Study Desk

"I will punish her for the festival days when she burned incense to the Baal idols; she adorned herself with earrings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but she forgot me!" says the Lord .

"Yet even now," the Lord says, "return to me with all your heart— with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your garments!"

This is what the Lord says: "Because Damascus has committed three crimes— make that four!—I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They ripped through Gilead like threshing sledges with iron teeth.

This is what the Lord says: "Because Gaza has committed three crimes— make that four!—I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They deported a whole community and sold them to Edom.

This is what the Lord says: "Because Tyre has committed three crimes— make that four!—I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They sold a whole community to Edom; they failed to observe a treaty of brotherhood.

This is what the Lord says: "Because Edom has committed three crimes— make that four!—I will not revoke my decree of judgment. He chased his brother with a sword; he wiped out his allies. In his anger he tore them apart without stopping to rest; in his fury he relentlessly attacked them.

This is what the Lord says: "Because the Ammonites have committed three crimes— make that four!—I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They ripped open Gilead's pregnant women so they could expand their territory.

This is what the Lord says: "Because Moab has committed three crimes— make that four!—I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They burned the bones of Edom's king into lime.

This is what the Lord says: "Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions— make that four!—I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They rejected the Lord 's law; they did not obey his commands. Their false gods, to which their fathers were loyal, led them astray.

This is what the Lord says: "Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions— make that four!—I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They sold the innocent for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals.

Therefore," says the sovereign Lord , "an enemy will encircle the land. He will take away your power; your fortresses will be looted."

This is what the Lord says: "Just as a shepherd salvages from the lion's mouth a couple of leg bones or a piece of an ear, so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be salvaged. They will be left with just a corner of a bed, and a part of a couch."

The sovereign Lord says this: "The city that marches out with a thousand soldiers will have only a hundred left; the town that marches out with a hundred soldiers will have only ten left for the family of Israel."

The Lord says this to the family of Israel: "Seek me so you can live!

Because of Israel's sins this is what the Lord , the God who commands armies, the sovereign One, says: "In all the squares there will be wailing, in all the streets they will mourn the dead. They will tell the field workers to lament and the professional mourners to wail.

In all the vineyards there will be wailing, for I will pass through your midst," says the Lord .

and I will drive you into exile beyond Damascus," says the Lord . He is called the God who commands armies!

"Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the streets and your sons and daughters will die violently. Your land will be given to others and you will die in a foreign land. Israel will certainly be carried into exile away from its land.'"

In that day," says the sovereign Lord , "I will make the sun set at noon, and make the earth dark in the middle of the day.

Be certain of this, the time is coming," says the sovereign Lord , "when I will send a famine through the land— not a shortage of food or water but an end to divine revelation!