Bible in 90 Days
Israel Will Be Rescued from Babylon
14 The Lord will have compassion for Jacob and again choose Israel.
He will resettle them in their own country.
Foreigners will join them
and unite with the descendants of Jacob.
2 People will take them
and bring them to their own place.
The nation of Israel will possess nations
as male and female slaves in the Lord’s land.
They will take their captors captive
and rule their oppressors.
3 When that day comes, the Lord will give you relief
from your pain and suffering,
from the hard slavery you were forced to do.
4 Then you will mock the king of Babylon with this saying,
“How the tyrant has come to an end!
How his attacks have come to an end!”
5 The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of rulers.
6 They struck the people with fury,
with blows that didn’t stop.
They ruled nations in anger,
persecuting them without restraint.
7 The whole earth rests and is peaceful.
It breaks out into shouts of joy.
8 Even the cypresses rejoice over you.
The cedars of Lebanon say,
“Since you have fallen,
no lumberjack has come to attack us.”
9 Sheol below wakes up to meet you when you come.
It wakes up the ghosts of the dead,
all who were leaders on earth.
It raises all who were kings of the nations from their thrones.
10 All of them will greet you,
“You also have become weak like us!
You have become like one of us!”
11 Your pride has been brought down to Sheol
along with the music of your harps.
Maggots are spread out ⌞like a bed⌟ under you,
and worms cover you.
12 How you have fallen from heaven, you morning star, son of the dawn!
How you have been cut down to the ground, you conqueror of nations!
13 You thought,
“I’ll go up to heaven and set up my throne above God’s stars.
I’ll sit on the mountain far away in the north
where the gods assemble.
14 I’ll go above the top of the clouds.
I’ll be like the Most High.”
15 But you’ve been brought down to Sheol,
to the deepest part of the pit.
16 Those who see you stare at you; they look at you closely and say,
“Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
who shook the kingdoms,
17 who made the world like a desert and tore down its cities,
who didn’t let his prisoners go home?”
18 All the kings of the nations, all of them,
have been buried with honor, each in his own tomb.
19 But you are thrown out of your tomb like a rejected branch.
You are covered with those who were killed in battle.
You go down to the stones of the pit like a trampled corpse.
20 You won’t be joined by the kings in the tomb,
because you have destroyed your land and killed your people.
The descendants of the wicked will never be mentioned again.
21 Prepare a place to slaughter their sons
because of their ancestors’ guilt.
They won’t be able to rise, possess the earth,
and rebuild cities all over it.
22 “I’ll rise up against them,” declares the Lord of Armies.
“I’ll cut off the name of the survivors from Babylon,
its offspring and descendants,” declares the Lord.
23 “It will become the possession of herons.
It will become pools of water.
I’ll sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of Armies.
Assyria Will Be Punished
24 The Lord of Armies has taken an oath:
“It will happen exactly as I’ve intended.
It will turn out exactly as I’ve planned.
25 I’ll crush Assyria on my land.
I’ll trample it underfoot on my mountains.
Then its yoke [a] will be removed from my people,
and its burden will be removed from their shoulders.”
26 This is the plan determined for the whole earth.
This is how he will use his power against all the nations.
27 The Lord of Armies has planned it. Who can stop it?
He is ready to use his power. Who can turn it back?
The Philistines Will Be Punished
28 This was the divine revelation in the year King Ahaz died.
29 All you Philistines, don’t rejoice
that the rod of the one who struck you is broken,
because a viper will come from that snake’s root,
and his descendant will be a flying, fiery serpent.
30 The poorest of the poor will eat,
and the needy will lie down in safety.
But I will put your root to death with famine
and kill off your survivors.
31 Cry loudly in the gate!
Cry out in the city!
Be frightened, all you Philistines!
Smoke comes from the north,
and there are no stragglers in its ranks.
32 How should we answer the messengers from the nations?
⌞Tell them that⌟ the Lord has laid Zion’s foundation,
and his humble people will find refuge in it.
Moab Will Be Punished
15 This is the divine revelation about Moab.
In a single night Ar in Moab is laid waste and destroyed!
In a single night Kir in Moab is laid waste and destroyed!
2 The people of Dibon go to the temple,
to the worship sites, to cry.
Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba.
Every head is shaved bald, and every beard is cut off.[b]
3 In their streets they wear sackcloth.
On their roofs and in their city squares everyone wails and cries.
4 Heshbon and Elealeh also cry out.
Their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz.
Moab’s armed men cry out.
Their courage is gone.
5 My heart cries out for Moab.
Its people flee as far as Zoar at Eglath Shelishiyah.
They go up the mountain road to Luhith.
They cry loudly over the destruction on the way to Horonaim.
6 The Nimrim Brook has run dry!
The grass dries up,
the vegetation withers,
and nothing green is left.
7 That is why they carry the wealth that they have earned and stored up
over Willow Ravine.
8 Cries for help echo throughout the land of Moab.
Their wailing echoes as far as Eglaim.
Their wailing echoes as far as Beer Elim.
9 The water in Dimon is red with blood,
yet I will bring even more on Dimon.
A lion will attack the fugitives from Moab
and the survivors from Adamah.[c]
16 Send lambs to the ruler of the land.[d]
Send lambs from Sela through the desert to my people at Mount Zion.
2 Moab’s daughters are like fluttering birds,
like scattered nestlings,
at the shallow crossings of the Arnon River.
3 Give us advice.
Make a decision.
At high noon make your shadow as dark as night.
Hide the fugitives.
Don’t betray the refugees.
4 Let the fugitives from Moab stay with you a while. Be their refuge from the destroyer.
Ruthless people will come to an end.
The destruction will end.
The one who tramples others will be gone.
5 Then the Lord will set up a trusted king.
He will rule faithfully.
He is from the tent of David.
He judges and searches for justice.
He is quick to do what is right.
6 We’ve heard of the arrogance of Moab’s people.
They are very arrogant.
We’ve heard of their boasting, arrogance, and conceit,
but their boasts aren’t true.
7 That is why Moab will wail.
Everyone will wail for Moab.
Mourn and grieve over the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.
8 The fields of Heshbon and the vineyards of Sibmah wither.
Rulers of the nations have cut off their grapes.
The grapevines ⌞once⌟ reached as far as Jazer
and strayed out into the desert.
Their shoots had spread out over the sea.
9 I will cry for the grapevines of Sibmah
as Jazer cries for them.
I will drench you with my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh.
The shouts of joy for your ripened fruits
and your harvest will be silenced.
10 Joy and delight have vanished from the orchards.
No songs are sung.
No shouts are raised.
No one stomps on grapes in the winepresses,
because I have put an end to the shouts of joy.
11 That is why my heart mourns for Moab like a harp.
My soul mourns for Kir Hareseth.
12 When the people of Moab appear at the worship site,
they will only wear themselves out.
They will come into the holy place to pray,
but they won’t be able to.
13 This is the message that the Lord spoke about Moab in the past. 14 But now the Lord says, “Moab’s honor will be despised within three years. I will count them like workers count the years left of their contracts. In spite of their great number, the survivors will be very few and powerless.”
Damascus and Israel Will Be Punished
17 This is the divine revelation about Damascus.
“Damascus will no longer be a city.
It will become a pile of rubble.
2 The cities of Aroer will be deserted.
These cities will be used for sheep, which will lie down in them.
There will be no one to disturb those sheep.
3 Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim,
and the kingdom will disappear from Damascus.
The remaining few from Aram will share Israel’s honor,”
declares the Lord of Armies.
4 “When that day comes, the honor of Jacob’s people will fade away,
and they will become skin and bones.
5 That time will be like harvesting bundles of grain by the armful.
It will be like gathering grain in the Rephaim Valley.
6 Only a few people will survive.
They will be like an olive tree that has been beaten.
Only two or three olives are left
at the top of the highest branch,
four or five olives on the rest of the branches,”
declares the Lord God of Israel.
7 When that day comes, they will look to their maker,
and their eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.
8 They won’t look to the altars made by their hands
or to the Asherah poles or incense altars
which their fingers molded.
9 When that day comes, the fortified cities
which other people abandoned because of the Israelites
will be like abandoned woods and undergrowth.
So it will become a wasteland.
10 You have forgotten the God of your salvation.
You haven’t remembered the rock, your stronghold.
Instead, you have planted the best plants
and have set out the imported grapevines.
11 On the day you plant, you will make it grow.
On the morning you set out the seedling, you will make it sprout.
But the harvest will become a [rotting] pile [e]
on a day of grief and incurable pain.
12 How horrible it will be for many people!
They will roar like the roaring sea.
The noise that the people make
will be like the noise from rushing water.
13 The people will make noise like raging water.
But the Lord will yell at them, and they will run far away.
They will be chased away
like husks on the mountains being blown by the wind,
like whirling dust being blown by a storm.
14 In the evening there will be sudden terror.
Before morning they will be gone.
This will be the fate of those who looted us,
the destiny of those who robbed us.
Sudan Will Be Punished
18 How horrible it will be for the land of whirring wings
which lies beyond the rivers of Sudan.
2 It sends messengers by sea
in boats made of reeds
⌞skimming⌟ over the surface of the water.
Go, swift messengers, to a tall and smooth-skinned people,
a people ⌞who are⌟ feared far and near,
a strong and aggressive nation,
whose land is divided by rivers.
3 Look when someone raises a flag on the mountains.
Listen when someone blows a ram’s horn,
all you inhabitants of the world who live on the earth.
4 This is what the Lord says to me:
I will keep quiet and watch from my dwelling place.
My presence will be like scorching heat in the sunshine,
like heavy dew in the heat of the harvest.
5 Before the harvest, when blossoms are gone
and grapes are ripening from blossoms,
he will cut off the shoots with pruning shears
and chop off the spreading branches.
6 They will be left for the birds of prey on the mountains
and the wild animals.
The birds of prey will feed on them in the summer,
and all the wild animals on earth
will feed on them in the winter.
7 At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord of Armies
from a tall and smooth-skinned people,
a people ⌞who are⌟ feared far and near,
a strong and aggressive nation,
whose land is divided by rivers.
They will be brought to Mount Zion,
the place where the name of the Lord of Armies is.
Egypt Will Be Punished
19 This is the divine revelation about Egypt.
The Lord is riding on a fast-moving cloud and is coming to Egypt.
Egypt’s idols will tremble in his presence.
Egypt’s courage will fail.
2 “I will turn one Egyptian against another.
They will fight—
brother against brother,
neighbor against neighbor,
city against city,
kingdom against kingdom.
3 The Egyptians will lose courage.
I will unravel their plans.
They will turn to idols, ghosts,
mediums, and fortunetellers.
4 I will hand over the Egyptians to a harsh master.
A strong king will rule them,”
declares the Almighty Lord of Armies.
5 The water in the Nile River will be dried up,[f]
and the river will be dry and empty.
6 The canals will stink.
Egypt’s streams will be emptied and dried up.
The reeds and cattails will wither.
7 The rushes by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile,
and all the fields planted beside the Nile
will dry up, be blown away, and disappear.
8 Fishermen will cry.
All who cast their lines into the Nile will mourn.
Those who spread their nets on the water will sigh.
9 Linenworkers and weavers will be ashamed.
10 Egypt’s weavers will be crushed.
Those who work for money will be distressed.
11 The leaders of Zoan are nothing but fools.
The wisest of Pharaoh’s counselors gives stupid advice.
How can you tell Pharaoh,
“I’m a descendant of wise men,
a descendant of ancient kings”?
12 Where are your wise men now?
Let them tell you.
Let them explain what the Lord of Armies
is planning against Egypt.
13 The leaders of Zoan are acting foolishly.
The leaders of Memphis are led astray.
The leaders who are the cornerstones of its tribes mislead the Egyptians.
14 The Lord mixes up their minds.
So they lead the Egyptians astray
like a drunk who staggers in his vomit.
15 No one—leaders or followers, important or unimportant—
can do anything for Egypt.
16 At that time Egyptians will act like women. They will tremble and be terrified because the Lord of Armies will shake his fist at them. 17 The land of Judah will terrify the Egyptians. Whenever they are reminded of Judah, they will be terrified of it because of what the Lord of Armies is planning against it.
18 When that day comes, five cities in Egypt will have people that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of Armies. One of the cities will be called Heliopolis.[g]
19 When that day comes, an altar for the Lord will be in the middle of Egypt, and a stone marker for the Lord will be near its border. 20 These objects will be a sign and a witness that the Lord of Armies is in Egypt. When the people cry to the Lord because of those who oppress them, he will send a savior and defender to rescue them. 21 So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians. The Egyptians will know the Lord when that day comes. They will worship with sacrifices and food offerings. They will make vows to the Lord and carry them out. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague. When he strikes them, he will also heal them. Then they will come back to the Lord. And he will respond to their prayers and heal them.
23 When that day comes, a highway will run from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will come to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. 24 When that day comes, Israel will be one-third ⌞of God’s people⌟, along with Egypt and Assyria. They will be a blessing on the earth. 25 The Lord of Armies will bless them, saying, “My people Egypt, the work of my hands Assyria, and my possession Israel are blessed.”
Those Who Were Allied with Egypt Will Be Ashamed
20 In the year when King Sargon of Assyria sent his commander-in-chief to fight against Ashdod, he captured it. 2 At that time the Lord told Isaiah, son of Amoz, “Take off the sackcloth that you are wearing, and take off your sandals!” Isaiah did this and walked around barefoot and naked.
3 Then the Lord said, “My servant Isaiah has gone barefoot and naked for three years as a sign and as an omen to Egypt and Sudan. 4 The king of Assyria will lead away both the young and the old—captives from Egypt and exiles from Sudan. They will be barefoot and naked. Their buttocks will be exposed in order to disgrace Egypt. 5 Then the people will be shattered and ashamed because Sudan was their hope and Egypt was their beauty. 6 When that day comes, those who live on this coastland will say, ‘Look at what has happened to our hope. We ran ⌞to Egypt⌟ for help to be rescued from the king of Assyria. How can we escape?’ ”
Babylon Has Fallen
21 This is the divine revelation about the desert by the sea.
Like a storm sweeping through the Negev,
an invader will come from the desert,
from a terrifying land.
2 I was shown a harsh vision.
The traitor betrays.
The destroyer destroys.
Go to war, Elam!
Surround them, Media!
I will put an end to all the groaning.
3 That is why my body is full of trembling.
Pain grips me like the pain of childbirth.
I’m disturbed by what I hear.
I’m terrified by what I see.
4 I’m confused.
I’m shaking with terror.
The twilight hours I longed for make me tremble.
5 Set the table.
Spread the rugs ⌞by the table⌟.
Eat. Drink.
Get up, you leaders!
Prepare your shields for battle!
6 This is what the Lord says to me:
Post a watchman.
Have him report whatever he sees.
7 He will see chariots, pairs of horsemen,
riders on donkeys, and riders on camels.
Let him watch carefully, very carefully.
8 The watchman [h] called,
“Sir, I stand on the watchtower every day.
Every night, I stand guard at my post.
9 Look! Here come chariots and horsemen in pairs.”
Then he said,
“Babylon has fallen! It has fallen!
All the idols they worship lie shattered on the ground.”
10 You, my people, have been threshed and winnowed.[i]
I make known to you what I heard from the Lord of Armies,
the God of Israel.
Someone Calling from Seir
11 This is the divine revelation about Dumah.[j]
Someone is calling to me from Seir,
“Watchman, how much of the night is left?
Watchman, how much of the night is left?”
12 The watchman answers,
“Morning is coming, and night will come again.
If you need to ask, come back and ask.”
Arabia Will Be Punished
13 This is the divine revelation about Arabia.
You caravan of travelers from the people of Dedan
will spend the night in the forest of Arabia.
14 Bring water for the thirsty,
you inhabitants of the land of Tema.
Bring food to the fugitives.
15 They flee from swords,
from swords ready to kill,
from bows ready to shoot,
and from the thick of battle.
16 This is what the Lord says to me: All of Kedar’s honor will be gone in another year. I will count it like workers count the years left on their contracts. 17 The remaining number of archers, Kedar’s mighty archers, will be few. The Lord God of Israel has spoken.
Judah Will Be Punished
22 This is the divine revelation about the valley of Vision.
What’s the matter with you?
Why do all of you go up on the roofs?
2 You are a city filled with shouting,
a town filled with noise and excitement.
Your people weren’t killed with swords.
Your dead didn’t die in battle.
3 All your leaders fled together
and were captured without their bows and arrows.
All those who were found were taken prisoner
before any of them could get far away.
4 That is why I say,
“Turn away from me
so that I can cry bitterly.
Don’t try to comfort me
because of the destruction brought on my people.”
5 The Almighty Lord of Armies has chosen a special day.
It will be a day of confusion and trampling
in the valley of Vision,
⌞a day of⌟ tearing down walls and crying for help
in the mountains.
6 Elam takes its quiver of arrows,
manned chariots, and horsemen.
Kir uncovers its shields.
7 Then your fertile valleys will be filled with chariots,
and horsemen will stand ready in front of the gate.
8 On that day the Lord will remove the defenses of Judah.
You will look for weapons in the House of the Forest.[k]
9 You will see how many places in David’s wall are broken.
You will store water in the Lower Pool.
10 You will count the houses in Jerusalem.
You will tear down those houses in order to fortify the walls.
11 You will build a reservoir between the two walls
to hold the water of the Old Pool.
You didn’t look to Jerusalem’s maker.
You didn’t see the one who formed it long ago.
12 On that day the Almighty Lord of Armies
will call for crying and for mourning,
for shaving your heads and for wearing sackcloth.
13 Instead, you will rejoice, celebrate,
slaughter cattle, and butcher sheep.
You will eat meat, drink wine, and say,
“Let’s eat and drink because tomorrow we’re going to die.”
14 The Lord of Armies revealed this to me: “Certainly, this wrong will not be forgiven even when you die,” says the Almighty Lord of Armies.
Shebna’s Position Will Be Given to Eliakim
15 This is what the Almighty Lord of Armies says:
Go to Shebna, the man in charge of the palace, and say ⌞to him⌟,
16 “What are you doing here?
What right do you have to dig a tomb for yourself?
What right do you have to cut it out in a prominent place?
What right do you have to carve out
a resting place for yourself in the rock?
17 Look, mighty man!
The Lord will throw you out.
He will grab you.
18 He will wrap you up tightly like a turban.
He will throw you far away into another land.
There you will die.
There your splendid chariots will remain.
There you will become a disgrace to your master’s household.
19 “I will remove you from your office
and do away with your position.
20 When that day comes, I will call my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah.
21 I will dress him in your linen robe
and fasten it with your belt.
I will give him your authority,
and he will be like a father to those who live in Jerusalem
and to the nation of Judah.
22 I will place the key of the house of David around his neck.
What he opens no one will shut.
What he shuts no one will open.
23 I will fasten him firmly in place like a peg,
and he will be a source of honor for his father’s household.
24 They will hang on him the whole weight of his father’s household,
descendants and offspring and all the little utensils,
from bowls to jars of every kind.”
25 The Lord of Armies declares,
“On that day the peg which I firmly fastened in place will be removed.
It will be cut off and will fall,
and everything hanging on it will be destroyed.”
The Lord has spoken.
Tyre Will Be Punished
23 This is the divine revelation about Tyre.
Cry loudly, you ships of Tarshish!
Your port at Tyre is destroyed.
Word has come to the ships from Cyprus.
2 Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland, you merchants from Sidon.
Your messengers have crossed the sea.
3 The grain of Shihor is on the Mediterranean.
The harvest of the Nile River is brought to Tyre.
Tyre became the marketplace for the nations.
4 Be ashamed, Sidon, because the stronghold by the sea has spoken,
“I’ve never been in labor or given birth.
I’ve raised no sons.
I’ve brought up no daughters.”
5 When the news reaches Egypt,
the Egyptians will shudder over the news about Tyre.
6 Travel to Tarshish!
Cry loudly, you inhabitants of the seacoast!
7 Is this your bustling city founded in the distant past?
Is this the city that sent its people to settle in distant lands?
8 Who planned such a thing against Tyre, the city that produced kings?
Its merchants are princes.
Its traders are among the honored people of the world.
9 The Lord of Armies planned this
in order to dishonor all arrogant people
and to humiliate all the honored people of the world.
10 Travel through your country like the Nile, people of Tarshish.
You no longer have a harbor.
11 The Lord has stretched his hand over the sea to shake kingdoms.
He has commanded that Canaan’s fortifications be destroyed.
12 He says, “You will no longer be joyful,
my dear abused people Sidon.”
Get up, and travel to Cyprus.
Even there you will find no rest.
13 Look at the land of the Babylonians.
These people will be gone.
Assyria gave this land to the desert animals.
Assyria set up battle towers,
stripped palaces bare,
and turned these places into ruins.
14 Cry loudly, you ships of Tarshish, because your fortress will be destroyed. 15 When that day comes, Tyre will be forgotten for 70 years, the lifetime of one king. At the end of the 70 years, Tyre will be like the prostitute in this song:
16 “Take your lyre.
Go around in the city, you forgotten prostitute.
Make sweet music.
Sing many songs so that you’ll be remembered.”
17 At the end of 70 years the Lord will come to help Tyre. Then she will go back to earning money as a prostitute. She will become a prostitute for all the world’s kingdoms. 18 Her profits and her earnings will be turned over to the Lord for his holy purpose. It won’t be stored or hoarded. Her merchandise will belong to those who live in the presence of the Lord so that they will have plenty of food and expensive clothing.
The Lord’s Great Triumph
24 The Lord is going to turn the earth into a desolate wasteland.
He will mar the face of the earth and scatter the people living on it.
2 The same will happen to people and priests,
male slaves and masters,
female slaves and masters,
buyers and sellers,
lenders and borrowers,
debtors and creditors.
3 The earth will be completely laid waste and stripped
because the Lord has spoken.
4 The earth dries up and withers.
The world wastes away and withers.
The great leaders of the earth waste away.
5 The earth is polluted by those who live on it
because they’ve disobeyed the Lord’s teachings,
violated his laws,
and rejected the everlasting promise.[l]
6 That is why a curse devours the earth,
and its people are punished for their guilt.
That is why those who live on the earth are burned up,
and only a few people are left.
7 New wine dries up, and grapevines waste away.
All happy people groan.
8 Joyful tambourine music stops.
Noisy celebrations cease.
Joyful harp music stops.
9 People no longer drink wine when they sing.
Liquor tastes bad to its drinkers.
10 The ruined city lies desolate.
The entrance to every house is barred shut.
11 People in the streets call for wine.
All joy passes away,
and the earth’s happiness is banished.
12 The city is left in ruins.
Its gate is battered to pieces.
13 That is the way it will be on earth among the nations.
They will be like an olive tree which has been shaken
or like what’s left after the grape harvest.
14 They raise their voices.
They shout for joy.
From the sea they sing joyfully about the Lord’s majesty.
15 Honor the Lord in the east.
Honor the name of the Lord God of Israel along the coastlands.
16 From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise
that honor the Righteous One.
But I kept saying,
“I’m wasting away! I’m wasting away!
How horrible it is for me!
Traitors continue to betray,
and their treachery grows worse and worse.”
17 Disasters, pits, and traps
are in store for those who live on earth.
18 Whoever flees from news of a disaster will fall into a pit.
Whoever climbs out of that pit will be caught in a trap.
The floodgates in the sky will be opened,
and the foundations of the earth will shake.
19 The earth will be completely broken.
The earth will shake back and forth violently.
The earth will stagger.
20 The earth will stumble like a drunk
and sway like a shack in the wind.
Its disobedience weighs heavy on it.
It will fall and not get up again.
21 On that day the Lord will punish heaven’s armies in heaven
and earth’s kings on earth.
22 They’ll be gathered like prisoners in a jail
and locked in prison.
After a long time they’ll be punished.
23 The moon will be embarrassed.
The sun will be ashamed,
because the Lord of Armies will rule
on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem.
He will be glorious in the presence of his respected leaders.
The Lord Protects the Weak
25 O Lord, you are my God.
I will highly honor you; I will praise your name.
You have done miraculous things.
You have been completely reliable
in carrying out your plans from long ago.
2 You have turned cities into ruins,
fortified cities into piles of rubble,
and foreigners’ palaces into cities that will never be rebuilt.
3 That is why strong people will honor you,
and cities ruled by the world’s tyrants will fear you.
4 You have been a refuge for the poor,
a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rain, and shade from the heat.
(A tyrant’s breath is like a rainstorm against a wall,
5 like heat in a dry land.)
You calm the uproar of foreigners.
The song of tyrants is silenced
like heat that is ⌞reduced⌟ by the shadow of a cloud.
Death Will Be Swallowed Up
6 On this mountain the Lord of Armies will prepare for all people
a feast with the best foods,
a banquet with aged wines,
with the best foods and the finest wines.
7 On this mountain he will remove
the veil of grief covering all people
and the mask covering all nations.
8 He will swallow up death forever.
The Almighty Lord will wipe away tears from every face,
and he will remove the disgrace of his people from the whole earth.
The Lord has spoken.
9 On that day ⌞his people⌟ will say,
“This is our God; we have waited for him, and now he will save us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for him.
Let us rejoice and be glad because he will save us.”
10 The Lord’s power will be on this mountain.
Moab will be trampled beneath him
like straw that is trampled in a pile of manure.
11 The Moabites will stretch out their hands in the manure
like swimmers who stretch out their hands to swim.
⌞The Lord⌟ will humble those arrogant people
despite the movements of their hands.
12 He will bring down Moab’s high fortified walls,
level them, and throw them into the dust on the ground.
The Lord’s People Praise Him for Salvation
26 On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city.
Its walls and fortifications provide safety.
2 Open the gates, and let the righteous nation come in,
the nation that remains faithful.
3 With perfect peace you will protect those whose minds cannot be changed,
because they trust you.
4 Trust the Lord always,
because the Lord, the Lord alone, is an everlasting rock.
5 He has brought down those who live high in the towering city.
He levels it.
He levels it to the ground and throws it into the dust.
6 Feet trample it,
the feet of the oppressed,
the footsteps of the poor.
7 The path of the righteous is level.
O Upright One, you make the road of the righteous smooth.
8 Certainly, we wait with hope for you, O Lord,
⌞as we follow⌟ the path of your guiding principles.
We want to remember you and your name.
9 With my soul I long for you at night.
Yes, with my spirit I eagerly look for you.
When your guiding principles are on earth,
those who live in the world learn to do what is right.
10 Although the wicked are shown pity,
they do not learn to do what is right.
They do what is wrong in the upright land
and do not see the majesty of the Lord.
11 O Lord, your power is visible, but they do not see it.
They will see how devoted your people are,
and they will be put to shame.
Your burning anger will destroy your enemies.
12 O Lord, you will establish peace for us,
since you have done everything for us.
13 O Lord, our God, you are not the only master to rule us,
but we acknowledge only you.
14 The wicked are dead.
They are no longer alive.
The spirits of the dead won’t rise.
You have punished them, destroyed them,
and wiped out all memory of them.
15 You have expanded the nation, O Lord.
You have expanded the nation.
You are honored.
You have extended all the land’s boundaries.
16 O Lord, the people have come to you in trouble.
They were humbled by oppression, by your discipline upon them.
17 O Lord, when we are with you,
we are like pregnant women ready to give birth.
They writhe and cry out in their labor pains.
18 We were pregnant; we writhed with labor pains
only to give birth to the wind.
We weren’t able to bring salvation to the land,
and no new people were born on earth.
19 Your dead will live.
Their corpses will rise.
Those who lie dead in the dust will wake up and shout for joy,
because your dew is a refreshing dew,
and the earth will revive the spirits of the dead.
20 My people, go to your rooms,
and shut the doors behind you.
Hide for a little while until his fury has ended.
21 The Lord is going to come out from his dwelling place
to punish those who live on earth for their sins.
The earth will uncover the blood shed on it
and will no longer cover up its dead bodies.
The Lord’s People Will Worship on His Holy Mountain
27 On that day the Lord will use his fierce and powerful sword
to punish Leviathan, that slippery snake,
Leviathan, that twisting snake.
He will kill that monster which lives in the sea.
2 On that day sing about a delightful vineyard.
3 I, the Lord, watch over it.
I water it continually.
I watch over it day and night
so that no one will harm it.
4 I am no longer angry.
If only thorns and briars would confront me!
I would fight them in battle and set all of them on fire.
5 Or else let them come to me for protection.
Let them make peace with me.
Yes, let them make peace with me.
6 In times to come Jacob will take root.
Israel will blossom, bud,
and fill the whole world with fruit.
7 Will the Lord hurt Israel as he hurt others who hurt them?
Will he kill them as he killed others?
8 He punished Israel by sending it away.
He removed it with a fierce blast from the east winds.
9 In this way the wrongdoings of the descendants of Jacob are covered up.
This is the way they will turn from their sins—
when they turn all the altar stones into powdered chalk
and no poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah
or incense altars are left standing.
10 The fortified city is isolated.
The homestead is left deserted, abandoned like the desert.
Calves will graze there.
They will lie down.
They will feed on the branches.
11 When the branches are dried up,
they will be broken off.
Women will come and build a fire with them.
These people don’t understand ⌞these things⌟.
That is why their maker won’t have compassion on them,
and their Creator won’t have pity on them.
12 On that day the Lord will begin his threshing [m]
from the flowing stream of the Euphrates River
to the brook of Egypt.
People of Israel, you will be gathered one by one.
13 On that day a ram’s horn will be blown loudly.
Those who are dying in Assyria
and those who are banished to Egypt
will come and worship the Lord
on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
Ephraim Will Fall
28 How horrible it will be for the arrogant drunks of Ephraim.
Their glorious beauty is ⌞like⌟ a withered flower.
They are at the entrance to a fertile valley
where they lie drunk from wine.
2 The Lord has one who is strong and powerful.
He is like a hailstorm, a destructive wind.
He is like a thunderstorm, an overwhelming flood.
He will throw them to the ground forcefully.
3 The arrogant drunks of Ephraim will be trampled underfoot.
4 Their glorious beauty is ⌞like⌟ a withered flower.
They are at the entrance to a fertile valley.
They will be like figs that ripened early.
As soon as someone sees them,
they will be taken and eaten.
5 When that day comes, the Lord of Armies will be
like a glorious crown for his few remaining people.
6 He will give a spirit of justice to those who judge.
He will give strength to those who defend the city gates in battle.
7 Priests and prophets stagger from wine and wobble from too much liquor.
They stagger from too much liquor
and become confused from too much wine.
They wobble because of their liquor.
They stagger when they see visions.
They swerve as they judge.
8 All the tables are covered with vomit and excrement.
There isn’t a clean place left.
9 To whom will they make the message understood?
To whom will they explain this message?
To children just weaned from milk?
To those just taken from their ⌞mother’s⌟ breasts?
10 They speak utter nonsense.[n]
11 The Lord will speak to these people.
He will mock them by speaking in a foreign language.
12 He will say to them,
“This is a place for comfort.
This is a place of rest for those who are tired.
This is a place for them to rest.”
But they weren’t willing to listen.
13 The Lord speaks utter nonsense to them.
That is why they will fall backwards.
That is why they will be hurt, trapped, and captured.
A Message to Jerusalem
14 So hear the Lord’s word, you foolish talkers
who rule the people in Jerusalem.
15 You say, “We made a treaty with death
and an agreement with the grave.
When the overwhelming disaster passes by,
it won’t matter to us,
because we have taken refuge in our lies,
and falsehood is our hiding place.”
16 This is what the Almighty Lord says:
I am going to lay a rock in Zion,
a rock that has been tested,
a precious cornerstone,
a solid foundation.
Whoever believes ⌞in him⌟ will not worry.
17 I will make justice a measuring line
and righteousness a plumb line.
Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies,
and floodwaters will wash away your hiding place.
18 Your treaty with death will be wiped away.
Your agreement with the grave will not stand.
When the overwhelming disaster passes by,
you will be trampled by it.
19 Each time it passes by it will take you.
It will pass by morning after morning,
during the day and during the night.
Understanding this message brings only terror.
20 The bed is too short to stretch out on.
The blanket is too narrow to serve as a cover.
21 The Lord will rise as he did on Mount Perazim.
He will wake up as he did in Gibeon Valley.
He will do his work, his unexpected work,
and perform his deeds, his mysterious deeds.
22 Now stop laughing, or your chains will be tightened,
because I have heard that the Almighty Lord of Armies
has finally determined to destroy the whole land.
23 Open your ears, and listen to me!
Pay attention, and hear me!
24 Does a farmer go on plowing every day so he can plant?
Does he continue to break up the soil and make furrows in the ground?
25 When he has smoothed its surface,
doesn’t he scatter black cumin seed and plant cumin?
Doesn’t he plant wild wheat in rows?
Doesn’t he put barley in its own area
and winter wheat at its borders?
26 God will guide him in judgment,
and his God will teach him.
27 Black cumin isn’t threshed [o] with a sledge,
and wagon wheels aren’t rolled over cumin.
Black cumin is beaten with a rod
and cumin with a stick.
28 Grain is ground into flour, but the grinding eventually stops.
It will be threshed.
The wheels of his cart will roll over it,
but his horses won’t crush it.
29 All of this has come from the Lord of Armies.
His counsel is wonderful, and his wisdom is great.
Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.