Study Desk

^(F1)But there will be no more ^(C1)gloom for her who was in anguish. In earlier times He ^(C2)treated the ^(C3)land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He will make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the ^(F2)Gentiles.

^(F1)(C1)The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.

^(C1)You will multiply the nation, You ^(C2)will ^(F1)increase ^(F2)their joy; They will rejoice in Your presence As with the joy ^(F3)of harvest, As people ^(C3)rejoice when they divide the spoils.

For ^(C1)You will break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their ^(C2)oppressor, as ^(F1)at the battle of ^(C3)Midian.

For every boot of the marching warrior in the roar of battle, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.

For a ^(C1)Child will be born to us, a ^(C2)Son will be given to us; And the ^(C3)government will ^(F1)rest ^(C4)on His shoulders; And His name will be called ^(C5)Wonderful Counselor, ^(C6)Mighty God, Eternal ^(C7)Father, Prince of ^(C8)Peace.

There will be ^(C1)no end to the increase of His government or of peace On the ^(C2)throne of David and over ^(F1)his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with ^(C3)justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. ^(C4)The zeal of the LORD of armies will accomplish this.

The Lord sends a ^(F1)message against Jacob, And it falls on Israel.

And all the people know it, That is, ^(C1)Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, Asserting in pride and in ^(C2)arrogance of heart:

"The bricks have fallen down, But we will ^(C1)rebuild with smooth stones; The sycamores have been cut down, But we will replace them with cedars."

Therefore the LORD raises superior adversaries against them from ^(C1)Rezin And provokes their enemies,

The Arameans from the east and the ^(C1)Philistines from the west; And they ^(C2)devour Israel with ^(F1)gaping jaws. ^(C3)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away, And His hand is still stretched out.

Yet the people ^(C1)do not turn back to Him who struck them, Nor do they ^(C2)seek the LORD of armies.

So the LORD cuts off ^(C1)head and tail from Israel, Both palm branch and bulrush ^(C2)in a single day.

The head is ^(C1)the elder and esteemed man, And the prophet who teaches ^(C2)falsehood is the tail.

^(C1)For those who guide this people are leading them astray; And those who are guided by them are ^(F1)confused.

Therefore the Lord does ^(C1)not rejoice over their young men, ^(C2)Nor does He have compassion on their ^(F1)orphans or their widows; For every one of them is ^(C3)godless and an ^(C4)evildoer, And every ^(C5)mouth is speaking foolishness. ^(C6)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away, And His hand is still stretched out.

^(C1)For wickedness burns like a fire; It consumes briars and thorns; It also sets the thickets of the forest aflame And they roll upward in a column of smoke.

By the ^(C1)wrath of the LORD of armies the ^(C2)land is burned, And the ^(C3)people are like fuel for the fire; No ^(C4)one spares his brother.

^(F1)They devour what is on the right hand but are still ^(C1)hungry, And ^(F2)they eat what is on the left hand, but they are not satisfied; Each of them eats the ^(C2)flesh of his own arm.

Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, ^(C1)And together they are against Judah. ^(C2)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.

Woe to those who ^(C1)enact unjust statutes And to those who constantly record ^(F1)harmful decisions,

So as ^(C1)to ^(F1)deprive the needy of justice And rob the poor among My people of their rights, So ^(C2)that widows may be their spoil And that they may plunder the ^(F2)orphans.

Now ^(C1)what will you do in the ^(C2)day of punishment, And in the devastation which will come ^(C3)from afar? ^(C4)To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your wealth?

Nothing remains but to crouch ^(F1)among the ^(C1)captives Or fall ^(F1)among those ^(C2)killed. ^(C3)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.

Woe to ^(C1)Assyria, the ^(C2)rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is ^(C3)My indignation,

I send it against a ^(C1)godless nation And commission it against the ^(C2)people of My fury To capture spoils and ^(C3)to seize plunder, And to ^(F1)trample them down like ^(C4)mud in the streets.

Yet it ^(C1)does not so intend, Nor does ^(F1)it plan so in its heart, But rather it is ^(F2)its purpose to destroy And to eliminate ^(F3)many nations.

For it says, "Are not my officers ^(F1)all kings?

-"Is not ^(C1)Calno like ^(C2)Carchemish, Or ^(C3)Hamath like Arpad, Or ^(C4)Samaria like ^(C5)Damascus?

-"As my hand has reached to the ^(C1)kingdoms of the idols, Whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

Shall I not do the same to Jerusalem and her images Just as I have done to Samaria and ^(C1)her idols?"

So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His ^(C1)work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, "I will ^(F1)punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and ^(C2)the arrogant pride of his eyes."

For ^(C1)he has said, "By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, Because I have understanding; And I ^(C2)removed the boundaries of the peoples And plundered their treasures, And like a powerful man I brought down ^(F1)their inhabitants,

And my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a ^(C1)nest, And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth; And there was not one that flapped its wing, opened its beak, or chirped."

Is the ^(C1)axe to ^(C2)boast itself over the one who chops with it? Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it? That would be like ^(C3)a ^(F1)club wielding those who lift it, Or like ^(C3)a rod lifting the one who is not wood.

Therefore the Lord, the ^(F1)GOD of armies, will send a ^(C1)wasting disease among his ^(C2)stout warriors; And under his ^(C3)glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.

And the ^(C1)Light of Israel will become a fire and ^(F1)Israel's ^(C2)Holy One a flame, And it will ^(C3)burn and devour ^(F2)his thorns and his briars in a single day.

And He will ^(C1)destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body, And it will be as when a sick person wastes away.

And the ^(C1)rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number That a child could write them down.

Now on that day the ^(C1)remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob ^(C2)who have escaped, will no longer rely on the one who struck them, but will truly ^(C3)rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

A ^(C1)remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the ^(C2)mighty God.

For ^(C1)though your people, Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; A ^(C2)destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.

For a complete destruction, one that is determined, ^(C1)the Lord ^(F1)GOD of armies will execute in the midst of the whole land.

Therefore this is what the Lord ^(F1)GOD of armies says: "My people, you who dwell in ^(C1)Zion, ^(C2)do not fear the Assyrian ^(F2)who ^(C3)strikes you with the rod, and lifts up his staff against you the way Egypt did.

"For in a very ^(C1)little while ^(C2)My indignation against you will be ended and My anger will be directed toward their destruction."

The LORD of armies will ^(C1)wield a whip against him like the defeat of ^(C2)Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His ^(C3)staff will be over the sea, and He will lift it up ^(C4)the way He did in Egypt.

So it will be on that day, that ^(F1)his ^(C1)burden will be removed from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because ^(C2)of fatness.

He has come against Aiath, He has passed through ^(C1)Migron; At ^(C2)Michmash he deposited his ^(C3)baggage.

They have gone through ^(C1)the pass, saying, "^(C2)Geba will be our encampment for the night." ^(C3)Ramah is terrified, and ^(C4)Gibeah of Saul has fled.

Cry aloud with your voice, daughter of ^(C1)Gallim! Pay attention, Laishah and ^(F1)wretched ^(C2)Anathoth!

Madmenah has fled. The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.

Yet today he will halt at ^(C1)Nob; He ^(C2)shakes his fist at the mountain of the ^(F1)(C3)daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

Behold, the Lord, the ^(F1)GOD of armies, will lop off the branches with terrifying power; Those also who are ^(C1)tall in stature will be cut down, And those who are lofty will be brought low.

He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe, And ^(C1)Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.