Study Desk

on the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and strong men are bent over, the grinders stop working because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dim;

The conclusion, when everything has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.

"Do not stare at me because I am dark, For the sun has tanned me. My mother's sons were angry with me; They made me caretaker of the vineyards, But I have not taken care of my own vineyard.

"Refresh me with raisin cakes, Sustain me with apples, Because I am lovesick.

For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with influences from the east, And they are soothsayers like the Philistines. They also strike bargains with the children of foreigners.

For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, Because their speech and their actions are against the LORD, To rebel against His glorious presence.

Moreover, the LORD said, "Because the daughters of Zion are haughty And walk with heads held high and seductive eyes, And go along with mincing steps And jingle the anklets on their feet,

Then I said, "Woe to me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of armies."

and say to him, 'Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stumps of smoldering logs, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.

'Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying,

and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone who is left within the land will eat curds and honey.

People will come there with bows and arrows, because all the land will be briars and thorns.

To the Law and to the testimony! If they do not speak in accordance with this word, it is because they have no dawn.

For he has said, "By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, Because I have understanding; And I removed the boundaries of the peoples And plundered their treasures, And like a powerful man I brought down their inhabitants,

So it will be on that day, that his burden will be removed from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of fatness.

"You will not be united with them in burial, Because you have ruined your country, You have killed your people. May the descendants of evildoers never be mentioned.

"Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons Because of the wrongdoing of their fathers. They must not arise and take possession of the earth, And fill the surface of the world with cities."

"Do not rejoice, Philistia, all of you, Because the rod that struck you is broken; For from the serpent's root a viper will come out, And its fruit will be a winged serpent.

On that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in great fear because of the waving of the hand of the LORD of armies, which He is going to wave over them.

The land of Judah will become a cause of shame to Egypt; everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in great fear because of the plan of the LORD of armies which He is making against them.