Study Desk

"Of whom were you worried and fearful When you lied, and did not remember Me Nor give Me a thought? Was I not silent, even for a long time, So you do not fear Me?

"When you cry out, let your collection of idols save you. But the wind will carry them all up, And a breath will take them away. But the one who takes refuge in Me will inherit the land And possess My holy mountain."

For this is what the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, says: "I dwell in a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.

"Cry loudly, do not hold back; Raise your voice like a trumpet, And declare to My people their wrongdoing, And to the house of Jacob their sins.

"Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways, As a nation that has done righteousness And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God. They ask Me for just decisions, They delight in the nearness of God.

"Behold, you fast for contention and strife, and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you have done today to make your voice heard on high!

"Is it a fast like this that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it for bowing one's head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD?

"And the LORD will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

"If, because of the Sabbath, you restrain your foot From doing as you wish on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a pleasure, and the holy day of the LORD honorable, And honor it, desisting from your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure And speaking your own word,

But your wrongdoings have caused a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

They hatch vipers' eggs and weave the spider's web; The one who eats of their eggs dies, And from what is crushed, a snake breaks out.

Truth is lacking, And one who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey. Now the LORD saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice.

He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a cloak.

So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of the LORD drives.

"A Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those in Jacob who turn from wrongdoing," declares the LORD.

"A multitude of camels will cover you, The young camels of Midian and Ephah; All those from Sheba will come; They will bring gold and frankincense, And proclaim good news of the praises of the LORD.

"Who are these who fly like a cloud And like the doves to their windows?

"Whereas you have been forsaken and hated With no one passing through, I will make you an object of pride forever, A joy from generation to generation.

"The smallest one will become a thousand, And the least one a mighty nation. I, the LORD, will bring it about quickly in its time."

To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The cloak of praise instead of a disheartened spirit. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.