As for them who go down to the stones of the Pit, Thou shalt not be united with them in burial; For thy land, thou didst ruin Thy people, didst slay, - Unnamed to times ago-abiding, Be the seed of the wicked!

"I will rise up against them," says the Lord who commands armies. "I will blot out all remembrance of Babylon and destroy all her people, including the offspring she produces," says the Lord.

"I will turn her into a place that is overrun with wild animals and covered with pools of stagnant water. I will get rid of her, just as one sweeps away dirt with a broom," says the Lord who commands armies.

The Lord who commands armies makes this solemn vow: "Be sure of this: Just as I have intended, so it will be; just as I have planned, it will happen.

For, Yahweh of hosts, hath purposed, - And who shall frustrate? And, his, is the hand outstretched, And who shall turn it back?

Don’t rejoice, all of you in Philistia,
because the rod of the one who struck you is broken.
For a viper will come from the root of a snake,
and from its egg comes a flying serpent.

“Those who are most helpless will eat,
And the needy will lie down in security;
I will destroy your root with famine,
And it will kill off your survivors.

Who shall then maintain the messages of the Gentiles? But the LORD establisheth Zion, and the poor of my people shall put their trust in him.

For the waters of Dimon are full of blood: and I'm sending even more on Moab, a lion on those of Moab who go in flight, and on the rest of the land.

Give wise directions, make a decision; let your shade be as night in full day: keep safe those who are in flight; do not give up the wandering ones.

Let mine own outcasts, sojourn with thee, O Moab, become thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler, - For vanished is the oppressor, At an end is extortion, They who tread down have ceased out of the land.

then a throne will be established in gracious love, and there will sit in faithfulness in the Tent of David one who judges, seeks justice, and is swift to do what is right."

Therefore Moab will wail; everyone of Moab will wail.
You will moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth
As those who are utterly stricken.

But now the Lord speaks, saying, “Within three years, as the years of a hired man [who will not serve longer than the agreed time], the glory of Moab will be degraded along with all the great population, and the remnant [that survives] will be very small and of no account.”

Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim, and Damascus will lose its kingdom. The survivors in Syria will end up like the splendor of the Israelites," says the Lord who commands armies.

And it shall come to pass - That, as the harvestman gathereth standing corn, And with his arm - the ears, he reapeth, Yea it shall come to pass - That, so, shall he be who gleaneth ears, in the vale of Rephaim;

For you ignore the God who rescues you; you pay no attention to your strong protector. So this is what happens: You cultivate beautiful plants and plant exotic vines.

Alas, the uproar of many peoples
Who roar like the roaring of the seas,
And the rumbling of nations
Who rush on like the rumbling of mighty waters!

At eventide, lo! terror, Before morning, he is not! This, is the portion of them who plunder us, And the lot of them who make of us a prey.

that sends messengers by sea, who glide over the water's surface in boats made of papyrus. Go, you swift messengers, to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people, to a people that are feared far and wide, to a nation strong and victorious, whose land rivers divide.

All you peoples of the world, and you who are living on the earth, when a flag is lifted up on the mountains, give attention; and when the horn is sounded, give ear.

At that time tribute will be brought to the Lord who commands armies, by a people that are tall and smooth-skinned, a people that are feared far and wide, a nation strong and victorious, whose land rivers divide. The tribute will be brought to the place where the Lord who commands armies has chosen to reside, on Mount Zion.

And the spirit of Egypt will be troubled in her, and I will make her decisions without effect: and they will be turning to the false gods, and to those who make hollow sounds, and to those who have control of spirits, and to those who are wise in secret arts.

I will hand Egypt over to a harsh master; a powerful king will rule over them," says the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies.

Then shall the fishers, lament, And all shall mourn who cast in the Nile a hook, - And they who spread nets on the face of the waters shall languish;

And all the workers in linen thread, and those who make cotton cloth, will be put to shame.

Then shall her pillars be crushed, - All who make wages, be bowed down in soul.

But where, oh where, are your wise men? Let them tell you, let them find out what the Lord who commands armies has planned for Egypt.

Doting are the princes of Zoan, Deceived are the princes of Noph: They who are the corner-stone of her tribes, have led Egypt astray.

At that time the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble and fear because the Lord who commands armies brandishes his fist against them.

Then shall the soil of Judah become, to Egypt, a terror; Every one to whom it is mentioned, will tremble, - Because of the purpose of Yahweh of hosts, which he is purposing against it.

At that time five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord who commands armies. One will be called the City of the Sun.

and it shall be for a sign and for a witness to Jehovah of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry unto Jehovah because of the oppressors, and he will send them a saviour and defender, who shall deliver them.

Whom Yahweh of hosts bath blessed saying, - Blessed, be My people - the Egyptians, And the work of my hands - the Assyrians, And mine own inheritance - Israel.

Those who put their hope in Cush and took pride in Egypt will be afraid and embarrassed.

And those living by the sea will say in that day, See the fate of our hope to whom we went for help and salvation from the king of Assyria: what hope have we then of salvation?

Whoso may deceive, said the voice, let him deceive: Who so may destroy, let him destroy. Up Elam, besiege it O Media, for I will still all their groanings.

Therefore my loins are filled with pain; pangs have taken hold on me like the pangs of a woman who travails; I was bowed down from hearing; I was troubled from seeing.

O my downtrodden people, crushed like stalks on the threshing floor, what I have heard from the Lord who commands armies, the God of Israel, I have reported to you.

Give water to him who is in need of water; give bread, O men of the land of Tema, to those in flight.

For the Lord has said this to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired man [who will work no longer than was agreed], all the splendor of [the tribe of] Kedar will end;

And there will be few archers, those who are descendants of Kedar, who survive, because the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken."

You, who are full of loud voices, a town of outcries, given up to joy; your dead men have not been put to the sword, or come to their death in war.

All your rulers have fled together,
And have been captured without the bow;
All of you who were found were taken captive together,
Though they had fled far away.

For the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, has planned a day of panic, defeat, and confusion. In the Valley of Vision people shout and cry out to the hill.

And you made a reservoir between the two walls
For the waters of the old pool.
But you did not depend on Him who made it,
Nor did you take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.

At that time the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, called for weeping and mourning, for shaved heads and sackcloth.

The Lord who commands armies told me this: "Certainly this sin will not be forgiven as long as you live," says the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies.

Thus, said My Lord Yahweh, of hosts, Come go in unto this steward, Unto Shebna, who is over the house:

What doest thou here? And whom hast thou here? That thou hast hewn for thyself here a sepulchre, - As one hewing on high his sepulchre, Cutting out in the cliff a habitation for himself?

and I'll clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him. I'll transfer your authority to him, and he'll be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

"At that time," says the Lord who commands armies, "the peg fastened into a solid place will come loose. It will be cut off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off." Indeed, the Lord has spoken.

Be dumb, ye inhabitants of the Coast, - Whom the merchants of Zidon, passing over the sea, once replenished;

Who get in the seed of Shihor, whose wealth is the trade of the nations.

"You who are crossing over to Tarshish Wail, you inhabitants of the coast!

Who hath purposed this, against Tyre, The bestower of crowns, - Whose merchants are princes, Her traders the honourable of the earth?

It was the purpose of the Lord of armies to put pride to shame, to make sport of the glory of those who are honoured in the earth.

Now look at the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonia)—this is the people which was not; the Assyrians allocated Tyre for desert creatures—they set up their siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.

Now in that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the prostitute’s song:

Take an instrument of music, go about the town, O loose woman who has gone out from the memory of man; make sweet melody with songs, so that you may come back to men's minds.

But her merchandise and her hire, shall be hallowed unto Yahweh, It shall not be stored up, nor hoarded, - For, to them who dwell before Yahweh, shall her merchandise belong, That they may eat to satisfaction And have stately apparel.

Lo! Yahweh emptying the earth and laying it waste, - And he will overturn the face thereof, And scatter them who dwell therein.

And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with him from whom usury is taken.

Yea the earth itself is profaned under them who dwell therein, - For they have Set aside laws, Gone beyond statute, Broken an age-abiding covenant.

Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.

The new wine dries up, the vines shrivel up, all those who like to celebrate groan.

The pleasing sound of all instruments of music has come to an end, and the voices of those who are glad.

With a song, they drink not wine, - Bitter is strong drink, to them who drink it:

They [who have escaped and remain] raise their voices, they shout for joy;
They rejoice from the [Mediterranean] Sea in the majesty of the Lord.

Panic, pit, and trap await you
who dwell on the earth.

And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the sound of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the windows on high are open, and the foundations of the earth shake.

Then the full moon will be embarrassed and the sun ashamed,
For the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
And His glory and brilliance will shine before His elders.

The Lord who commands armies will hold a banquet for all the nations on this mountain. At this banquet there will be plenty of meat and aged wine -- tender meat and choicest wine.

And it will be said in that day,
“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of it as he who swims spreads forth [his hands] to swim. But [LORD] will lay low his pride together with the craft of his hands.

Open [the] gates {so that} [the] righteous nation who keeps faithfulness may enter!

You keep completely safe the people who maintain their faith, for they trust in you.

“For He has brought low those who dwell on high, the unassailable city;
He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.

It will be crushed under the feet of the poor and the steps of those who are in need.

The way of the righteous [those in right-standing with God—living in moral and spiritual integrity] is smooth and level;
O Upright One, make a level path for the just and righteous.

I look for you during the night, my spirit within me seeks you at dawn, for when your judgments come upon the earth, those who live in the world learn about justice.

As a woman with child, who draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain and cries out in her pangs, so we have been before thee, O LORD.

Your dead will live;
Their corpses will rise.
You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy,
For your dew is as the dew of the dawn,
And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.

For look, the Lord is coming out of the place where he lives, to punish the sin of those who live on the earth. The earth will display the blood shed on it; it will no longer cover up its slain.

In that day the Lord will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
With His fierce and great and mighty sword,
Even Leviathan the twisted serpent;
And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.

I hear no evil will in my mind. Who will compel me that I, greatly forgetting all faithfulness, should burn it up at once with thorns and bushes?

Or who will enforce me to keep or make peace?

He shall cause those who come from Jacob to take root; Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.

Like the striking of Him who has struck them, has He struck them?
Or like the slaughter of His slain, have they been slain?

When its branches are withered they shall be broken off; women shall come and set them on fire. For it is a people of no intelligence; therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he who formed them will shew them no favour.

It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

Alas! for the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, And for his fading wreath of majestic beauty, - Which is on the head of the fertile valley, of them who are overcome with wine.

Lo! My Lord hath one who is, strong and bold, Like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, Like a storm of mighty waters overflowing, Hath he thrust it down to the earth with force:

The crown of pride of those who are given up to wine in Ephraim will be crushed under foot;

And the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be as the first-ripe fig before the summer, which, when he who looks upon it sees, while it is yet in his hand, he eats it up.

At that time the Lord who commands armies will become a beautiful crown and a splendid diadem for the remnant of his people.

Even a spirit of justice - to him that presideth over justice, And strength to them who would turn back the battle at the gate.

Whom, would he teach knowledge? And, whom, would he cause to understand the message? Them who are weaned from the milk? taken from the breasts?

And therefore the LORD also shall speak with lisping lips and with a strange language unto this people, to whom he spake afore of this manner:

To whom he said - This, is the rest - give ye rest to the weary, and This, is the quietness, - But they were unwilling to hear.