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1The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi son of Gedaliah son of Amariah son of Hezekiah, in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah. 
² I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth, says the Lord. 
³ I will sweep away humans and animals;
will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea.
I will make the wicked stumble. I will cut off humanity from the face of the earth, says the Lord. 
⁴ I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
and I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal and the name of the idolatrous priests; 
⁵ those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens;
those who bow down and swear to the Lord,
but also swear by Milcom;
⁶ those who have turned back from following the Lord,
who have not sought the Lord or inquired of him. 
⁷ Be silent before the Lord GOD!
For the day of the Lord is at hand;
the Lord has prepared a sacrifice,
he has consecrated his guests. 
⁸ And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
I will punish the officials and the king’s sons
and all who dress themselves in foreign attire. 
⁹ On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold,
who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud. 
¹⁰ On that day, says the Lord,
a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,
a wail from the Second Quarter, a loud crash from the hills. 
¹¹ The inhabitants of the Mortar wail,
for all the traders have perished; 
all who weigh out silver are cut off. 
¹² At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the people 
who rest complacently on their dregs,
those who say in their hearts,
“The Lord will not do good, nor will he do harm.” 
¹³ Their wealth shall be plundered,
and their houses laid waste.
Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them;
though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them. 

The Great Day of the Lord

¹⁴The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter,
the warrior cries aloud there. 
¹⁵ That day will be a day of wrath,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness, 
¹⁶ a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. 
¹⁷ I will bring such distress upon people
that they shall walk like the blind;
because they have sinned against the Lord,
their blood shall be poured out like dust, 
and their flesh like dung. 
¹⁸ Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them
on the day of the Lord wrath;
in the fire of his passion the whole earth shall be consumed;
for a full, a terrible end he will make
of all the inhabitants of the earth. NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Who is speaking in this passage? Who is receiving or relaying this message?

2. What is the subject of this prophecy? What is going to happen to the world? To the birds and animals? To the people?

3. Who is the first target for this prophecy? What city will be judged? What types of people does God identify for this judgment? How does the prophet describe these people? Why are they being judged?

4. Who does God promise to punish? What type of people are singled out here? Why do you think they are subject to punishment?

5. What are the next subjects of judgment? What will happen in this situation? What types of people are involved at this point? Why are they included? What will happen to them?

6. What subject does the prophet present next? How does he describe this event? What images does he use? What is the impression he gives of this event? Who will be affected by it?

Get Personal

How do you respond to the concept of a righteous God? How do you feel about judgment? How has God helped you understand righteous judgment in your relationship with him?

1:1. Son of — the usual practice was to identify the father, but Zephaniah goes back to his great great grandfather and identifies himself as part of the royal line.
King Josiah — became king when he was 8, started significant reforms when he was 20. When he was 26 Hilkiah, the high priest, discovered a copy of the Mosaic Law in the temple, which spurred further reforms [2 kings 22-23]. Unfortunately the reforms did not survive under his sons.
1:5. Host of the heavens — many cultures in the ancient world believed that celestial objects were gods, or were the dwelling places of gods.
Milcom — also translated “Molech,” a pagan god associated with child sacrifice.
1:6. Idolatrous priests — Israelite (Levitical) priests who combined worship of the Lord with worship of pagan gods, or who ignored God altogether and led worship of pagan idols.
1:8. Foreign attire — probably because such officials sought protection from Egypt or  

Assyria,rather than trusting God for security.
1:9. Leap over the threshold — the superstitious believed that stepping on the threshold would anger the god of the household.
1:10. Fish Gate . . . Second Quarter . . . Mortar — three districts in Jerusalem that would suffer great damage that would harm the people and their livelihood.
1:12. Dregs — residue or sediment in the bottom of a container – such people were living on what was left of their former wealth.
1:13. Wealth shall be plundered — this passage echoes God’s curse on those who refuse to obey his commandments: You shall become engaged to a woman, but another man shall lie with her. You shall build a house, but not live in it. You shall plant a vineyard, but not enjoy its fruit, [Deut 28:30-31].
1:14. The Great Day of the Lord — see Notes on Joel.

1The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw. 
² O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen?
Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? 
³ Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. 
⁴ So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous —
therefore judgment comes forth perverted. 
⁵ Look at the nations, and see! Be astonished!
Be astounded!
For a work is being done in your days
that you would not believe if you were told. 
⁶ For I am rousing the Chaldeans, that fierce and impetuous nation,
who march through the breadth of the earth
to seize dwellings not their own. 
⁷ Dread and fearsome are they; 
their justice and dignity proceed from themselves. 
⁸ Their horses are swifter than leopards,
more menacing than wolves at dusk; their horses charge.
Their horsemen come from far away; 
they fly like an eagle swift to devour. 
⁹ They all come for violence, with faces pressing forward;
they gather captives like sand. 
¹⁰ At kings they scoff, and of rulers they make sport.
They laugh at every fortress, and heap up earth to take it. 
¹¹ Then they sweep by like the wind; 
they transgress and become guilty; their own might is their god! 
¹² Are you not from of old, O Lord my God, my Holy One?
You shall not die.
O Lord, you have marked them for judgment;
and you, O Rock, have established them for punishment. 
¹³ Your eyes are too pure to behold evil, 
and you cannot look on wrongdoing;
why do you look on the treacherous,
and are silent when the wicked swallow
those more righteous than they? 
¹⁴ You have made people like the fish of the sea,
like crawling things that have no ruler. 
¹⁵ The enemy brings all of them up with a hook; 
he drags them out with his net,
he gathers them in his seine; so he rejoices and exults. 
¹⁶ Therefore he sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his seine;
for by them his portion is lavish, and his food is rich. 
¹⁷ Is he then to keep on emptying his net,
and destroying nations without mercy? 

2God’s Reply to the Prophet’s Complaint
I will stand at my watchpost, 
and station myself on the rampart;
I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what he will answer concerning my complaint. 
² Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. 
³ For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
it speaks of the end, and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. 
⁴ Look at the proud! 
Their spirit is not right in them, but the righteous live by their faith. 
⁵ Moreover, wealth is treacherous; the arrogant do not endure.
They open their throats wide as Sheol; 
like Death they never have enough. 
They gather all nations for themselves, 
and collect all peoples as their own.  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. How does the prophet begin this book? Who is he talking to? What is he talking about? How does he describe his situation? Why does he think this is such a problem?

2. How does God respond to the writer’s complaint? What is God going to do about the wrongdoing the prophet had described? How does God describe the nation he intends to use to judge the Israelites?

3. How does the prophet respond to God’s plan? Why is this plan such a shock to the author [see Notes]? How does he describe what he thinks will happen? What images does he use when he questions God?

4. What does the prophet do after he asks his questions? How do you think his readers felt about such an action? How would you feel if you had been there?

5. How does God respond to the question? What does he tell the prophet to do first? What does he tell the prophet to do with the answer? How do you think the prophet felt about this direction? What ultimately happened to the Babylonian Empire?

Get Personal

Have you experienced God’s promise but then had to wait for it to be realized? How has God helped you to understand the role of faith in your walk with Jesus?

1:1. Oracle — the Hebrew word also means “burden.”
1:2. How long — the prophet implies that God is ignoring the corruption and injustice in Judah, and ignoring his complaint about the situation. Compare Habakkuk’s description of Judah’s sin with Amos’ picture of wrongdoing in the northern kingdom a century earlier [Amos 2:6-8].
King David also used this phrase to preface some of his prayers for deliverance from his enemies: How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? [Psalm 13:1-2, also check Psalm 22].
1:3. Why do you make . . . — Habakkuk challenges God to do something about the sin, (compare this with Job’s complaint [19:7]). 
1:6. Rousing the Chaldeans — God’s

answer is a shocker! He is going to use the Babylonians (Chaldeans) for his judgment of Judah – Ezekiel called them “the most terrible of nations,” [28:7]. Ironically, Abraham left “Ur of the Chaldeans,” [Gen 11:31], in response to God’s call.
1:13. Those more righteous — Habakkuk cannot understand why God would use a more heinous nation to judge the less evil actions of Judah.
2:1. I will stand — in an aside, the prophet says he will wait for God’s response to his question.
2:2. Vision . . . appointed time . . . wait for it — God’s tells Habakkuk the answer is in the future and he – like us today – must wait in faith, because “it will surely come.”
2:5. Wealth is treacherous — the Babylonians’ military success lulled them into complacency (which allowed the Persian army to take Babylon without a fight).

1An oracle concerning Nineveh.
The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh. 
² A jealous and avenging God is the Lord,
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and rages against his enemies. 
³ The Lord is slow to anger but great in power,
and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
His way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 
⁴ He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
and he dries up all the rivers;
Bashan and Carmel wither,
and the bloom of Lebanon fades. 
⁵ The mountains quake before him,
and the hills melt;
the earth heaves before him,
the world and all who live in it. 
⁶ Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
and by him the rocks are broken in pieces. 
⁷ The Lord is good,
a stronghold in a day of trouble;
he protects those who take refuge in him, 
⁸ even in a rushing flood.
He will make a full end of his adversaries, and will pursue
his enemies into darkness. 
⁹ Why do you plot against the Lord?
He will make an end;
no adversary will rise up twice. 
¹⁰ Like thorns they are entangled,
like drunkards they are drunk;
they are consumed like dry straw. 
¹¹ From you one has gone out
who plots evil against the Lord,
one who counsels wickedness. 
Good News for Judah
¹² Thus says the Lord,
“Though they are at full strength and many, 
they will be cut off and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more. 
¹³ And now I will break off his yoke from you
and snap the bonds that bind you.” 
¹⁴ The Lord has commanded concerning you:
“Your name shall be perpetuated no longer;
from the house of your gods I will cut off
the carved image and the cast image.
I will make your grave, for you are worthless.” 
¹⁵ Look! On the mountains the feet of one
who brings good tidings,
who proclaims peace!
Celebrate your festivals, O Judah,
fulfill your vows,
for never again shall the wicked invade you;
they are utterly cut off.  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. How does the prophet begin his book? How does he identify himself? What is this book about? Who is this book about?

2. How does the author describe God? What attributes of his character does Nahum mention? What images does he use to describe God’s power? What is God’s relationship with the natural world? Why do you suppose he focuses so much on God’s power?

3. How does Nahum describe God’s response to sin? How does this affect the people involved? How does God respond to those who seek him? What about those who ignore or oppose God? What image does the prophet use to describe those who “plot against the Lord?” What will happen to them? 

4. What message does God have for the Israelites? What will happen to Judah’s enemies? What will God “break off” from them? What will happen to the Assyrian name [see Notes]? To the Assyrian gods? To their value as a nation?

Get Personal

How has God helped you understand the concept of sin and its effect on your relationship with him? What has he taught you about forgiveness? How does this affect your walk with Christ?

1:1. Nineveh — in Nahum’s time the capital of the Assyrian Empire. It was originally built by Nimrod, a great grandson of Noah [Gen 10:11].
Nahum — his name means “comfort” in Hebrew.
1:2. Jealous — God describes himself as jealous in the Ten Commandments: You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments, [Exodus 20:5-6, also check Joshua 24:19-20 – and the Note under Micah].
1:3. Whirlwind and storm — a fairly common symbol of God’s power (also used in reference to pagan gods as well).

1:4. Bashan and Carmel — two areas known for their verdant, fertile gardens and pastures – one was east of the Sea of Galilee, the other on the Mediterranean coast.
1:6. Who can stand — perhaps a rhetorical answer to the Assyrian commander who asked King Hezekiah, Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? [2 Kings 18:35]. God killed 200,000 Assyrian soldiers in their camp that night and they retreated from Jerusalem.
1:13. Yoke . . . bonds — symbols of the military and political oppression of Assyria.
1:14. Your name — Ashurbanipal, the Assyrian king, had ordered that his name be memorialized throughout the empire.
1:15. Mountains . . . messenger — an echo of Isaiah: How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, [52:7].

5² But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days. 
³ Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return
to the people of Israel. 
⁴ And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; 
⁵ and he shall be the one of peace.
If the Assyrians come into our land and tread upon our soil, 
we will raise against them seven shepherds
and eight installed as rulers. 
⁶ They shall rule the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod with the drawn sword;
they shall rescue us from the Assyrians
if they come into our land or tread within our border. 

The Future Role of the Remnant

⁷ Then the remnant of Jacob,
surrounded by many peoples, 
shall be like dew from the Lord,
like showers on the grass,
which do not depend upon people
or wait for any mortal. 
⁸ And among the nations the remnant of Jacob,
surrounded by many peoples,
shall be like a lion among the animals of the forest,
like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
which, when it goes through, treads down
and tears in pieces, with no one to deliver. 
⁹ Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries,
and all your enemies shall be cut off. 
¹⁰ In that day, says the Lord,
I will cut off your horses from among you
and will destroy your chariots; 
¹¹ and I will cut off the cities of your land
and throw down all your strongholds; 
¹² and I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
and you shall have no more soothsayers; 
¹³ and I will cut off your images
and your pillars from among you,
and you shall bow down no more
to the work of your hands; 
¹⁴ and I will uproot your sacred poles from among you and destroy your towns. 
¹⁵ And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance on the nations that did not obey.  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Who is actually speaking in this passage? What is the speaker talking about? Who is the speaker referring to? How does the speaker describe this person? What role will the person have? When?

2. What is this “ruler” going to do? When will this happen [see Notes]? Who will the ruler lead? How will the ruler lead these people? Where will he get his authority?

3. What does God say about possible enemies? What will happen to them? 

4. What is the “remnant of Jacob?” How does God describe their situation? What image does he use? Why does he use such an image for his people? How do you think Micah’s readers responded to this image of their future?

5. What will God do with the remnant in the future? What will he eliminate? Why [see Notes]? What difference will this make to the people? How will God change the people’s worship practices? 

Get Personal

How has God helped you understand his promises of spiritual security? How has he taught you to trust him for protection?

5:2. Bethlehem of Ephrathah — Bethlehem is a town south of Jerusalem; Ephrathah is a village in the same area. They identify the hometown and clan of King David. (Bethlehem is not listed in either Joshua’s or Nehemiah’s lists of Israelite towns.)
Little clan — David’s family was not well known when God chose him to be king, either.
Ancient days — David was born 300 years before Micah prophesied; but this phrase suggested “the ruler” is from an even older time.
5:3. The time — this reference is not to Jesus’ birth, but to the end time when God, through Christ, will gather all his people together: The rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel. Isaiah also links Jesus’ birth and his return in power [check Isaiah 9:6-7 and 61:1-2].
5:5. Assyrians — King Hezekiah had “defeated” (actually God did it) the Assyrian army during Micah’s ministry. Unfortunately, many leaders took that as a sign Jerusalem would never be conquered.
5:6. Nimrod — a great grandson of Noah, “a mighty hunter before the Lord,” [Gen 10:9].
5:7. Remnant of Jacob — the returned Jews (“rest of his kindred” above) who are descended from Jacob.

5:10. Cut off your horses — God had told the Israelites not to rely on a standing army for protection [Deut 17:16], but to trust his power. Similarly, those who trust God will not need walled cities or strongholds [v. 11].
5:12. Cut off sorceries — God will also eliminate false worship (sorceries, soothsayers, images, pillars, idols, poles) from the restored nation.
5:14. Sacred poles — poles used in worshipping the goddess, Asherah, a fertility goddess in pagan Palestine.

Doctrine Note: 
God’s anger and wrath . . .

These two words are used throughout the Bible to refer to God’s response to sin. However, it is important to remember these are human words attempting to describe a spiritual reality. Human anger is an emotional response to not getting our way – usually by being either harmed or ignored by another person. It is a selfish response. Sin is essentially setting ourself apart from God, breaking or ignoring the relationship of love God offers us. We are rejecting God, not the other way around.

1Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, ² “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” ³ But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. 

⁴ But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a mighty storm came upon the sea that the ship threatened to break up. ⁵ Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten it for them. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold of the ship and had lain down, and was fast asleep. ⁶ The captain came and said to him, “What are you doing sound asleep? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps the god will spare us a thought so that we do not perish.” 

⁷ The sailors said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, so that we may know on whose account this calamity has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. ⁸ Then they said to him, “Tell us why this calamity has come upon us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” ⁹ “I am a Hebrew,” he replied. “I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” ¹⁰ Then the men were even more afraid, and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them so. 

¹¹ Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea was growing more and more tempestuous. ¹² He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you; for I know it is because of me that this great storm has come upon you.”
¹³ Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring the ship back to land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them.
¹⁴ Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, O Lord, we pray, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life. Do not make us guilty of innocent blood; for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” ¹⁵ So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. ¹⁶ Then the men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. 

¹⁷ But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 

A Psalm of Thanksgiving

2Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God
from the belly of the fish, ² saying,
“I called to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. 
³ You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me; 
all your waves and your billows passed over me. 
⁴ Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight;
how shall I look again upon your holy temple?’ 
⁵ The waters closed in over me; the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped around my head 
⁶ at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever; 
yet you brought up my life from the Pit, O Lord my God. 
⁷ As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord;
and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 
⁸ Those who worship vain idols forsake their true loyalty. 
⁹ But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay. Deliverance belongs to the Lord!” 
¹⁰ Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon the dry land.  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Who is involved in this situation? What does God tell Jonah to do? How does Jonah respond to God’s command? Where does he try to go? Why do you suppose he reacted this way? How might you have reacted?

2. What happens to Jonah after he leaves Israel? How do the sailors react to the situation? How does the captain? What do they try to do? How well does this work? What does Jonah tell the sailors when the lot identifies him as the person responsible for the storm? How do they respond?

3. What does Jonah say the sailors must do? Why would they hesitate to do this? What causes them to  finally act? How do they try to protect themselves from God’s anger?

4. How did God respond to the sailors’ action? What happened to the storm? How did the sailors feel about this?

5. What did God do to (or for) Jonah? How did Jonah respond to God’s actions? What did he say to God about his situation? How does he feel about what God did? How do you think you might have felt in Jonah’s place? What does he say about what happened to him? What does God do at the end?

Get Personal

Has God given you a task you really didn’t want to carry out? How did you respond to God at first? How did God help you understand the need to follow his direction? What happened when you carried out the task? How did it affect your walk with Christ?

1:1. Jonah — a prophet during Jeroboam’s reign, which Amos and Hosea were also prophesying at that time. Both prophesied that Assyria would destroy the northern kingdom.
1:2. Nineveh — the capital of the Assyrian empire, more than 500 miles north of Israel.
Wickedness — Nineveh was the center for worship of the goddess Ishtar.
1:3. Tarshish — the location is not known for certain, some equate it with Sardinia while others believe it is in southern Spain or north Africa.
Fare — would have been a large amount of money, given the distance.
1:5. His own god — the sailors would accept “divine” help from anyone’s god. The captain even wakes Jonah so he can call on his deity [in v. 6].

1:7. Cast lots — a common method of discerning divine intent in the ancient world, including the Old Testament [for example: Lev 16:8; Josh 18:6; 1 Sam 14:42].
1:11. What shall we do to you? — since it is Jonah’s god who caused the storm, he would be the sacrifice to cause God to stop it.
1:17. Large fish — the Hebrew word can refer to any size creature of the sea. God saves Jonah from drowning.
Three days and three nights — Jesus called this the “Sign of Jonah” [Matt 12:39].
2:3. You cast — Jonah realizes that God, not the sailors, put him in the ocean.
2:7. I remembered the Lord — Jonah repents from his disobedience.

The vision of Obadiah.
Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom:
We have heard a report from the Lord,
and a messenger has been sent among the nations:
“Rise up! Let us rise against it for battle!” 
² I will surely make you least among the nations; 
you shall be utterly despised. 
³ Your proud heart has deceived you, 
you that live in the clefts of the rock, whose dwelling is in the heights.
You say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?” 
⁴ Though you soar aloft like the eagle,
though your nest is set among the stars,
from there I will bring you down, says the Lord. 
⁵ If thieves came to you, if plunderers by night
— how you have been destroyed! —
would they not steal only what they wanted? If grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? 
⁶ How Esau has been pillaged, his treasures searched out!
⁷ All your allies have deceived you,
they have driven you to the border;
your confederates have prevailed against you;
those who ate your bread have set a trap for you —there is no understanding of it. 
⁸ On that day, says the Lord, I will destroy the wise out of Edom, and understanding out of Mount Esau. 
⁹ Your warriors shall be shattered, O Teman, so that everyone from Mount Esau will be cut off. 
¹⁰ For the slaughter and violence done to your brother Jacob,
shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. 
¹¹ On the day that you stood aside,
on the day that strangers carried off his wealth,
and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you too were like one of them. 
¹² But you should not have gloated over your brother on the day of his misfortune;
you should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah on the day of their ruin;
you should not have boasted on the day of distress. 
¹³ You should not have entered the gate of my people on the day of their calamity;
you should not have joined in the gloating over Judah’s disaster on the day of his calamity;
you should not have looted his goods on the day of his calamity. 
¹⁴ You should not have stood at the crossings to cut off his fugitives;
you should not have handed over his survivors on the day of distress. 
¹⁵ For the day of the Lord is near against all the nations.
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
your deeds shall return on your own head. 
¹⁶ For as you have drunk on my holy mountain,
all the nations around you shall drink;
they shall drink and gulp down,
and shall be as though they had never been. 
¹⁷ But on Mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall be holy;
and the house of Jacob shall take possession of those who dispossessed them. 
¹⁸ The house of Jacob shall be a fire, the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble;
they shall burn them and consume them,
and there shall be no survivor of the house of Esau;
for the Lord has spoken. 
¹⁹ Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau,
and those of the Shephelah the land of the Philistines;
they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. 
²⁰ The exiles of the Israelites who are in Halah 
shall possess Phoenicia as far as Zarephath;
and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
shall possess the towns of the Negeb. 
²¹ Those who have been saved shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau;
and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Who is actually speaking in this prophecy? How does the speaker begin the prophecy? What nation is the subject of this prophecy? What is about to happen?

2. What does God promise to do to the nation? What will its future status be? How does he describe the attitude of the people? What does he say about their country? What will happen to their current security? What will happen to the things they prize?

3. What about the nation’s allies? How firm are their commitments to each other? What will happen to the leaders and soldiers of Edom?

4. Why is God judging the nation so harshly? What sins have they committed? Against whom? How does God describe the actions of the Edomites? What actions should they have not taken? What was their attitude toward Israel? Why was this such a bad thing? 

5. What is ironic about God’s judgment on Edom? How did he decide what the judgment should be? What sort of drink is God talking about? Why will “all the nations” have to drink this? 

6. What will happen to the Israelites? Where will this take place? What will happen to Edom? What will happen to the people that are dis-possesed of their homeland? Who will ultimately be in charge?

Get Personal

How do you feel about God’s promises to the Israelites? How do you feel about his promises to Christians? His promises to you? How does God help you to have confidence in his promises?

3. Clefts — Edom was a very rugged mountainous land.
5. Grape-gatherers — Edom was known for its hillside vineyards.
6. Esau — the ancestor of Edom, [see above].
7. Those who ate your bread — a meal often sealed a treaty or agreement.
9. Teman — this location is unknown, it is a stand-in for Edom here.

10. Jacob — another name for Israel, [see above]
11. Cast lots — possibly to divide the spoils among the victors.
15. You shall drink — a reference to God’s “cup of wrath,” [Psalm 75:8, Isaiah 51:17].
19. Those . . . shall possess — this process will punish Israel’s enemies and re-establish the boundaries of Israel under King David.

A very literate farmer . . .

Amos was a farmer and shepherd, but his book shows he was also an eloquent writer.

He links God’s judgments against Israel’s neighbors, as well as Israel itself, with a common introduction: “Thus says the Lord: for three transgressions . . . and for four . . .” Amos then identifies the sinful action and God’s response. The effect of the repeated opening builds until first Judah and then the nation of Israel is the accused.

Amos also uses an elaborate play on words to describe the coming judgment of Israel. The Hebrew word for “summer

fruit” sounds like the word for “end.” In chapter 8 Amos links a vision of ripe summer fruit with the coming end of the kingdom, which was “ripe” for judgment (the Assyrians defeated Israel within thirty years).

God’s Name . . .

Old Testament writers used “YHWH” to represent God’s name [Exodus 3:14-15], but they felt it was too holy to actually pronounce. So they used “adonai” (“Lord”) as God’s personal name or “’elohim” as a general name. The NRSV uses “Lord” in the first case and “God” in the second. When Amos puts YHWH with adonai, the NRSV uses “Lord God.”

7This is what the Lord God showed me: he was forming locusts at the time the latter growth began to sprout (it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings). ² When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,
“O Lord God, forgive, I beg you!
How can Jacob stand? He is so small!” 
³ The Lord relented concerning this; “It shall not be,” said the Lord. 
⁴ This is what the Lord God showed me: the Lord God was calling for a shower of fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. ⁵ Then I said,
“O Lord God, cease, I beg you!
How can Jacob stand? He is so small!” 
⁶ The Lord relented concerning this; “This also shall not be,” said the Lord God. 
⁷ This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. ⁸ And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.”
Then the Lord said, “See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by; 
⁹ the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” 

[. . . Amaziah the priest complains to the king . . .] 

8This is what the Lord God showed me a basket of summer fruit. ² He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me,
“The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass them by. 
³ The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” says the Lord God;
“the dead bodies shall be many, cast out in every place. Be silent!” 
⁴ Hear this, you that trample on the needy,
and bring to ruin the poor of the land, 
⁵ saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain;
and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale?
We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, 
⁶ buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.” 
⁷ The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. 
⁸ Shall not the land tremble on this account,
and everyone mourn who lives in it,
and all of it rise like the Nile,
and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt? ⁹ On that day, says the Lord God,
I will make the sun go down at noon, 
and darken the earth in broad daylight. 
¹⁰ I will turn your feasts into mourning, 
and all your songs into lamentation;
I will bring sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head;
I will make it like the mourning for an only son,
and the end of it like a bitter day. 
¹¹ The time is surely coming, says the Lord God,
when I will send a famine on the land; 
not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord. 
¹² They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro,
seeking the word of the Lord,
but they shall not find it.  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Who is involved in this prophecy? Who is speaking? What are the two individuals talking about? Why is this so important to the prophet?

2. What is the first image of God’s judgment? Why is this an appropriate symbol? How does the prophet react to this image? How does God respond?

3. What is the second image God presents to the prophet? How does he react to this concept of judgment? What is God’s response this time?

4. What does God present next? Why is this symbol appropriate to Israel’s situation? What does God say he will do with the plumb line? What will happen to the king? How does the prophet respond this time?

5. What does God show the prophet next? How does this image fit with Israel’s situation? What does God say he will do regarding the people? Who does God direct his judgment against? What have these people done? Who have they harmed? What images of their sins does the prophet use in this judgment?

6. What other disasters will God bring on Israel? What is the ultimate judgment God has for the people? Why is this so terrible?

Get Personal

What is your concept of justice and fair treatment? How difficult is it for you to understand the situation of others? How has God helped you “do for others” as you would like others to do for you.

7:1. King’s mowing — evidently the king was entitled to a share of the grass for military support.
7:2. Finished eating — the locusts would have  eaten all the grass, leaving people and animals to starve.
Jacob stand . . . so small — Amos uses “Jacob” as the name of the kingdom. Even though the kingdom was prosperous at this time, it was helpless against the locusts (and against God’s judgment) and would not survive [also in v. 5].
7:3. Relented — this is another of the few times God responds directly to a human plea [two others are Abraham’s defense of Sodom [Gen18:23-33], and Moses’ intercession after the people’s sin with the gold calf [Exodus 33:12-23].
7:4. Shower of fire — the combination of heat and drought makes wildfires inevitable which would lead to the same result as a plague of locusts [check Deut 32:22].

7:7. Plumb line — a rope or cord with a weight on one end – when held against a wall it would show if the wall was straight and vertical. God could be referring to the Law as the plumb line to determine if the people were upright and righteous. NOTE: some translators argue the Hebrew word actually means “tin,” which would be a very weak covering for a defensive wall [compare the “bronze wall” in Jer 1:18].
7:9. I will rise — God does not give Amos a chance to plead this judgment.
8:1. Summer fruit . . . the end — the Hebrew words also mean “ripe fruit” and “ripe time” or “end time,” respectively; in other words God is saying “the time is ripe for judgment.”
8:11. Famine of hearing the words of the Lord — the locusts and fire would have led to a famine of food, but God’s judgment will mean the people will no longer hear God’s word.

The Day of the Lord . . .

The phrase “The Day of the Lord” appears throughout the Old Testament. In a few cases it refers to a specific historical event, but most of the uses point to the day of God’s judgment at the end of this present time.

Historical events include the Assyrian defeat of Israel [Amos 5], and Babylon’s victory over Judah and destruction of Jerusalem [Lam 2, Ezek 7]. Prophets also use the phrase in reference to the Medes’ defeat of Babylon [Isaiah 13:6] and Babylon’s defeat of Egypt [Jer 46].

In the future “The Day of the Lord” will involve extreme hardship and suffering for Israel [Zech 14:1-3], but also purification and restoration when the people repent [Isaiah 61:2, Mal 4:5].

Joel focuses on the future event when God will judge Israel and then the other nations and then restore Israel.

The New Testament adds more detail to “The Day of the Lord.”

• There will be a series of natural disasters, diseases and plagues
  [Rev 6-9].
• Enemies will attack God’s people and cause great harm before God destroys them, a time of “great distress,” according to Jesus [Matt 24:21,
  Rev 11-18].

• There will be a time of peace and blessing after Christ returns and defeats his enemies [the “Millennium,” Rev 20].
• God will destroy the current universe and replace it with a “new heaven and new earth,” [2 Peter 3:10, Rev 21].

Even though a number of prophets, and even Jesus, talk about “The Day of the Lord,” the Bible does not include a timeline or schedule for these events. Many people have tried to find a pattern or calendar of the end times, but Jesus had the definitive answer to such attempts: It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority,” [Acts 1:7].

And Locusts . . .

Locusts have been a sign of God’s anger since the exodus. They were the plague just before darkness and death: The locusts came upon all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever shall be again, [Ex 10:14]. Locusts were also part of God’s curse for disobedience: You shall carry much seed into the field but shall gather little in, for the locust shall consume it, [Deut 28:38]. 

2Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near —
² a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old,
nor will be again after them in ages to come. 
³ Fire devours in front of them, and behind them a flame burns. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,
but after them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. 
⁴ They have the appearance of horses, and like war-horses they charge. 
⁵ As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble,
like a powerful army drawn up for battle. 
⁶ Before them peoples are in anguish, all faces grow pale.
⁷ Like warriors they charge, like soldiers they scale the wall.
Each keeps to its own course, they do not swerve from their paths. 
⁸ They do not jostle one another, each keeps to its own track; they burst through the weapons and are not halted. ⁹ They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls;
they climb up into the houses, 
they enter through the windows like a thief. 
¹⁰ The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble.
The sun and the moon are darkened, 
and the stars withdraw their shining. 
¹¹ The Lord utters his voice at the head of his army;
how vast is his host! Numberless are those who obey his command.
Truly the day of the Lord is great; terrible indeed — who can endure it? 
¹² Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 
¹³ rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. 
¹⁴ Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him, 
a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God?
¹⁵ Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; 
¹⁶ gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy. 
¹⁷ Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, 
the ministers of the Lord, weep.
Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?'”

God’s response and promise

¹⁸ Then the Lord became jealous for his land, and had pity on his people. 
¹⁹ In response to his people the Lord said: I am sending you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied;
and I will no more make you a mockery among the nations. . . .

God’s spirit poured out

²⁸ Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 
²⁹ Even on the male and female slaves, 
in those days, I will pour out my spirit. 
³⁰ I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. ³¹ The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. ³² Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.  NRSV

Get into the Word:

1. How does the prophet begin this prophecy? Who is he talking to? What does he tell them to do? Why is this warning necessary?

2. How does the prophet describe what is coming? What symbol does he use? What will happen to the land? What will happen to the people? 

3. How does the prophet describe the army that is coming? What will it do? How will it affect the earth? What will happen in the heavens? Who is leading this army? How big is it?

4. How should the people respond to this impending disaster? Who says so? What should the people do? Who all needs to be involved in repentance? What should the priests and ministers do?

5. What does God say he will do when the people repent? How will he act? What will he give the people? How will this change their reputation?

6. What will God do after the people are restored? Who will receive this gift? What will they do with it? How will
this affect their relationship with God?

Get Personal:

Nobody likes to admit that we have done something wrong, but God calls us to confess our sin and repent? How has God helped you “return to the Lord” after you have failed to follow him?

2:1. The Day of the Lord — see Notes above.
2:2. Darkness and gloom — darkness is often linked with the Day of the Lord; it is also a symbol of sin and its destructive consequences.
Never been seen from of old — an echo of God’s description of the locust plague on Egypt – the coming “army” will be more disastrous than the Egyptian plague.
2:3. Fire devours — the army will devastate the land like a wildfire destroys a forest.
Nothing escapes — could be another echo of Exodus [10:5], or of God’s curse [Deut 28:49-51].
2:4. Appearance of horses — a locust’s head is shaped like that of a horse. Joel extends the comparison with soldiers in vv. 5-9.
2:11. Who can endure it — the prophet Malachi used a similar question: But who

can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? [3:2].
2:12. Yet, even now — the tone and voice shift as God calls on the people to repent [check Deut 4:30, Hosea 3:4-5, and Amos 4:6-11 for the same appeal].
2:13. Slow . . . abounding . . . — a common description of God [as in Exodus 34:6-7, Neb 9:17, Psalm 103:8, and Jonah 4:2].
2:28. Pour out my spirit — Peter used this passage to explain the phenomenon of Pentecost when the Apostles were speaking in a variety of languages [Acts 2:17-21].
2:32. Everyone who calls — Joel is referring to Jews, but Peter realizes that this promise applies to gentiles as well when he is called to Cornelius’ home [Acts 10:43].

A most unusual family:
God’s very first command to Hosea directs him to, “Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom,” [1:2]. God’s rationale for this unusual order is to symbolize the nation’s sin of forsaking the Lord and ignoring his commandments. Hosea obeys and marries “Gomer daughter of Diblaim.”

Gomer and Hosea have three children and God tells Hosea to give each one a symbolic name:

• Jezreel (God sows), a son – “for in a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel,” [1:4]. Jezreel was the site of a battle in which Jehu killed King Joram.
• Lo-ruhamah (Not pitied), a daughter – “for I will no longer have pity on the house of Israel,” [1:6].
• Lo-ammi (Not my people), another son – “for you are not my people and I am not your God,” [1:9].

After the children were born Gomer left Hosea and returned to her life of prosti-tution. But Hosea goes after her and buys her from a slave market and restores her as his wife, just as “the Israelites shall return and seek the Lord their God,” [3:5].

Did this really happen?
God’s command to Hosea is unique in the Bible. Plus it seems to go against the fifth and seventh commandments – to honor one’s father and mother and to not commit adultery. The family was sacred to the Jews, as well as the rest of the ancient nations. Some critics insist the story is only an allegory and did not really happen, others suggest that either Gomer became a prostitute only after the marriage or Hosea did not realize she was a prostitute. But Hosea’s language is direct, not poetic: God told him to marry a prostitute so he did. Further, the image certainly fits with Israel’s history of unfaithfully ignoring God and his laws and worshipping other gods.

4Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel; for the Lord has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land.There is no faithfulness or loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land. 
² Swearing, lying, and murder, and stealing and adulte
ry break out; bloodshed follows bloodshed. 
³ Therefore the land mourns, and all who live in it languish;
together with the wild animals and the birds of the air,even the fish of the sea are perishing. 
⁴ Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest. 
⁵ You shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night, and I will destroy your mother. 
⁶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. 
⁷ The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; they changed their glory into shame. 
⁸ They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity. 
⁹ And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways, and repay them for their deeds. 
¹⁰ They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply;
because they have forsaken the Lord to devote themselves to ¹¹ whoredom.
Wine and new wine take away the understanding. 
¹² My people consult a piece of wood, and their divining rod gives them oracles.
For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have played the whore, forsaking their God. 
¹³ They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and make offerings upon the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. 
¹⁴ I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery;
for the men themselves go aside with whores, and sacrifice with temple prostitutes; 
thus a people without understanding comes to ruin. 
¹⁵ Though you play the whore, O Israel, do not let Judah become guilty.
Do not enter into Gilgal, or go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear, “As the Lord lives.” 
¹⁶ Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?
¹⁷ Ephraim is joined to idols —let him alone. 
¹⁸ When their drinking is ended, they indulge in sexual orgies; they love lewdness more than their glory. 
¹⁹ A wind has wrapped them in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their altars.  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. How does the prophet begin his message? What is his subject? Who is his audience? How does he describe the people’s actions regarding God? What is the result of this situation?

2. Who all is included in God’s charge? Why are the priests included? What will happen to them? To the people? How will God respond to them? How does Hosea describe their sins? Why are their actions so serious [see Notes]?

3. What are the sins of the people? Why does Hosea call it “playing the whore?” What will be the result of these practices? Why will the women not be punished for their sexual misdeeds?

4. Why does he refer to mountains, hills and trees [see Notes]? Why would people consult “a piece of wood?” What is the significance of Gilgal and Beethoven? Who is Ephraim [see Notes]?

Get Personal

Hosea’s prophecy charges the people because they are not acting like people who follow 

4:1. Indictment — a legal charge that a person broke the law, also translated “rebuke.”
4:2. There is . . . — Hosea lays out the sins of the people: instead of knowing and following God the Israelites were regularly and consistently violating at least five of the Ten Commandments. “Swearing” here means calling for God to curse someone, which is “making wrongful use of the name of the Lord,”
[Ex 20:7].
4:3. The land mourns — the sin was so widespread it affected the land itself, which God said would happen: I will break your proud glory, and I will make your sky like iron and your earth like copper. Your strength shall be spent to no purpose: your land shall not yield its produce, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit, [Lev 26:19-20].
4:4. Contend . . . accuse — God is prohibiting the people from trying to shift the blame.
O priest — even the priests were sinning, and they would be punished as the rest of the people [check 4:9-10].
4:5. Stumble — continue to sin. 
Prophets — Hosea refers to the advisors who are loyal only to the king and themselves; God had ordered the priests to teach the law to the people [Deut 31:9-13].
4:6. Reject — God will reject the self-seeking religious leaders, Malachi also

prophesied about corrupt priests: you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you have not kept my ways but have shown partiality in your instruction, [Mal 2:8-9, also check Jer 23:11 and Mic 3:11].
4:8. Feed on the sin — priests actually got a portion of the sin offerings of the people [Lev 7:7-10].
4:10. Play the whore — Israelites were participating in pagan fertility rites, hoping for good crops and increased herds of livestock.
4:12. Piece of wood — many idols were little more than a carved image.
4:13. Top of mountains . . . under oak — pagan worship sites were often on hills or under large trees [check Deut 12:2-4 for God’s directive about such shrines].
4:15. Beth-aven — “house of wickedness,” actually Bethel, where Jacob dreamt about God’s “ladder,” [Gen 28:10-19; also check Amos 5:5 for the town’s future]. Gilgal was another pagan worship site.
4:17. Ephraim — one of Jacob’s sons and the largest tribe in the northern kingdom – Hosea uses “Ephraim” to mean all of the kingdom.

7In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in bed. Then he wrote down the dream: ² I, Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, ³ and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. ⁴ The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then, as I watched, its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a human being; and a human mind was given to it. ⁵ Another beast appeared, a second one, that looked like a bear. It was raised up on one side, had three tusks in its mouth among its teeth and was told, “Arise, devour many bodies!” ⁶ After this, as I watched, another appeared, like a leopard. The beast had four wings of a bird on its back and four heads; and dominion was given to it. ⁷ After this I saw in the visions by night a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth and was devouring, breaking in pieces, and stamping what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that preceded it, and it had ten horns. ⁸ I was considering the horns, when another horn appeared, a little one coming up among them; to make room for it, three of the earlier horns were plucked up by the roots. There were eyes like human eyes in this horn, and a mouth speaking arrogantly.

There is a vision of judgment before the Ancient One and then Daniel’s visions are interpreted.

¹⁵ As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me. ¹⁶ I approached one of the attendants to ask him the truth concerning all this. So he said that he would disclose to me the interpretation of the matter: ¹⁷ “As for these four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth. ¹⁸ But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever—forever and ever.”

¹⁹ Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped what was left with its feet; ²⁰ and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and concerning the other horn, which came up and to make room for which three of them fell out—the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke arrogantly, and that seemed greater than the others. ²¹ As I looked, this horn made war with the holy ones and was prevailing over them, ²² until the Ancient One came; then judgment was given for the holy ones of the Most High, and the time arrived when the holy ones gained possession of the kingdom.
²³ This is what he said: “As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth that shall be different from all the other kingdoms; it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it to pieces.
²⁴ As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them. This one shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings.
²⁵ He shall speak words against the Most High, shall wear out the holy ones of the Most High, and shall attempt to change the sacred seasons and the law; and they shall be given into his power for a time, two times, and half a time.
²⁶ Then the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and totally destroyed.
²⁷ The kingship and dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the holy ones of the Most High; their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them.”

²⁸ Here the account ends. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly terrified me, and my face turned pale; but I kept the matter in my mind.

Get into the Word:

1. What is happening as this passage begins? Who is involved? When does it take place?

2. What does Daniel see? How many things does he see? How does he describe each of the things in his vision? How do you think Daniel felt about what he saw? How might you have felt if the vision had come to you?

3. Which beast do you think is the most terrifying? What images stand out for you in this vision?

4. How does Daniel respond to the vision? Who does he ask for help in explaining the vision? How does this being respond to Daniel?

5. How does the attendant explain the vision? What do the four beasts represent? What kingdoms actually did exist in Daniel’s future [see Notes]? Why is the fourth beast/kingdom different than the other three?

6. What does the 11th horn represent [see Notes]? How does this being deal with the other horns? With the “Holy ones?” What will ultimately happen to this being?

7. Who are the “holy ones?” Who do you think is the “Ancient One?” Is this being the same as the “Most High?”

Get Personal:

How do you respond to God’s promises about your life? How has God helped you to trust his promise of salvation? How does his promise affect your day-to-day activities?

7:1. First year — probably 552 BCE – Belshazzar was a co-regent with his father, Nabonidus, before Persian King Cyrus defeated the Medes.
7:2. Winds of heaven — a fairly common symbol of divine activity in ancient cultures [check Jer 23:19; 49:36; 51:1; and Zech 6:1-6; 7:14, as is stirring up the sea, which was a symbol for chaos and uncertainty.
7:4. Winged lion — another common image in the ancient Middle East (the lion and eagle were two of the symbols for Babylon).
7:5. Bear — a symbol of great strength, but little grace or finesse.
7:6. Leopard — a symbol of speed and cunning [as in Hab 1:8 or Hos 13:7].
7:7. Fourth beast — this beast is not named, but described as “terrifying and dreadful.”
Ten horns — horns were a symbol of strength and power.

7:17. Four kings — the “attendant” tells Daniel the four beasts represent kingdoms. Most interpreters agree the lion represents Babylon, the Bear symbolizes Persia, the leopard represents Greece under Alexander the Great, and the fourth beast is Rome.
7:19. Teeth of iron — Rome was the strongest of the empires named and its army destroyed any kingdom that challenged it.
7:20. Horns — the ten horns represent kings, which succeeded Rome (many think the countries of Europe). The eleventh horn is evidently another king (or kingdom) that displaces three of the ten and is intelligent and very arrogant [7:8]. Daniel now learns [7:23-27] that this king will challenge God and persecute his “holy ones,” before being defeated, judged and destroyed. The Apostle John uses this imagery in his description of the end times in Revelation [check Rev 17-20].