Warnings to Jerusalem

29 How terrible it will be for you, Jerusalem,

the city where David camped.

Your festivals have continued

year after year.

2  I will attack Jerusalem,

and that city will be filled with sadness and crying.

It will be like an altar to me.

3  I will put armies all around you, Jerusalem;

I will surround you with towers

and with devices to attack you.

4  You will be pulled down and will speak from the ground;

I will hear your voice rising from the ground.

It will sound like the voice of a ghost;

your words will come like a whisper from the dirt.

5  Your many enemies will become like fine dust;

the many cruel people will be like chaff that is blown away.

Everything will happen very quickly.

6  The Lord All-Powerful will come

with thunder, earthquakes, and great noises,

with storms, strong winds, and a fire that destroys.

7  Then all the nations that fight against Jerusalem

will be like a dream;

all the nations that attack her

will be like a vision in the night.

8  They will be like a hungry man who dreams he is eating,

but when he awakens, he is still hungry.

They will be like a thirsty man who dreams he is drinking,

but when he awakens, he is still weak and thirsty.

It will be the same way with all the nations

who fight against Mount Zion.

9  Be surprised and amazed.

Blind yourselves so that you cannot see.

Become drunk, but not from wine.

Trip and fall, but not from beer.

10  The Lord has made you go into a deep sleep.

He has closed your eyes. (The prophets are your eyes.)

He has covered your heads. (The seers are your heads.)

11 This vision is like the words of a book that is closed and sealed. You may give the book to someone who can read and tell that person to read it. But he will say, “I can’t read the book, because it is sealed.” 12 Or you may give the book to someone who cannot read and tell him to read it. But he will say, “I don’t know how to read.”

13 The Lord says:

“These people worship me with their mouths,

and honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship is based on

nothing but human rules.

14  So I will continue to amaze these people

by doing more and more miracles.

Their wise men will lose their wisdom;

their wise men will not be able to understand.”

Warnings About Other Nations

15  How terrible it will be for those who try

to hide things from the Lord

and who do their work in darkness.

They think no one will see them or know what they do.

16  You are confused.

You think the clay is equal to the potter.

You think that an object can tell the one who made it,

“You didn’t make me.”

This is like a pot telling its maker,

“You don’t know anything.”

A Better Time Is Coming

17  In a very short time, Lebanon will become rich farmland,

and the rich farmland will seem like a forest.

18  At that time the deaf will hear the words in a book.

Instead of having darkness and gloom, the blind will see.

19  The Lord will make the poor people happy;

they will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

20  Then the people without mercy will come to an end;

those who do not respect God will disappear.

Those who enjoy doing evil will be gone:

21  those who lie about others in court,

those who trap people in court,

those who lie and take justice from innocent people in court.

22 This is what the Lord who set Abraham free says to the family of Jacob:

“Now the people of Jacob will not be ashamed

or disgraced any longer.

23  When they see all their children,

the children I made with my hands,

they will say my name is holy.

They will agree that the Holy One of Jacob is holy,

and they will respect the God of Israel.

24  People who do wrong will now understand.

Those who complain will accept being taught.”