Israel to Be Destroyed
1
I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:
"Strike the tops of the pillars so that threshholds shake.
Bring them down on the heads of all the people;
those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away, none will escape.
2
Though they dig down to the depths of the grave, from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens, from there I will bring them down.
3
Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there I will hunt them down
and seize them. Though they hide from me at the bottom of the sea,
there I will command the serpent to bite them.
4
Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
there I will command the sword to slay them.
5
The Lord, the LORD Almighty, he who touches the earth and it melts,
and all who live in it mourn - the whole land rises like the Nile,
then sinks like the river of Egypt -
6
he who builds his lofty palace in the heavens and sets its foundation
on the earth, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out
over the face of the land - the LORD is his name.
7
"Are not you Israelites the same to memas the Cushites?" declares the LORD.
"Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Caphor
and the Arameans from Kir?
8
"Surely the eyes of the Sovereign LORD are on the sinful kingdom.
I will destroy it from the face of the earth - yet I will not totally destroy
the house of Jacob," declares the LORD.
9
"For I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all
the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground.
10
All the sinners among my people will die by the sword,
all those who say, 'Disaster will not overtake or meet us.'
Israel's Restoration
11
"In that day I will restore David's fallen tent. I will repair its broken places,
restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be,
12
so that they may possess the remnant of Esom and all the nations
that bear my name," declares the LORD, who will do these things.
13
"The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when the reaper will be overtaken
by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes.
New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills.
14
I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities
and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;
they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
15
I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land
I have given them," says the LORD your God.