Study Desk

and say to the forest of the Negev, 'Hear the word of the LORD: this is what the Lord GOD says: "Behold, I am going to kindle a fire in you, and it will consume every green tree in you, as well as every dry tree; the blazing flame will not go out and the entire surface from south to north will be scorched by it.

"As for you, son of man, groan with a breaking heart and bitter grief; you shall groan in their sight.

"Son of man, prophesy and say, 'This is what the LORD says:' Say, 'A sword, a sword sharpened And also polished!

'Sharpened to make a slaughter, Polished to flash like lightning!' Or shall we rejoice, the rod of My son despising every tree?

"For there is a testing; and what if even the rod which despises will cease to be?" declares the Lord GOD.

"Now as for you, son of man, make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to the city.

"You shall mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem.

"Into his right hand came the divination, 'Jerusalem,' to set up battering rams, to open the mouth for slaughter, to raise the voice with a battle cry, to set up battering rams against the gates, to pile up assault ramps, to build a siege wall.

"And it will be to them like a false divination in their eyes; they have sworn solemn oaths. But he makes guilt known, so that they may be seized.

"And you, son of man, prophesy and say, 'This is what the Lord GOD says concerning the sons of Ammon and their taunting,' and say: 'A sword, a sword is drawn, sharpened for the slaughter, to make it consume, so that it may be like lightning—

"And you shall say, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "A city shedding blood in her midst, so that her time is coming; and a city that makes idols, contrary to her own good, for defilement!

"You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and you have become defiled by your idols which you have made. So you have brought your days closer and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a disgrace to the nations, and an object of mocking to all the lands.

"Son of man, say to her, 'You are a land that is not clean or rained on in the day of indignation.'

"There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her.

"I searched for a man among them who would build up a wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.

"They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, but they killed her with the sword. So she became a subject of gossip among women, and they executed judgments on her.

'And they will come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a contingent of peoples. They will attack you on every side with shield, buckler, and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs.

'You will be filled with drunkenness and grief, A cup of horror and desolation, The cup of your sister Samaria.

"Furthermore, they have even sent for men who come from a great distance, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came—for whom you bathed, put makeup on your eyes, and adorned yourselves with jewelry;

and you sat on a splendid couch with a table arranged in front of it on which you had set My incense and My oil.