Study Desk

I will cry with the people of Jazer and Sibmah, because the grapes have been destroyed. I will cry with the people of Heshbon and Elealeh because there will be no harvest. There will be no summer fruit, and there will be no shouts of joy for the harvest.

At that time all the walled cities will be empty. They will be like the mountains and the forests in the land before the Israelites came. In the past, all the people ran away because the Israelites were coming. In the future, the country will be empty again.

This will happen because you have forgotten the God who saves you. You have not remembered that God is your place of safety. You brought some very good grapevines from faraway places. You might plant those grapevines, but they will not grow.

At that time the Egyptians will be like frightened women. They will be afraid of the Lord All-Powerful, because he will raise his arm to punish the people.

The land of Judah brings fear to everyone in Egypt. Anyone in Egypt who hears the name Judah will be afraid. This will happen because the Lord All-Powerful has planned terrible things to happen to Egypt.

The Lord All-Powerful said, "At that time the peg that is now in the solid board will get weak and break. It will fall to the ground, and everything hanging on it will be destroyed. Then everything I said in this message will happen. It will happen because the Lord said it would."

Sidon, you should be very sad, because now the Sea and the Fort of the Sea say, "I have no children. I have never felt the pain of birth; I have never given birth to children. I have never raised young men and women."

Everyone will be forced out of the land. All the wealth will be taken. This will happen because the Lord commanded it.

Lord , you are my God. I honor you and praise your name, because you did amazing things. The words you said long ago are completely true; everything happened exactly as you said it would.

But death will be destroyed forever. And the Lord God will wipe away every tear from every face. In the past, all of his people were sad, but God will take away that sadness from the earth. All of this will happen because the Lord said it would.

So trust the Lord always, because in the Lord Yah you have a place of safety forever.

Lord , people remember you when they are in trouble. So because of your punishment, we called out to you.

Lord , because of you we were in pain, like a woman giving birth, who struggles and cries out when it is time.

Because of these things, the Lord God says, "I will put a rock—a cornerstone—in the ground in Zion. This will be a very precious stone. Everything will be built on this very important rock. Anyone who trusts in that rock will not be disappointed.

Or you can give the book to someone who cannot read and tell that person to read it. That person will say, "I cannot read the book because I don't know how to read."

You say, "No, we need fast horses for battle." That is true—you will need fast horses, but only to run away because your enemy will be faster than your horses.

That is because when those things happen, people will reject the gold and silver idols you made when you sinned against me.

You feel safe now, but after one year you will be troubled. That is because you will not gather grapes next year—there will be no grapes to gather.

Beat your breasts in sorrow. Cry because your fields are empty. Your vineyards once gave grapes, but now they are empty.

Cry for the land of my people. Cry because only thorns and weeds will grow there. Cry for the city and for all the houses that were once filled with joy.