CHAPTER 9
I saw
the Lord
standing
beside
the altar,
and He said:
“Strike
the tops of the pillars
so that the thresholds
shake.
Topple them
on the heads
of all the people,
and I will kill
the rest
with the sword.
None
of those who flee
will get away;
none
of the fugitives
will escape.
Though
they dig down
to Sheol,
from there
My hand
will take them;
and though
they climb up
to heaven,
from there
I will pull them down.
Though
they hide themselves
atop
Carmel,
there
I will track them
and seize them;
and though
they hide
from
Me
at the bottom of
the sea,
there
I will command
the serpent
to bite them.
Though
they are driven
by
their enemies
into captivity,
there
I will command
the sword
to slay them.
I will fix
My eyes
upon them
for harm
and not
for good.”
The Lord,
the GOD
of Hosts,
He who touches
the earth
and melts it,
and all
its dwellers
mourn—
all the land
rises
like the Nile,
then sinks
like the river
of Egypt—
He builds
His upper rooms
in the heavens
and founds
His vault
upon
the earth.
He summons
the waters
of the sea
and pours them
over
the face
of the earth.
The LORD
is His name.
“Are you not
like the Cushites
to Me,
O children
of Israel?”
declares
the LORD.
“Did I not
bring
Israel
up from the land
of Egypt,
the Philistines
from Caphtor,
and the Arameans
from Kir?
Surely
the eyes
of the Lord
GOD
are on the sinful
kingdom,
and I will destroy
it
from
the face
of the earth.
Yet
I will not
utterly
destroy
the house
of Jacob,”
declares
the LORD.
“For
surely
I
will give the command,
and I will shake
the house
of Israel
among all
the nations,
as
grain is sifted
in a sieve,
but not
a pebble
will reach
the ground.
All
the sinners
among My people
will die
by the sword,
all those who say,
‘Disaster
will never
draw near
or confront
us.’
“In that
day
I will restore
the fallen
tent
of David.
I will repair
its gaps,
restore
its ruins,
and rebuild
it as in the days
of old,
so that
they may possess
the remnant
of Edom
and all
the nations
that
bear
My name,”
declares
the LORD,
who will do
this.
“Behold,
the days
are coming,
declares
the LORD,
when the plowman
will overtake
the reaper
and the treader
of grapes,
the sower
of seed.
The mountains
will drip
with sweet wine,
with which all
the hills
will flow.
I will restore
from captivity
My people
Israel;
they will rebuild
and inhabit
the ruined
cities;
they will plant
vineyards
and drink
their wine;
they will make
gardens
and eat
their fruit.
I will firmly plant them
on
their own land,
and they will never
again
be uprooted
from
the land
I have given
them,”
says
the LORD
your God.