A baby will play over the hole of a snake; over the nest of a serpent an infant will put his hand.

They will no longer injure or destroy on my entire royal mountain. For there will be universal submission to the Lord's sovereignty, just as the waters completely cover the sea.

At that time a root from Jesse will stand like a signal flag for the nations. Nations will look to him for guidance, and his residence will be majestic.

At that time the sovereign master will again lift his hand to reclaim the remnant of his people from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the seacoasts.

He will lift a signal flag for the nations; he will gather Israel's dispersed people and assemble Judah's scattered people from the four corners of the earth.

Ephraim's jealousy will end, and Judah's hostility will be eliminated. Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah, and Judah will no longer be hostile toward Ephraim.

They will swoop down on the Philistine hills to the west; together they will loot the people of the east. They will take over Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be their subjects.

The Lord will divide the gulf of the Egyptian Sea; he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River and send a strong wind, he will turn it into seven dried-up streams, and enable them to walk across in their sandals.

There will be a highway leading out of Assyria for the remnant of his people, just as there was for Israel, when they went up from the land of Egypt.

At that time you will say: "I praise you, O Lord, for even though you were angry with me, your anger subsided, and you consoled me.

Look, God is my deliverer! I will trust in him and not fear. For the Lord gives me strength and protects me; he has become my deliverer."

Joyfully you will draw water from the springs of deliverance.

At that time you will say: "Praise the Lord! Ask him for help! Publicize his mighty acts among the nations! Make it known that he is unique!

I have given orders to my chosen soldiers; I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger, my boasting, arrogant ones.

I will punish the world for its evil, and wicked people for their sin. I will put an end to the pride of the insolent, I will bring down the arrogance of tyrants.

I will make human beings more scarce than pure gold, and people more scarce than gold from Ophir.

So I will shake the heavens, and the earth will shake loose from its foundation, because of the fury of the Lord who commands armies, in the day he vents his raging anger.

Like a frightened gazelle or a sheep with no shepherd, each will turn toward home, each will run to his homeland.

Everyone who is caught will be stabbed; everyone who is seized will die by the sword.

Their children will be smashed to pieces before their very eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives raped.

Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons; they have no compassion on a person's offspring, they will not look with pity on children.

Babylon, the most admired of kingdoms, the Chaldeans' source of honor and pride, will be destroyed by God just as Sodom and Gomorrah were.

No one will live there again; no one will ever reside there again. No bedouin will camp there, no shepherds will rest their flocks there.

Wild animals will rest there, the ruined houses will be full of hyenas. Ostriches will live there, wild goats will skip among the ruins.

Wild dogs will yip in her ruined fortresses, jackals will yelp in the once-splendid palaces. Her time is almost up, her days will not be prolonged.

The Lord will certainly have compassion on Jacob; he will again choose Israel as his special people and restore them to their land. Resident foreigners will join them and unite with the family of Jacob.

Nations will take them and bring them back to their own place. Then the family of Jacob will make foreigners their servants as they settle in the Lord's land. They will make their captors captives and rule over the ones who oppressed them.

you will taunt the king of Babylon with these words: "Look how the oppressor has met his end! Hostility has ceased!

You said to yourself, "I will climb up to the sky. Above the stars of El I will set up my throne. I will rule on the mountain of assembly on the remote slopes of Zaphon.

I will climb up to the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High!"

You will not be buried with them, because you destroyed your land and killed your people. The offspring of the wicked will never be mentioned again.

"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.

I will break Assyria in my land, I will trample them underfoot on my hills. Their yoke will be removed from my people, the burden will be lifted from their shoulders.

Don't be so happy, all you Philistines, just because the club that beat you has been broken! For a viper will grow out of the serpent's root, and its fruit will be a darting adder.

The poor will graze in my pastures; the needy will rest securely. But I will kill your root by famine; it will put to death all your survivors.

How will they respond to the messengers of this nation? Indeed, the Lord has made Zion secure; the oppressed among his people will find safety in her.

Indeed, the waters of Dimon are full of blood! Indeed, I will heap even more trouble on Dimon. A lion will attack the Moabite fugitives and the people left in the land.

Please let the Moabite fugitives live among you. Hide them from the destroyer!" Certainly the one who applies pressure will cease, the destroyer will come to an end, those who trample will disappear from the earth.

Then a trustworthy king will be established; he will rule in a reliable manner, this one from David's family. He will be sure to make just decisions and will be experienced in executing justice.

So I weep along with Jazer over the vines of Sibmah. I will saturate you with my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh, for the conquering invaders shout triumphantly over your fruit and crops.

When the Moabites plead with all their might at their high places, and enter their temples to pray, their prayers will be ineffective!

Now the Lord makes this announcement: "Within exactly three years Moab's splendor will disappear, along with all her many people; there will be just a few, insignificant survivors left."

The cities of Aroer are abandoned. They will be used for herds, which will lie down there in peace.

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.

"At that time Jacob's splendor will be greatly diminished, and he will become skin and bones.

It will be as when one gathers the grain harvest, and his hand gleans the ear of grain. It will be like one gathering the ears of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.

There will be some left behind, like when an olive tree is beaten -- two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top, four or five on its fruitful branches," says the Lord God of Israel.

At that time men will trust in their creator; they will depend on the Holy One of Israel.

They will no longer trust in the altars their hands made, or depend on the Asherah poles and incense altars their fingers made.

At that time their fortified cities will be like the abandoned summits of the Amorites, which they abandoned because of the Israelites; there will be desolation.

The day you begin cultivating, you do what you can to make it grow; the morning you begin planting, you do what you can to make it sprout. Yet the harvest will disappear in the day of disease and incurable pain.

Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, when he shouts at them, they will flee to a distant land, driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills, or like dead thistles before a strong gale.

All you who live in the world, who reside on the earth, you will see a signal flag raised on the mountains; you will hear a trumpet being blown.

For this is what the Lord has told me: "I will wait and watch from my place, like scorching heat produced by the sunlight, like a cloud of mist in the heat of harvest."

For before the harvest, when the bud has sprouted, and the ripening fruit appears, he will cut off the unproductive shoots with pruning knives; he will prune the tendrils.

They will all be left for the birds of the hills and the wild animals; the birds will eat them during the summer, and all the wild animals will eat them during the winter.

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.

"I will provoke civil strife in Egypt, brothers will fight with each other, as will neighbors, cities, and kingdoms.

The Egyptians will panic, and I will confuse their strategy. They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead, from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians.

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.

The water of the sea will be dried up, and the river will dry up and be empty.

The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will trickle and then dry up; the bulrushes and reeds will decay,

along with the plants by the mouth of the river. All the cultivated land near the river will turn to dust and be blown away.

The fishermen will mourn and lament, all those who cast a fishhook into the river, and those who spread out a net on the water's surface will grieve.

Those who make clothes from combed flax will be embarrassed; those who weave will turn pale.

Those who make cloth will be demoralized; all the hired workers will be depressed.

Egypt will not be able to do a thing, head or tail, shoots and stalk.

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.

The land of Judah will humiliate Egypt. Everyone who hears about Judah will be afraid because of what the Lord who commands armies is planning to do to them.

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.

At that time there will be an altar for the Lord in the middle of the land of Egypt, as well as a sacred pillar dedicated to the Lord at its border.

It will become a visual reminder in the land of Egypt of the Lord who commands armies. When they cry out to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a deliverer and defender who will rescue them.

The Lord will reveal himself to the Egyptians, and they will acknowledge the Lord's authority at that time. They will present sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them.

The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and then healing them. They will turn to the Lord and he will listen to their prayers and heal them.

At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will visit Egypt, and the Egyptians will visit Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.

At that time Israel will be the third member of the group, along with Egypt and Assyria, and will be a recipient of blessing in the earth.

The Lord who commands armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying, "Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession, Israel!"

so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, both young and old. They will be in undergarments and barefoot, with the buttocks exposed; the Egyptians will be publicly humiliated.

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

At that time those who live on this coast will say, 'Look what has happened to our source of hope to whom we fled for help, expecting to be rescued from the king of Assyria! How can we escape now?'"

I have received a distressing message: "The deceiver deceives, the destroyer destroys. Attack, you Elamites! Lay siege, you Medes! I will put an end to all the groaning!"

For this is what the sovereign master has told me: "Within exactly one year all the splendor of Kedar will come to an end.

Just a handful of archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be left." Indeed, the Lord God of Israel has spoken.

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.

Look, the Lord will throw you far away, you mere man! He will wrap you up tightly.

He will wind you up tightly into a ball and throw you into a wide, open land. There you will die, and there with you will be your impressive chariots, which bring disgrace to the house of your master.

I will remove you from your office; you will be thrown down from your position.

"At that time I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah.

I will put your robe on him, tie your belt around him, and transfer your authority to him. He will become a protector of the residents of Jerusalem and of the people of Judah.

I will place the key to the house of David on his shoulder. When he opens the door, no one can close it; when he closes the door, no one can open it.

I will fasten him like a peg into a solid place; he will bring honor and respect to his father's family.

His father's family will gain increasing prominence because of him, including the offspring and the offshoots. All the small containers, including the bowls and all the jars will hang from this peg.'

"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.

When the news reaches Egypt, they will be shaken by what has happened to Tyre.

He said, "You will no longer celebrate, oppressed virgin daughter Sidon! Get up, travel to Cyprus, but you will find no relief there."

Look at the land of the Chaldeans, these people who have lost their identity! The Assyrians have made it a home for wild animals. They erected their siege towers, demolished its fortresses, and turned it into a heap of ruins.

At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the typical life span of a king. At the end of seventy years Tyre will try to attract attention again, like the prostitute in the popular song:

At the end of seventy years the Lord will revive Tyre. She will start making money again by selling her services to all the earth's kingdoms.