Study Desk

For a fool speaks nonsense, And his heart inclines toward wickedness: To practice ungodliness and to speak error against the LORD, To keep the hungry person unsatisfied And to withhold drink from the thirsty.

As for a rogue, his weapons are evil; He devises wicked schemes To destroy the poor with slander, Even though the needy one speaks what is right.

And He will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; The fear of the LORD is his treasure.

One who walks righteously and speaks with integrity, One who rejects unjust gain And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe; One who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed And shuts his eyes from looking at evil;

He will dwell on the heights, His refuge will be the impregnable rock; His bread will be given him, His water will be sure.

Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will see a distant land.

For the LORD'S anger is against all the nations, And His wrath against all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them, He has turned them over to slaughter.

Seek from the book of the LORD, and read: Not one of these will be missing; None will lack its mate. For His mouth has commanded, And His Spirit has gathered them.

He has cast the lot for them, And His hand has divided it to them by the measuring line. They shall possess it forever; From generation to generation they will dwell in it.

"Behold, you have relied on the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.

'Do not listen to Hezekiah,' for this is what the king of Assyria says: 'Surrender to me and come out to me, and eat, each one, of his vine and each of his fig tree, and each drink of the waters of his own cistern,

'Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you, saying, "The LORD will save us." Has any one of the gods of the nations saved his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

Now when King Hezekiah heard the report, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.

'Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to taunt the living God, and will avenge the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant that is left.'"

"Behold, I am going to put a spirit in him so that he will hear news and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land."'"

"But now LORD, our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, LORD, are God."

Then it came about, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esarhaddon became king in his place.

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,

This is a writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

"It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today; A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.