FIFTH VISION: THE LORD BESIDE THE ALTAR

9 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar,ao and he said:

Strike the capitals of the pillarsap

so that the thresholds shake;

knock them down on the heads of all the people.

Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword.aq

None of those who flee will get away;ar

none of the fugitives will escape.

2 If they dig down to Sheol,as

from there my hand will take them;

if they climb up to heaven,at

from there I will bring them down.

3 If they hide

on the top of Carmel,

from there I will track them downau

and seize them;

if they conceal themselves

from my sight on the sea floor,a

from there I will command

the sea serpent to bite them.b

4 And if they are driven

by their enemies into captivity,c

from there I will command

the sword to kill them.d

I will keep my eye on them

for harm and not for good.e

5 The Lord, the God of Armies—

he touches the earth;f

it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn;

all of it rises like the Nile

and subsides like the Nile of Egypt.g

6 He builds his upper chambers

in the heavensh

and lays the foundation of his vault

on the earth.i

He summons the water of the sea

and pours it out over the surface of the earth.j

The Lord is his name.k

ANNOUNCEMENT OF JUDGMENT

7 Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to me?l

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Didn’t I bring Israel from the land of Egypt,

the Philistines from Caphtor,A,m

and the Arameans from Kir?n

8 Look, the eyes of the Lord God

are on the sinful kingdom,o

and I will obliterate it

from the face of the earth.p

However, I will not totally destroy

the house of Jacobq—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

9 for I am about to give the command,

and I will shake the house of Israelr

among all the nations,

as one shakes a sieve,

but not a pebble will fall to the ground.

10 All the sinners among my peoples

who say, “Disaster will never overtakeB

or confront us,”t

will die by the sword.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESTORATION

11 In that day

I will restore the fallen shelteru of David:v

I will repair its gaps,

restore its ruins,w

and rebuild it as in the days of old,x

12 so that they may possess

the remnant of Edomy

and all the nations

that bear my name—* z

this is the declaration of the Lord;

he will do this.

13 Look, the days are coming—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

when the plowman will overtake the reaperaa

and the one who treads grapes,

the sower of seed.

The mountains will drip with sweet wine,

and all the hills will flow with it.ab

14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel.D,ac

They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities,ad

plant vineyards and drink their wine,

make gardens and eat their produce.ae

15 I will plant them on their land,

and they will never again be uprooted

from the land I have given them.af

The Lord your God has spoken.