Study Desk

I am upset because I am like fruit that has been gathered, like grapes that have already been picked. There are no grapes left to eat. There are none of the early figs that I love.

There is no God like you. You take away people's guilt. God will forgive his people who survive. He will not stay angry with them forever, because he enjoys being kind.

King of Assyria, the Lord gave this command about you: "You will not have any descendants to wear your name. I will destroy your carved idols and metal statues that are in the temple of your gods. I am preparing your grave, because your end is coming soon!"

All this happened because of Nineveh. Nineveh is like a prostitute who could never get enough. She wanted more and more. She sold herself to many nations, and she used her magic to make them her slaves.

Get water and store it inside your city, because the enemy soldiers will surround your city. Make your defenses strong! Get clay to make more bricks and mix the mortar. Get the molds for making bricks.

Nineveh, you have been hurt badly, and nothing can heal your wound. Everyone who hears the news of your destruction claps their hands. They are all happy, because they all felt the pain you caused again and again.

This message cannot help those who refuse to listen to it, but those who are good will live because they believe it.

You hurt many people in Lebanon and stole many animals there. So you will be afraid because of the people who died and because of the bad things you did to that country. You will be afraid because of what you did to those cities and to the people who lived there."

Their false god will not help them, because it is only a statue that someone covered with metal. It is only a statue, so whoever made it cannot expect it to help. That statue cannot even speak!

Be silent before the Lord God , because the Lord 's day for judging the people is coming soon. The Lord has prepared his sacrifice, and he has told his invited guests to get ready.

You people living in the lower part of town will cry, because all the traders and rich merchants will be destroyed.

The Lord said, "I will make life very hard on the people. They will walk around like the blind who don't know where they are going. That will happen because they sinned against the Lord . Their blood will be spilled on the ground. Their dead bodies will lie like dung on the ground.

This will happen to the people of Moab and Ammon because they were so proud and cruel and humiliated the people of the Lord All-Powerful.

They will be afraid of the Lord , because he will destroy their gods. Then everyone in all the faraway lands will worship the Lord.

"Then, Jerusalem, you will no longer be ashamed of the wrong things your people do against me. That is because I will remove all the bad people from Jerusalem. I will take away all the proud people. There will not be any of them on my holy mountain.

The Lord All-Powerful said, "You people look for a big harvest, but when you go to gather the crop, there is only a little grain. So you bring that grain home, and then I send a wind that blows it all away. Why is this happening? Because my house is still in ruins while each of you runs home to take care of your own house.

But the Lord says, "Zerubbabel, don't be discouraged!" And the Lord says, "Joshua son of Jehozadak, you are the high priest. Don't be discouraged! And all you people who live in the land, don't be discouraged! Continue this work, because I am with you." This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.

That was because I punished you. I sent the diseases that killed your plants and the hail that destroyed the things you made with your hands. I did this, but still you did not come to me.' This is what the Lord said.

He said to him, "Run and tell that young man this: ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls, because there will be too many people and animals living there.'

The Lord says, "Zion, be happy, because I am coming, and I will live in your city.