Study Desk

And commanded concerning thee hath Jehovah, `No more of thy name doth spread abroad, From the house of thy gods I cut off graven and molten image, I appoint thy grave, for thou hast been vile.

Lo, on the mountains the feet of one proclaiming tidings, sounding peace! Celebrate, O Judah, thy festivals, complete thy vows, For add no more to pass over into thee doth the worthless, He hath been completely cut off!

For turned back hath Jehovah to the excellency of Jacob, As [to] the excellency of Israel, For emptied them out have emptiers, And their branches they have marred.

Where [is] the habitation of lionesses? And a feeding-place it [is] for young lions Where walked hath a lion, an old lion, A lion's whelp, and there is none troubling.

The lion is tearing parts [for] his whelps, And is strangling for his lionesses, And he doth fill [with] prey his holes, And his habitations [with] rapine.

And it hath come to pass, Each of thy beholders fleeth from thee, And hath said: `Spoiled is Nineveh, Who doth bemoan for her?' Whence do I seek comforters for thee?

Cush her might, and Egypt, and there is no end. Put and Lubim have been for thy help.

Even she doth become an exile, She hath gone into captivity, Even her sucklings are dashed to pieces At the top of all out-places, And for her honoured ones they cast a lot, And all her great ones have been bound in fetters.

Waters of a siege draw for thyself, Strengthen thy fortresses, Enter into mire, and tread on clay, Make strong a brick-kiln.

There is no weakening of thy destruction, Grievous [is] thy smiting, All hearing thy fame have clapped the hand at thee, For over whom did not thy wickedness pass continually?

Therefore doth law cease, And judgment doth not go forth for ever, For the wicked is compassing the righteous, Therefore wrong judgment goeth forth.

Look ye on nations, and behold and marvel greatly. For a work He is working in your days, Ye do not believe though it is declared.

For, lo, I am raising up the Chaldeans, The bitter and hasty nation, That is going to the broad places of earth, To occupy tabernacles not its own.

Wholly for violence it doth come in, Their faces swallowing up the east wind, And it doth gather as the sand a captivity.

Art not Thou of old, O Jehovah, my God, my Holy One? We do not die, O Jehovah, For judgment Thou hast appointed it, And, O Rock, for reproof Thou hast founded it.

Therefore he doth sacrifice to his net, And doth make perfume to his drag, For by them [is] his portion fertile, and his food fat.

For yet the vision [is] for a season, And it breatheth for the end, and doth not lie, If it tarry, wait for it, For surely it cometh, it is not late.

Do not these -- all of them -- against him a simile taken up, And a moral of acute sayings for him, And say, Wo [to] him who is multiplying [what is] not his? Till when also is he multiplying to himself heavy pledges?

Do not thy usurers instantly rise up, And those shaking thee awake up, And thou hast been for a spoil to them?

Wo [to] him who is gaining evil gain for his house, To set on high his nest, To be delivered from the hand of evil,