The Destruction of Israel
1 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and He said:
“Strike the doorposts, that the thresholds may shake,
# Andbreak them on the heads of them all.
I will slay the last of them with the sword.
# He who flees from them shall not get away,
And he who escapes from them shall not be delivered.
2 “Thoughthey dig into hell,
From there My hand shall take them;
# Though they climb up to heaven,
From there I will bring them down;
3 And though theyhide themselves on top of Carmel,
From there I will search and take them;
Though they hide from My sight at the bottom of the sea,
From there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them;
4 Though they go into captivity before their enemies,
# From thereI will command the sword,
And it shall slay them.
# I will set My eyes on them for harm and not for good.”
5 The LordGodof hosts,
# He who touches the earth and itmelts,
# And all who dwell there mourn;
All of it shall swell like the River,
And subside like the River of Egypt.
6 He who builds Hislayers in the sky,
And has founded His strata in the earth;
# Whocalls for the waters of the sea,
And pours them out on the face of the earth—
# TheLordisHis name.
7 “Areyou not like the people of Ethiopia to Me,
O children of Israel?” says theLord.
“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
# ThePhilistines fromCaphtor,
# And the Syrians fromKir?
8 “Behold,the eyes of the LordGodareon the sinful kingdom,
# And Iwill destroy it from the face of the earth;
Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
Says theLord.
9 “For surely I will command,
And will sift the house of Israel among all nations,
Asgrainis sifted in a sieve;
# Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword,
# Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’
Israel Will Be Restored
11 “Onthat day I will raise up
The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,
And repair its damages;
I will raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
12 That they may possess the remnant ofEdom,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,”
Says theLordwho does this thing.
13 “Behold,the days are coming,” says theLord,
“When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
# The mountains shall drip with sweet wine,
And all the hills shall flowwithit.
14 I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;
# They shall build the waste cities and inhabitthem;
They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them;
They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
15 I will plant them in their land,
# And no longer shall they be pulled up
From the land I have given them,”
Says theLordyour God.