Study Desk

Let the nations be roused and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit down to judge all the surrounding nations.

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the Day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

The Lord will roar from Zion and raise His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth will shake. But the Lord will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the Israelites.

I will pardon their bloodguilt, which I have not pardoned, for the Lord dwells in Zion.

The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Damascus for three crimes, even four, because they threshed Gilead with iron sledges.

The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Gaza for three crimes, even four, because they exiled a whole community, handing them over to Edom.

The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Tyre for three crimes, even four, because they handed over a whole community of exiles to Edom and broke a treaty of brotherhood.

The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Edom for three crimes, even four, because he pursued his brother with the sword. He stifled his compassion, his anger tore at them continually, and he harbored his rage incessantly.

The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing the Ammonites for three crimes, even four, because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their territory.

The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Moab for three crimes, even four, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime.

The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Judah for three crimes, even four, because they have rejected the instruction of the Lord and have not kept His statutes. The lies that their ancestors followed have led them astray.

The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Israel for three crimes, even four, because they sell a righteous person for silver and a needy person for a pair of sandals.

I have known only you out of all the clans of the earth; therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities.

Does a bird land in a trap on the ground if there is no bait for it? Does a trap spring from the ground when it has caught nothing?

I will punish the altars of Bethel on the day I punish Israel for its crimes; the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.

Offer leavened bread as a thank offering, and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings, for that is what you Israelites love to do! This is the Lord 's declaration.

Listen to this message that I am singing for you, a lament, house of Israel:

For the Lord God says: The city that marches out a thousand strong will have only a hundred left, and the one that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left in the house of Israel.

For the Lord says to the house of Israel: Seek Me and live!

Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal or journey to Beer-sheba, for Gilgal will certainly go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.