Study Desk

Babylon will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, Nor will the shepherds let their sheep lie down there.

that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say, "How the oppressor has ceased [his insolence], And how the fury has ceased!

Who made the world like a wilderness And overthrew its cities, Who did not permit his prisoners to return home?'

"All the kings of the nations, all of them lie [dead] in glorious array, Each one in his own sepulcher.

"Prepare a slaughtering place for his sons Because of the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of their fathers. They must not rise and take possession of the earth, And fill the face of the world with cities."

to break the Assyrian in My land, and on My mountains I will trample him underfoot. Then the Assyrian's yoke will be removed from them (the people of Judah) and his burden removed from their shoulder.

"For the LORD of hosts has decided and planned, and who can annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?"

"Howl, O gate; cry, O city! Melt away, O Philistia, all of you; For smoke comes out of the north, And there is no straggler in his ranks and no one stands detached [in Hezekiah's battalions].

"Then what answer will one give the messengers of the [Philistine] nation? That the LORD has founded Zion, And the afflicted of His people will seek and find refuge in it."

My heart cries out for Moab; His fugitives are [fleeing] as far as Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah. For they go up the ascent of Luhith weeping; For on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of distress over their destruction.

[Say to the ruler] "Give us advice, make a decision [for Moab, king of Judah]; Cast your shadow [over us] like night in the midst of noon; Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive [to his pursuer].

We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride— Even of his arrogance, his conceit, his rage, His untruthful boasting.

So it will come to pass when Moab presents himself, When he wearies himself [worshiping] on his high place [of idolatry] And comes to his sanctuary [of Chemosh, god of Moab] to pray, That he will not prevail.

"Now in that day the [former] glory of Jacob [Israel—his might, his population, his prosperity] will fade, And the fatness of his flesh will become lean.

"And it will be like the reaper gathering the standing grain, As his arm harvests the ears of grain; Yes, it will be like one gleaning ears of grain In the [fertile] Valley of Rephaim.

In that day man will have regard for his Maker, And his eyes will regard the Holy One of Israel [with awe-inspired reverence].

And he will not have regard for the [idolatrous] altars, the work of his hands, Nor will he look to that which his fingers have made, Neither the Asherim (symbols of the goddess Asherah) nor the incense altars.

The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Egypt: Listen carefully, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt; The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

"So I will provoke Egyptians against Egyptians; And they will fight, each one against his brother and each one against his neighbor, City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

The LORD has mixed a spirit of distortion within her; Her leaders have caused Egypt to stagger in all that she does, As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.