Study Desk

Even though they bring up their children, Yet I will bereave them until not one is left. Indeed, woe (judgment is coming) to them when I look away and withdraw [My blessing] from them!

Ephraim, as I have seen, Is planted in a pleasant [and prosperous] meadow like Tyre; But Ephraim will bring out his children to the executioner [for slaughter].

Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up, They will bear no fruit. Even though they give birth, I will slay the precious children of their womb.

Therefore an uproar will arise among your people, And all your fortresses will be destroyed, As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle, When mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.

Tell your children about it, And let your children tell their children, And their children the next generation.

Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out of his room And the bride out of her bridal chamber. [No one is excused from the assembly.]

So rejoice, O children of Zion, And delight in the LORD, your God; For He has given you the early [autumn] rain in vindication And He has poured down the rain for you, The early [autumn] rain and the late [spring] rain, as before.

and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the Greeks, so that you may send them far away from their territory,

"Also I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation," for the LORD has spoken.

The LORD thunders and roars from Zion And utters His voice from Jerusalem [in judgment of His enemies], And the heavens and the earth tremble and shudder; But the LORD is a refuge for His people And a stronghold [of protection] to the children of Israel.

Egypt will become a waste, And Edom will become a desolate wilderness, Because of their violence against the children of Judah, In whose land they have shed innocent blood.

Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of the children of Ammon and for four (multiplied delinquencies) I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it, Because the Ammonites have ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead, That they might enlarge their border.

"Then I raised up some of your sons to be prophets [who gave you My revelation], And some of your young men to be Nazirites (dedicated ones). Is this not true, O you children of Israel?" says the LORD.

Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt:

Thus says the LORD, "Just as the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion a couple of legs or a piece of the [sheep's] ear [to prove to the owner that he has not stolen the animal], So will the [remaining] children of Israel living in Samaria be snatched away With the corner of a bed and [part of] the damask covering of a couch.

"Offer [by burning] a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, And [boastfully] proclaim freewill offerings, announce them. For this you so love to do, O children of Israel!" Says the Lord GOD.

Make yourself bald [in mourning]—shave off your hair For the children of your delight; Remain as bald as the eagle, For your children will be taken from you into exile.

"You evict the women (widows) of My people, Each one from her pleasant house; From her [young, fatherless] children you take away My splendor and blessing forever [by putting them among the pagans, away from Me].

Therefore, He will give them up until the time When she who is in labor has given birth to a child. Then what is left of His kinsmen Shall return to the children of Israel.

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.