Add parallel Print Page Options

14 Your fastest runners will not get away.
    The strongest among you will become weak.
Even mighty warriors will be unable to save themselves.

Read full chapter

14 The swift will not escape,(A)
    the strong(B) will not muster their strength,
    and the warrior will not save his life.(C)

Read full chapter

23 This is what the Lord says:
“Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom,
    or the powerful boast in their power,
    or the rich boast in their riches.

Read full chapter

23 This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom(A)
    or the strong boast of their strength(B)
    or the rich boast of their riches,(C)

Read full chapter

A Vision of God at the Altar

Then I saw a vision of the Lord standing beside the altar. He said,

“Strike the tops of the Temple columns,
    so that the foundation will shake.
Bring down the roof
    on the heads of the people below.
I will kill with the sword those who survive.
    No one will escape!

“Even if they dig down to the place of the dead,[a]
    I will reach down and pull them up.
Even if they climb up into the heavens,
    I will bring them down.
Even if they hide at the very top of Mount Carmel,
    I will search them out and capture them.
Even if they hide at the bottom of the ocean,
    I will send the sea serpent after them to bite them.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 9:2 Hebrew to Sheol.

Israel to Be Destroyed

I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:

“Strike the tops of the pillars
    so that the thresholds shake.
Bring them down on the heads(A) of all the people;
    those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
    none will escape.(B)
Though they dig down to the depths below,(C)
    from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens above,(D)
    from there I will bring them down.(E)
Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,(F)
    there I will hunt them down and seize them.(G)
Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea,(H)
    there I will command the serpent(I) to bite them.(J)

Read full chapter

11 I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.

Read full chapter

11 I have seen something else under the sun:

The race is not to the swift
    or the battle to the strong,(A)
nor does food come to the wise(B)
    or wealth to the brilliant
    or favor to the learned;
but time and chance(C) happen to them all.(D)

Read full chapter

16 The best-equipped army cannot save a king,
    nor is great strength enough to save a warrior.

Read full chapter

16 No king is saved by the size of his army;(A)
    no warrior escapes by his great strength.

Read full chapter

16 You said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt.
    They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.’
But the only swiftness you are going to see
    is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you!
17 One of them will chase a thousand of you.
    Five of them will make all of you flee.
You will be left like a lonely flagpole on a hill
    or a tattered banner on a distant mountaintop.”

Read full chapter

16 You said, ‘No, we will flee(A) on horses.’(B)
    Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
    Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17 A thousand will flee
    at the threat of one;
at the threat of five(C)
    you will all flee(D) away,
till you are left(E)
    like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
    like a banner(F) on a hill.”

Read full chapter

20 But the wicked will be blinded.
    They will have no escape.
    Their only hope is death.”

Read full chapter

20 But the eyes of the wicked will fail,(A)
    and escape will elude them;(B)
    their hope will become a dying gasp.”(C)

Read full chapter