Study Desk

"‘Aram did business with you because of your many products; they exchanged turquoise, purple fabric, embroidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies for your merchandise.

"‘Damascus did business with you because of your many products and great wealth of goods. They offered wine from Helbon, wool from Zahar

They will shave their heads because of you and will put on sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and with bitter mourning.

By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, and because of your wealth your heart has grown proud.

"‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "‘Because you think you are wise, as wise as a god,

Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.

Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the Lord . "‘Because you said, "The Nile is mine; I made it,"

I have given him Egypt as a reward for his efforts because he and his army did it for me, declares the Sovereign Lord .

So it towered higher than all the trees of the field; its boughs increased and its branches grew long, spreading because of abundant waters.

"‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because the great cedar towered over the thick foliage, and because it was proud of its height,

"‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day it was brought down to the realm of the dead I covered the deep springs with mourning for it; I held back its streams, and its abundant waters were restrained. Because of it I clothed Lebanon with gloom, and all the trees of the field withered away.

I will cause many peoples to be appalled at you, and their kings will shudder with horror because of you when I brandish my sword before them. On the day of your downfall each of them will tremble every moment for his life.

A bed is made for her among the slain, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword. Because their terror had spread in the land of the living, they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are laid among the slain.

"Meshek and Tubal are there, with all their hordes around their graves. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword because they spread their terror in the land of the living.

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone's life, that person's life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.'

"Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying: "Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?"'

Then they will know that I am the Lord , when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all the detestable things they have done.'

So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals.

As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord , because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock,

Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away,