2 I will stand at my watchpost;
I will station myself on the rampart.
I will look to see what [God] will say through me
and what I will answer when I am reproved.

² Then Adonai answered me; he said,

“Write down the vision clearly on tablets,
so that even a runner can read it.
³ For the vision is meant for its appointed time;
it speaks of the end, and it does not lie.
It may take a while, but wait for it;
it will surely come, it will not delay.

⁴ “Look at the proud: he is inwardly not upright;
but the righteous will attain life through trusting faithfulness.
⁵ Truly, wine is treacherous;
the arrogant will not live at peace
but keeps expanding his desires like Sh’ol;
like death, he can never be satisfied;
he keeps collecting all the nations for himself,
rallying to himself all the peoples.
⁶ Won’t all these take up taunting him
and say about him, in mocking riddles,
‘Woe to him who amasses other people’s wealth! —
how long must it go on? —
and to him who adds to himself the weight
of goods taken in pledge!
⁷ Won’t your own creditors suddenly stand,
won’t those who make you tremble wake up?
You will become their spoil.
⁸ Because you plundered many nations,
all the rest of the peoples will plunder you;
because of the bloodshed and violence done
to the land, the city and all who live there.

⁹ “‘Woe to him who seeks unjust gain for his household,
putting his nest on the heights,
in order to be safe from the reach of harm.
¹⁰ By scheming to destroy many peoples,
you have brought shame to your house
and forfeited your life.
¹¹ For the very stones will cry out from the wall,
and a beam in the framework will answer them.

¹² “‘Woe to him who builds a city with blood
and founds a town on injustice,
¹³ so that people toil for what will be burned up,
and nations exhaust themselves to no purpose.
Isn’t all this from Adonai-Tzva’ot?
¹⁴ For the earth will be as full
of the knowledge of Adonai’s glory
as water covering the sea.

¹⁵ “‘Woe to him who has his neighbor drink,
adds his own poison and makes him drunk,
in order to see him naked.
¹⁶ You are filled with shame, not glory.
You, drink too, and stagger!
The cup of Adonai’s right hand
will be turned against you;
your shame will exceed your glory.
¹⁷ For the violence done to the L’vanon
will overwhelm you,
and the destruction of the wild animals
will terrify you;
because of the bloodshed and violence done
to the land, the city and all who live there.’”

¹⁸ What good is an idol, once its maker has shaped it,
a cast metal image and a teacher of lies,
that its maker puts his trust in it,
and goes on making non-gods, unable to talk?
¹⁹ Woe to him who tells a piece of wood, “Wake up!”
or a speechless stone, “Rouse yourself!”
Can this thing teach? Why, it’s covered with gold and silver,
without the slightest breath in it!
²⁰ But Adonai is in his holy temple;
let all the earth be silent before him.