A spoken message from God or a formal statement made by a prophet.
About Utterance
An oracle is a divine message from God given through a spokesperson (like a prophet, priest, or king). Oracles usually announce blessings, give instructions, or declare judgments.
When Balak asked Balaam to speak a curse against Israel, Balaam instead spoke an oracle of blessing (Numbers 24:3–16). God instructed Moses through “living words” (Acts 7:38). God trusted the Jewish people with these messages (Romans 3:2).
Key References
This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
This is the burden that Habakkuk the prophet received in a vision:
This is the burden of the word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi:
All Scripture References (21)
2 Kings (1)
And Jehu said to Bidkar his officer, “Pick him up and throw him into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember that when you and I were riding together behind his father Ahab, the LORD lifted up this burden against him:
2 Chronicles (1)
The accounts of the sons of Joash and the many pronouncements about him, and of the restoration of the house of God, are indeed written in the Treatise of the Book of the Kings. And his son Amaziah reigned in his place.
Proverbs (2)
These are the words of Agur son of Jakeh—the burden that this man declared to Ithiel: “I am weary, O God, and worn out.
These are the words of King Lemuel—the burden that his mother taught him:
Isaiah (11)
This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
In the year that King Ahaz died, this burden was received:
This is the burden against Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night!
This is the burden against Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is no longer a city; it has become a heap of ruins.
This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them.
This is the burden against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror.
This is the burden against Dumah: One calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?”
This is the burden against Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must lodge, O caravans of Dedanites.
This is the burden against the Valley of Vision: What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the rooftops,
This is the burden against Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor. Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus.
This is the burden against the beasts of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lioness and lion, of viper and flying serpent, they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people of no profit to them.
Lamentations (1)
The visions of your prophets were empty and deceptive; they did not expose your guilt to ward off your captivity. The burdens they envisioned for you were empty and misleading.
Nahum (1)
This is the burden against Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:
Habakkuk (1)
This is the burden that Habakkuk the prophet received in a vision:
Zechariah (2)
This is the burden of the word of the LORD against the land of Hadrach and Damascus its resting place—for the eyes of men and of all the tribes of Israel are upon the LORD—
This is the burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man within him:
Malachi (1)
This is the burden of the word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi: