9
The Destruction of Israel
1 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.
2 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.
3 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 * Hebrew nachash; translated in most cases as snake to bite them.
4 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.”
5 The Lord GOD of Hosts,
He who touches the earth and it melts,
and all its dwellers mourn—
all the land rises like the Nile,
then sinks like the river of Egypt—
6 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.
7 “Are you not like the Cushites † That is, people from the upper Nile region to Me,
O children of Israel?”
declares the LORD.
“Did I not bring Israel
up from the land of Egypt,
the Philistines from Caphtor,‡ That is, Crete
and the Arameans from Kir?
8 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.
9 “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.
10 All the sinners among My people
will die by the sword—
all those who say,
‘Disaster will never draw near or confront us.’ ”
A Promise of Restoration
(Acts 15:5–21)
11 “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,
12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations that bear My name,”§ Hebrew; LXX that the remnant of men, and all the nations that bear My name, may earnestly seek Me; cited in Acts 15:16–18
declares the LORD, who will do this.
13 “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.
14 I will restore My people Israel from captivity;* Or restore the fortunes of 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.
15 I will firmly plant them in their own land,
never again to be uprooted
from the land that I have given them,”
says the LORD your God.
*9:3 Hebrew nachash; translated in most cases as snake
†9:7 That is, people from the upper Nile region
‡9:7 That is, Crete
§9:12 Hebrew; LXX that the remnant of men, and all the nations that bear My name, may earnestly seek Me; cited in Acts 15:16–18
*9:14 Or restore the fortunes of My people Israel