Study Desk

Woe is me! For I amLike the fruit pickers, like the grape gatherers.There is not a cluster of grapes to eat,Or a first‑ripe fig which my soul desires.

The holy one has perished from the land,And there is no upright person among men.All of them lie in wait for bloodshed;Each of them hunts the other with a net.

Concerning evil, both hands do it well.The prince asks, also the judge, for a payment,And a great man speaks the craving of his soul;So they weave it together.

For son treats father as a wicked fool;Daughter rises up against her mother,Daughter‑in‑law against her mother‑in‑law;A man's enemies are the men of his own household.

But as for me, I will watch expectantly for Yahweh;I will wait for the God of my salvation.My God will hear me.

Do not be glad over me, O my enemy.Though I fall I will rise;Though I inhabit the darkness, Yahweh is a light for me.

I will bear the rage of YahwehBecause I have sinned against Him,Until He pleads my case and does justice for me.He will bring me out to the light,And I will see His righteousness.

It will be a day for building your walls.On that day your boundary will be extended.

A jealous and avenging God is Yahweh;Yahweh is avenging and wrathful.Yahweh is avenging against His adversaries,And He keeps His anger for His enemies.

And Yahweh has commanded concerning you:"There will no longer be seed from your name.From the house of your gods,I will cut off graven image and molten image.I will prepare your grave,For you are contemptible."

For Yahweh will restore the majesty of JacobLike the majesty of Israel,Even though those who empty them have emptied them to destructionAnd ruined their vine branches.

The lion tore enough for its cubsAnd strangled enough for its lionessesAnd filled its lairs with torn up preyAnd its dens with torn up flesh.

And it will be that all who see youWill flee from you and say,‘Nineveh is devastated!Who will console her?'Where will I seek comforters for you?"

Yet she became an exile;She went into captivity;Also her infants were dashed to piecesAt the head of every street;They cast lots for her honorable men,And all her great men were bound with fetters.

You too will become drunk;You will be hidden.You too will search for a strong defense from the enemy.

Draw for yourself water for the siege!Strengthen your fortifications!Go into the clay and tread the mortar!Take hold of the brick mold!

There is no relief for your breakdown,Your wound is incurable.All who hear the report about youWill clap their hands over you,For on whom has not your evil passed continually?

How long, O Yahweh, will I call for help,And You will not hear?I cry out to You, "Violence!"Yet You do not save.

For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,That bitter and hasty nationWho walks on the breadth of the landTo possess dwelling places which are not theirs.

All of them come for violence.Their horde of faces moves forward.And they gather captives like sand.