2 You hate good and love evil.

You strip the skin off my people and the flesh off their bones.

3 You eat my people's flesh.

You strip off their skin.

You break their bones to pieces.

You chop them up like meat for a pot, like stew meat for a kettle.

4 Then you will cry to Yahweh, but he will not answer you.

He will hide his face from you at that time because you have done evil things.

5 This is what Yahweh says about the prophets who mislead my people: When they have something to eat, they say, "All is well!"

But they declare a holy war against those who don't feed them.

6 That is why you will have nights without visions.

You will have darkness without revelations.

The sun will set on the prophets, and the day will turn dark for them.

7 Seersa will be put to shame.

Those who practice witchcraft will be disgraced.

All of them will cover their faces, because Elohim won't answer them.

8 But I am filled with the power of Ruach Yahweh, with justice, and with strength.

So I will tell the descendants of Jacob about their crimes and the nation of Israel about its sins.

9 Listen to this, you leaders of the descendants of Jacob, you rulers of the nation of Israel.

You despise justice and pervert everything that is right.

10 You build Zion on bloodshed and Jerusalem on wickedness.

11 Your leaders exchange justice for bribes.

Your priests teach for a price.

Your prophets tell the future for money.

But they rely on Yahweh when they say, "After all, Yahweh is with us.

Nothing bad will happen to us."

12 Because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a pile of rubble, and the temple mountain will become a worship site covered with trees.

The LORD Will Teach the Nations-Isaiah 2:2-4 4 1 In the last days the mountain of Yahweh's house will be established as the highest of the mountains and raised above the hills.

People will stream to it.

2 Then many nations will come and say, "Let's go to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the Elohim of Jacob.

He will teach us his ways so that we may live by them."

The teachings will go out from Zion.

The word of Yahweh will go out from Jerusalem.

3 Then he will judge disputes between many people and settle arguments between many nations far and wide.

They will hammer their swords into plowblades and their spears into pruning shears.

Nations will never fight against each other, and they will never train for war again.

4 They will sit under their grapevines and their fig trees, and no one will make them afraid.

Yahweh Tsebaoth has spoken.

5 All the nations live by the names of their gods, but we will live by the name of Yahweh our Elohim forever.

6 "When that day comes," declares Yahweh, "I will gather those who are lame.

I will bring together those who are scattered and those whom I have injured.

7 I will change those who are lame into a faithful people.

I will change those who are forced away into a strong nation."

Yahweh will rule them on Mount Zion now and forever.

8 You, Jerusalem, watchtower of the flock, stronghold of the people of Zion, your former government will come back to you.

The kingdom will return to the people of Jerusalem.

9 Now why are you crying so loudly?

Don't you have a king?

Has your counselor died?

Pain grips you like a woman in labor.

10 Daughter of Zion, writhe in pain and groan like a woman in labor.

Now you will leave the city, live in the open fields, and go to Babylon.

There you will be rescued.

There Yahweh will reclaim you from your enemies.

11 But now many nations gather against you.

They say, "Let's dishonor Zion and gloat over it."

12 They don't know the thoughts of Yahweh or understand his plan.

He will bring them together like cut grain on the threshing floor.a 13 Get up and thresh,b people of Zion.

I will make your horns as hard as iron and your hoofs as hard as bronze.

You will smash many nations into small pieces.

You will claim their loot for Yahweh , their wealth for the Adonay of the whole earth.

SHOPET.

JUDGE.

Justice is ultimately rooted not in a collection of laws or rules but in the very character and nature of God. As Judge of the whole earth, he is the only one competent to measure the motivations of our hearts. The prophets often chided Israel's rulers for failing to act justly, reserving their harshest words for those who ignored the rights of aliens, the poor, the fatherless, and the widow. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word judge is often parallel to the word king.

The Hebrew verb shapat can be translated in a variety of ways, including "judge," "govern," "vindicate," "decide," "defend," and "deliver." The word often combines the three primary functions of government-the executive, legislative, and judicial-functions that modern Western nations separate. That's why leaders like Gideon, Samson, and Deborah were called judges. When we read the word judge (shopet, sho-PHAIT) in the Hebrew Scriptures, we need to remember that it often connotes the broader meaning of "rule" or "ruler."

When the word judge is used in the New Testament, it tends to mirror the meaning of the word in Greek culture, emphasizing judicial functions rather than overall rule. The New Testament depicts Jesus as Judge of both the living and the dead.

Praying to Shopet Judge is not a word we warm to, particularly those of us who have grown up with distorted notions of God as a wrathful, judgmental being frowning down upon us. But perhaps it's time to break free of such notions by imagining for a moment that you have been the victim ofa terrible crime with little recourse to justice. Imagine, for instance, that you are a girl in Pakistan named Mukhtar Mai. The village council has just sentenced you to be gang-raped, and four men are dragging you screaming into an empty barn where they will rape you repeatedly.

Her story takes place in the village of Meerwala in Pakistan. In July of 2002, Mukhtar's younger brother was kidnapped and gang-raped by members of another tribe who unjustly accused him of having had sex with a woman from their tribe. When the village council met to discuss the case, Mukhtar attended, hoping to soothe tensions. But instead of responding to her overtures for peace, the assembly sentenced her to be gang-raped.

When a woman is raped like that in Pakistan, she is considered the guilty party. Her only recourse is suicide so that her family can be cleared of shame. Despising herself, Mukhtar intended to follow suit, but her shame turned to rage at what had happened, and she decided on an unthinkable course. She would go to the police, report the crime, and demand that the rapists be prosecuted.

Eventually the court awarded her $8,300 in compensation. Instead of spending the money on herself, she opened a school for girls, a school for boys, and a center for battered women.

When women come to her, their faces mutilated by acid attacks or their noses chopped off because they are "bad" women, Mukhtar arranges for plastic surgery. But justice has not come cheaply. Her life has been repeatedly threatened by tribal elements and by the Pakistani government, angry because this unschooled peasant woman has embarrassed them by focusing international attention on barbaric practices still occurring in their nation.a Now think for a minute about how a woman like Mukhtar Mai might respond to this cry from the psalmist: Arise, O Shopet of the earth.

Give arrogant people what they deserve, How long, O Yahweh, will wicked people triumph? . . .

They crush your people, O Yahweh. . .

Yahweh has become my stronghold.

My Elohim has become my rock of refuge.

He has turned their own wickedness against them.

He will destroy them because of their sins. (Psalm 94:2-3, 5, 22-23) It is not wrong to pray for the destruction of the wicked, allowing for the fact that God in his mercy can destroy the wicked by converting them. So let us pray.

God, our Shopet, we pray for justice for all who are oppressed, particularly for those who are poor, infirm, or helpless. We pray for women and children throughout the world. Protect and defend them, bringing their oppressors speedily to justice. Let the whole world rejoice in your justice, O Lord.

Promises Associated with the Name SHOPET.

Then all the trees in the forest will sing joyfully in Yahweh's presence because he is coming. He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and its people with his truth. (Psalm 96:12-13) Yahweh is waiting to be kind to you. He rises to have compassion on you. Yahweh is an Elohim of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him. (Isaiah 30:18)

5 c1 Now, gather your troops, you city of troops.

We are under attack.

Enemies will strike the judge of Israel on the cheek with a stick.

The LORD'S Leader for Israel 2 You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, are too small to be included among Judah's cities.

Yet, from you Israel's future ruler will come for me.

His origins go back to the distant past, to days long ago.

3 That is why Yahweh will abandon Israel until the time a mother has a child.

Then the rest of Yahweh's people will return to the people of Israel.

4 The child will become the shepherd of his flock.

He will lead them with the strength of Yahweh, with the majestic name of Yahweh his Elohim .