Study Desk

Rejoice and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

I [the LORD] have commanded My consecrated ones, I have even called My great warriors, My proudly exulting ones [the Medes and the Persians who triumph for My honor]— To execute My anger.

A sound of tumult on the mountains, Like that of many people! A sound of the uproar of the kingdoms, Of nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts is mustering an army for battle.

Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty (All Sufficient One—Invincible God)!

For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash with their light; The sun will be dark when it rises, And the moon will not shed its light.

In this way I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing]; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And will abase the arrogance of the tyrant.

Listen carefully, I will put the Medes [in motion] against them, Who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold [and therefore cannot be bribed].

For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob (the captives in Babylon) and will again choose Israel, and will settle them in their own land. Foreigners (Gentiles) will join them [as proselytes] and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob (Israel).

"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."

"This is the plan [of God] decided for the whole earth [regarded as conquered and put under tribute by Assyria]; and this is the hand [of God] that is stretched out over all the nations.

"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?"

"Do not rejoice, O Philistia, any of you, Because the rod [of Judah] that struck you is broken; For out of the serpent's root will come a viper [King Hezekiah of Judah], And its offspring will be a flying serpent.

"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].

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.

For the waters of Nimrim are desolate. Indeed the grass is withered, the new growth dies; There is no green thing.

For the cry of distress has echoed around the territory of Moab; The wailing goes as far as Eglaim and the mournful cry to Beer-elim.

For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; Yet I will bring even more woes on Dimon— A lion upon those of Moab who escape and upon the remnant of the land.

For like wandering birds or scattered nestlings, The daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the [river] Arnon.

[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].

"Let our outcasts of Moab live among you; Be a [sheltered] hiding place to them from the destroyer." For the extortioner has come to an end, destruction has ceased, Oppressors [who trample men] have completely disappeared from the land,