Study Desk

"And he will set his mind on coming with the power of his entire kingdom, bringing with him a proposal of peace which he will put into effect; he will also give him the daughter of women to ruin it. But she will not take a stand for him or be on his side.

"After an alliance is made with him he will practice deception, and he will go up and gain power with a small force of people.

"And he will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the South with a large army; so the king of the South will mobilize an extremely large and mighty army for war; but he will not stand, because schemes will be devised against him.

"Then he will return to his land with much plunder; but his heart will be set against the holy covenant, and he will take action and then return to his own land.

"Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation.

"Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will join with them in hypocrisy.

"But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, precious stones, and treasures.

"And he will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will make them rulers over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.

"And at the end time the king of the South will wage war with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow them, and pass through.

"Then he will reach out with his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape.

"But rumors from the East and from the North will terrify him, and he will go out with great wrath to eliminate and annihilate many.

"Dispute with your mother, dispute, Because she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; But she must remove her infidelity from her face And her adultery from between her breasts,

Otherwise, I will strip her naked And expose her as on the day she was born. I will also make her like a wilderness, Make her like desert land, And put her to death with thirst.

"Therefore, behold, I will obstruct her way with thorns, And I will build a stone wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.

"I will punish her for the days of the Baals When she used to offer sacrifices to them And adorn herself with her nose ring and jewelry, And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me," declares the LORD.

"On that day I will also make a covenant for them With the animals of the field, The birds of the sky, And the crawling things of the ground. And I will eliminate the bow, the sword, and war from the land, And will let them lie down in safety.

Then I said to her, "You shall live with me for many days. You shall not play the prostitute, nor shall you have another man; so I will also be toward you."

Therefore the land mourns, And everyone who lives in it languishes Along with the animals of the field and the birds of the sky, And even the fish of the sea disappear.

Yet let no one find fault, and let no one rebuke; For your people are like those who contend with a priest.

So you will stumble by day, And the prophet also will stumble with you by night; And I will destroy your mother.