Study Desk

For the Lord has said this to me, "Within a year, according to the years of a hired man [who will work no longer than was agreed], all the splendor of [the tribe of] Kedar will end;

and the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken."

For the Lord GOD of hosts has a day of panic and of tumult, of trampling, of confusion In the Valley of Vision, A [day of] breaking down walls And a crying [for help] to the mountain.

You also made a reservoir between the two walls For the waters of the Old Pool, But you did not look to its Maker, Nor did you recognize Him who planned it long ago.

Instead, there is joy and jubilation, Killing of oxen and slaughtering of sheep, Eating meat and drinking wine, saying, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die."

For the Lord GOD of hosts says this, "Go to this [contemptible] steward, To Shebna, who is in charge of the royal household [but is building himself a tomb worthy of a king, and say to him],

'What business do you have here? And whom do you have here, That you have hewn out a tomb here for yourself, You who hew a sepulcher on the height, You who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock?

"In that day," declares the LORD of hosts, "the peg (Eliakim) that was driven into the firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the burden hanging on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken."

The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish, For Tyre is destroyed, without house, without harbor; It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus (Kittim).

Be ashamed, O Sidon [mother-city of Tyre, now like a widow bereaved of her children]; For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying, "I have neither labored nor given birth [to children]; I have neither brought up young men nor reared virgins."

Now look at the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonia)—this is the people which was not; the Assyrians allocated Tyre for desert creatures—they set up their siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.

Wail, O ships of Tarshish, For your stronghold [of Tyre] is destroyed.

Now in that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the prostitute's song:

But her commercial gain and her prostitute's wages will be dedicated to the LORD; it will not be treasured or stored up, but her commercial gain will become sufficient food and stately clothing for those who dwell (minister) in the presence of the LORD.

The earth will be completely laid waste and utterly pillaged, for the LORD has spoken this word.

For so it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples, As the shaking of an olive tree, As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over [and only a little of the fruit remains].

They [who have escaped and remain] raise their voices, they shout for joy; They rejoice from the [Mediterranean] Sea in the majesty of the LORD.

Then it will be that he who flees at the sound of terror will fall into the pit, And he who comes up out of the pit will be caught in the snare; For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.

Then the full moon will be embarrassed and the sun ashamed, For the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, And His glory and brilliance will shine before His elders.

O LORD, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will praise and give thanks to Your name; For You have done miraculous things, Plans formed long, long ago, [fulfilled] with perfect faithfulness.