Study Desk

The royal line of David is like a tree that has been cut down; but just as new branches sprout from a stump, so a new king will arise from among David's descendants.

A day is coming when people will sing, "I praise you, Lord ! You were angry with me, but now you comfort me and are angry no longer.

Babylonia is the most beautiful kingdom of all; it is the pride of its people. But I, the Lord , will overthrow Babylon as I did Sodom and Gomorrah!

You used to be honored with the music of harps, but now here you are in the world of the dead. You lie on a bed of maggots and are covered with a blanket of worms.'"

King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground.

But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead.

but you have no tomb, and your corpse is thrown out to rot. It is covered by the bodies of soldiers killed in battle, thrown with them into a rocky pit, and trampled down.

People of Philistia, the rod that beat you is broken, but you have no reason to be glad. When one snake dies, a worse one comes in its place. A snake's egg hatches a flying dragon.

The Lord will be a shepherd to the poor of his people and will let them live in safety. But he will send a terrible famine on you Philistines, and it will not leave any of you alive.

The people of Judah say, "We have heard how proud the people of Moab are. We know that they are arrogant and conceited, but their boasts are empty."

The people of Moab wear themselves out going to their mountain shrines and to their temples to pray, but it will do them no good.

But even if they sprouted and blossomed the very morning you planted them, there would still be no harvest. There would be only trouble and incurable pain.

The nations advance like rushing waves, but God reprimands them and they retreat, driven away like dust on a mountainside, like straw in a whirlwind.

At evening they cause terror, but by morning they are gone. That is the fate of everyone who plunders our land.

The leaders of Zoan and Memphis are fools. They were supposed to lead the nation, but they have misled it.

The Lord will punish the Egyptians, but then he will heal them. They will turn to him, and he will hear their prayers and heal them.

My head is spinning, and I am trembling with fear. I had been longing for evening to come, but it has brought me nothing but terror.

My people Israel, you have been threshed like wheat, but now I have announced to you the good news that I have heard from the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel.

I answer, "Morning is coming, but night will come again. If you want to ask again, come back and ask."

The archers are the bravest warriors of Kedar, but few of them will be left. I, the Lord God of Israel, have spoken."