Study Desk

He will restore us in a very short time; he will heal us in a little while, so that we may live in his presence.

At the celebration of their king, his princes become inflamed with wine; they conspire with evildoers.

Foreigners are consuming what his strenuous labor produced, but he does not recognize it! His head is filled with gray hair, but he does not realize it!

Israel has forgotten his Maker and built royal palaces, and Judah has built many fortified cities. But I will send fire on their cities; it will consume their royal citadels.

The prophet is a watchman over Ephraim on behalf of God, yet traps are laid for him along all of his paths; animosity rages against him in the land of his God.

Just as lion cubs are born predators, so Ephraim will bear his sons for slaughter.

Israel was a fertile vine that yielded fruit. As his fruit multiplied, he multiplied altars to Baal. As his land prospered, they adorned the fertility pillars.

He will roar like a lion, and they will follow the Lord ; when he roars, his children will come trembling from the west.

The Lord also has a covenant lawsuit against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.

In the womb he attacked his brother; in his manly vigor he struggled with God.

He struggled with an angel and prevailed; he wept and begged for his favor. He found God at Bethel, and there he spoke with him!

But Ephraim bitterly provoked him to anger; so he will hold him accountable for the blood he has shed, his Lord will repay him for the contempt he has shown.

The punishment of Ephraim has been decreed; his punishment is being stored up for the future.

Even though he flourishes like a reed plant, a scorching east wind will come, a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert. As a result, his spring will dry up; his well will become dry. That wind will spoil all his delightful foods in the containers in his storehouse.

I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily, he will send down his roots like a cedar of Lebanon.

His young shoots will grow; his splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.

People will reside again in his shade; they will plant and harvest grain in abundance. They will blossom like a vine, and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon.

They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. Each one proceeds on his course; they do not alter their path.

The voice of the Lord thunders as he leads his army. Indeed, his warriors are innumerable; Surely his command is carried out! Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome and very terrifying—who can survive it?

Who knows? Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve, and leave blessing in his wake— a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the Lord your God!