling on the land are destroyed,

Therefore Mo'av will wail for Mo'av — they will all wail! You will sigh, stricken by grief, for the raisin-cakes of Kir-Hareset.

For the grainfields of Heshbon are withering, also the vineyards of Sibmah, whose red grapes overpowered rulers of nations — once they reached as far as Ya‘zer and trailed out into the desert; their spreading branches even crossed the sea.

Therefore I will weep for Sibmah's vine as I weep for Ya‘zer; I will water you with my tears, Heshbon and El‘aleh; because the shouts of battle are falling on your summer fruits and harvest;

This is why my heart throbs like a lyre for Mo'av, and everything in me for Kir-Heres.

He will pay no heed to the altars made with his own hands, he will not turn toward what his fingers made, the sacred poles and standing-stones for sun-worship.

For you have forgotten the God who saved you, failed to remember the Rock of your strength; so you plant pagan-style gardens and set out vine-cuttings for a foreign god.

For Adonai has said this to me: "I will look on from my place and do nothing, like heat shimmering in the sun, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."