Study Desk

For on that day Adonai Elohei -Tzva'ot will have a day of vengeance for avenging himself on his enemies. The sword will destroy, have its fill, be made drunk on their blood. Yes, Adonai Elohei -Tzva'ot decrees slaughter in the land to the north by the Euphrates River.

I will hand them over to those who seek their lives, to N'vukhadretzar king of Bavel and to his servants. But afterwards, Egypt will be inhabited, as in the past," says Adonai .

at the thunderous pound of his stallions' hoofs, at his rattling chariots' rumbling wheels. Fathers fail to turn back for their children; instead, their hands hang limp,

Because you trust in your deeds and your wealth, you too will be captured. Together with his priests and princes, K'mosh will go into exile.

A curse on him who does the work of Adonai carelessly! A curse on him who withholds his sword from blood!

Mo'av has lived at ease from his youth; he is [wine] settled on its dregs, not decanted from jar to jar — he has not gone into exile. Therefore it retains its own [bad] taste, its aroma remains unchanged.

"So the days are coming," says Adonai , "when I will send people to tilt him; they will tilt his jars, emptying them and shattering the wine-flasks to pieces.

Pity him, all of you who are near him, all of you who know his name; say, "How the mighty scepter is shattered, that splendid staff!"

"Mo'av's strength is cut down, his arm is broken," says Adonai .

Because Mo'av boasted against Adonai , make him so drunk that he wallows in his own vomit and becomes a laughingstock.

We have heard of the pride of Mo'av: so very proud he is! — presumptuous, proud, conceited; so haughty his heart!

"I know what meager ground he has for his arrogance," says Adonai . "His boasting has nothing behind it, and it hasn't accomplished a thing."

"Moreover," says Adonai , "in Mo'av I will put an end to anyone sacrificing on a high place or offering incense to his gods."

For here is what Adonai says: "Look! Down he swoops like a vulture, spreading his wings against Mo'av —

Concerning the people of ‘Amon, here is what Adonai says: "Has Isra'el no sons? Has he no heir? Then why has Malkam inherited Gad, with his people settled in its cities?

"Wail, Heshbon, for ‘Ai is doomed! Cry out, daughters of Rabbah! Wear sackcloth and mourn, running here and there among the sheep pens. For Malkam will go into exile, together with his priests and officers.

So I, for my part, have stripped ‘Esav bare, I have exposed his hiding-places; he will not be able to hide himself. He is doomed — sons, brothers and neighbors — so that he is no more.

So hear the plan of Adonai that he has devised against Edom, and his purpose that he will accomplish against those who live in Teman: the least of the flock will drag them away; their own pasture will be in shock at them.

Like a vulture he will soar, swoop down and spread out his wings against Botzrah. On that day the hearts of Edom's warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

Cut off the sower from Bavel and the reaper with sickle at harvest-time. For fear of the destroying sword everyone returns to his own people, each one flees to his own land.