Study Desk

The strong man will become tinder, And his work a spark. So both will burn together And there will be none to quench them.

And many peoples shall come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house (temple) of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For the law will go out from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Go among the rocks and hide in the dust From the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty.

They [the stricken, deprived of all in which they had trusted] will go into the caves of the rocks And into the holes of the ground [fleeing] From the terror and dread of the LORD And from the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to terrify the earth.

To go into the caverns of the rocks and into the clefts of the [ragged] cliffs [as they flee] From the terror and dread of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to terrify the earth.

Stop regarding man, whose breath [of life] is in his nostrils [for so little time]; For why should he be esteemed?

And the people will be oppressed, Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor; The boy will be arrogant and insolent toward the elder And the vulgar (common) toward the honorable [person of rank].

When a man takes hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, "You have a robe, you shall be our judge and ruler, And this pile of ruins will be under your control,"

For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, Because their words and their actions are against the LORD, To rebel against His glorious presence and defiantly provoke Him.

Woe (judgment is coming) to the wicked! It shall go badly with him, For what his hand has done shall be done to him.

The LORD enters into judgment with the elders of His people and their princes, "For it is you who have devoured the vineyard [with your oppression, you have robbed the people and ruined the country]; The plunder of the poor is in your houses.

then the LORD will create over the entire site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies, a cloud by day, smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory and brilliance will be a canopy [a defense, a covering of His divine love and protection].

Now let me sing for my greatly Beloved [LORD] A song of my Beloved about His vineyard (His chosen people). My greatly Beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile slope (the promised land, Canaan).

For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house (nation) of Israel And the men of Judah are His delightful planting [which He loves]. So He looked for justice, but in fact, [He saw] bloodshed and lawlessness; [He looked] for righteousness, but in fact, [He heard] a cry of distress and oppression.

They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute, and wine at their feasts; But they do not regard nor even pay attention to the deeds of the LORD, Nor do they consider the work of His hands.

But the LORD of hosts will be exalted in justice, And God, the Holy One, will show Himself holy in righteousness [through His righteous judgments].

Who say, "Let Him move speedily, let Him expedite His work [His promised vengeance], so that we may see it; And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel approach And come to pass, so that we may know it!"

Therefore the anger of the LORD has burned against His people, And He has stretched out His hand against them and has struck them down. And the mountains trembled, and their dead bodies lay like rubbish in the middle of the streets. In spite of all this God's anger is not turned away, But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

He will lift up a flag to [call] the distant nations [to bring His judgment on Judah], And will whistle for them from the ends of the earth; And indeed, they will come with great speed swiftly.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw [in a vision] the Lord sitting on a throne, high and exalted, with the train of His royal robe filling the [most holy part of the] temple.