2 I will ^(A)take my stand at my watchpost
    and station myself on the tower,
and ^(B)look out to see ^(C)what he will say to me,
    and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

^(D)“Write the vision;
    make it plain on tablets,
    so he may run who reads it.
³ For still ^(E)the vision awaits its appointed time;
    it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, ^(F)wait for it;
    ^(G)it will surely come; it will not delay.

⁴ “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
    but ^(H)the righteous shall live by his faith.^[a]

⁵ “Moreover, wine^[b] is ^(I)a traitor,
    an arrogant man who is never at rest.^[c]
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
    like death ^(J)he has never enough.
^(K)He gathers for himself all nations
    and collects as his own all peoples.”

^(M)“Woe to him ^(N)who heaps up what is not his own—
    for ^(O)how long?—
    and ^(P)loads himself with pledges!”
^7 (Q)Will not your debtors suddenly arise,
    and those awake who will make you tremble?
    Then you will be spoil for them.
^8 (R)Because you have plundered many nations,
    all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
^(S)for the blood of man and ^(T)violence to the earth,
    to cities and all who dwell in them.

^9 (U)“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
    ^(V)to ^(W)set his nest on high,
    to be safe from the reach of harm!
¹⁰ You have devised shame for your house
    ^(X)by cutting off many peoples;
    you have forfeited your life.
¹¹ For ^(Y)the stone will cry out from the wall,
    and the beam from the woodwork respond.

^12 (Z)“Woe to him ^(AA)who builds a town with blood
    and founds a city on iniquity!
¹³ Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
    that ^(AB)peoples labor merely for fire,
    and nations weary themselves for nothing?
^14 (AC)For the earth will be filled
    with the knowledge of ^(AD)the glory of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

^15 (AE)“Woe to him ^(AF)who makes his neighbors drink—
    you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,
    in order to gaze ^(AG)at their nakedness!
¹⁶ You will have your fill ^(AH)of shame instead of glory.
    ^(AI)Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!
^(AJ)The cup in the Lord's right hand
    will come around to you,
    and ^(AK)utter shame will come upon your glory!
^17 (AL)The violence ^(AM)done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
    as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,
^(AN)for the blood of man and violence to the earth,
    to cities and all who dwell in them.

^18 (AO)“What profit is an idol
    when its maker has shaped it,
    a metal image, ^(AP)a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
    when he makes ^(AQ)speechless idols!
^19 (AR)Woe to him ^(AS)who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
    to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
    and ^(AT)there is no breath at all in it.
²⁰ But ^(AU)the Lord is in his holy temple;
    ^(AV)let all the earth keep silence before him.”

² O Lord, ^(AW)I have heard the report of you,
    and ^(AX)your work, O Lord, do I fear.
In the midst of the years ^(AY)revive it;
    in the midst of the years make it known;
    ^(AZ)in wrath remember mercy.
³ God came from ^(BA)Teman,
    ^(BB)and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covered the heavens,
    and the earth was full of his praise.
^4 (BC)His brightness was like the light;
    rays flashed from his hand;
    and there he veiled his power.
^5 (BD)Before him went pestilence,
    and plague followed ^(BE)at his heels.^[d]
6 He stood ^(BF)and measured the earth;
    he looked and shook the nations;
then the ^(BG)eternal mountains ^(BH)were scattered;
    the everlasting hills sank low.
    His were ^(BI)the everlasting ways.
⁷ I saw the tents of ^(BJ)Cushan in affliction;
    ^(BK)the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
^8 (BL)Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord?
    Was your anger against the rivers,
    ^(BM)or your indignation against the sea,
^(BN)when you rode on your horses,
    ^(BO)on your chariot of salvation?
⁹ You stripped the sheath from your bow,
    calling for many arrows.^[e] Selah
    ^(BP)You split the earth with rivers.
^10 (BQ)The mountains saw you and writhed;
    the raging waters swept on;
^(BR)the deep gave forth its voice;
    ^(BS)it lifted its hands on high.
^11 (BT)The sun and moon stood still in their place
    ^(BU)at the light of your arrows as they sped,
    at the flash of your glittering spear.
^12 (BV)You marched through the earth in fury;
    ^(BW)you threshed the nations in anger.
^13 (BX)You went out for the salvation of your people,
    for the salvation of ^(BY)your anointed.
^(BZ)You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,
    laying him bare from thigh to neck.^[f] Selah
¹⁴ You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors,
    who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,
    rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.
^15 (CA)You trampled the sea with your horses,
    the surging of mighty waters.

^16 (CB)I hear, and ^(CC)my body trembles;
    my lips quiver at the sound;
^(CD)rottenness enters into my bones;
    my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet ^(CE)I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
    to come upon people who invade us.

^(CK)To the choirmaster: with ^(CL)stringed^[g] instruments.

¹⁰ “On that day,” declares the Lord,
    “a cry will be heard from ^(DG)the Fish Gate,
^(DH)a wail from ^(DI)the Second Quarter,
    a loud crash from the hills.
^11 (DJ)Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!
    For all the traders^[k] are no more;
    all who weigh out silver are cut off.
¹² At that time ^(DK)I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
    and I will punish the men
^(DL)who are complacent,^{[l]
    (DM)}those who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good,
    nor will he do ill.’
¹³ Their goods shall be ^(DN)plundered,
    and their houses laid waste.
^(DO)Though they build houses,
    they shall not inhabit them;
^(DP)though they plant vineyards,
    they shall not drink wine from them.”

^14 (DQ)The great day of the Lord is near,
    near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;
    ^(DR)the mighty man cries aloud there.
^15 (DS)A day of wrath is that day,
    a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ^(DT)ruin and devastation,
    ^(DU)a day of darkness and gloom,
^(DV)a day of clouds and thick darkness,
^{16     (DW)}a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
^(DX)against the fortified cities
    and against the lofty battlements.

^17 (DY)I will bring distress on mankind,
    so that they shall walk ^(DZ)like the blind,
    because they have sinned against the Lord;
^(EA)their blood shall be poured out like dust,
    and their flesh ^(EB)like dung.
^18 (EC)Neither their silver nor their gold
    shall be able to deliver them
    on the day of the wrath of the Lord.
^(ED)In the fire of his jealousy,
    ^(EE)all the earth shall be consumed;
^(EF)for a full and sudden end
    he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

⁵ Woe to ^(EQ)you inhabitants of the seacoast,
    you nation of ^(ER)the Cherethites!
^(ES)The word of the Lord is against you,
    ^(ET)O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
    and I will destroy you ^(EU)until no inhabitant is left.
^6 (EV)And you, O seacoast, ^(EW)shall be pastures,
    with meadows^[o] for shepherds
    and folds for flocks.
^7 (EX)The seacoast shall become the possession
    of ^(EY)the remnant of the house of Judah,
    ^(EZ)on which they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
    they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God ^(FA)will be mindful of them
    and ^(FB)restore their fortunes.

⁸ “I have heard ^(FC)the taunts of Moab
    and ^(FD)the revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
    and made boasts ^(FE)against their territory.
⁹ Therefore, ^(FF)as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,
    the God of Israel,
“Moab shall become ^(FG)like Sodom,
    and the Ammonites ^(FH)like Gomorrah,
a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,
    and a waste forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
    and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
¹⁰ This shall be their lot in return ^(FI)for their pride,
    because they taunted and boasted
    against the people of the Lord of hosts.
¹¹ The Lord will be awesome against them;
    ^(FJ)for he will famish all the gods of the earth,
and ^(FK)to him shall bow down,
    each in its place,
    all ^(FL)the lands of the nations.

^12 (FM)You also, O Cushites,
    shall be slain by my sword.

¹³ And he will stretch out his hand against the north
    ^(FN)and destroy Assyria,
and he ^(FO)will make Nineveh a desolation,
    a dry waste like the desert.
^14 (FP)Herds shall lie down in her midst,
    all kinds of beasts;^[p]
(FQ)even the owl and the hedgehog^[q]
    shall lodge in her capitals;
a voice shall hoot in the window;
    devastation will be on the threshold;
    for ^(FR)her cedar work will be laid bare.
¹⁵ This is the exultant city
    ^(FS)that lived securely,
that said in her heart,
    “I am, and there is no one else.”
What a desolation she has become,
    ^(FT)a lair for wild beasts!
^(FU)Everyone who passes by her
    hisses and ^(FV)shakes his fist.

^(C)“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
    She has become ^(D)a dwelling place for demons,
a haunt ^(E)for every unclean spirit,
    a haunt ^(F)for every unclean bird,
    a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
³ For all nations have drunk^{[a]
    (G)}the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and ^(H)the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
    and ^(I)the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

^(J)“Come out of her, my people,
    lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
⁵ for ^(K)her sins are heaped high as heaven,
    and ^(L)God has remembered her iniquities.
^6 (M)Pay her back as she herself has paid back others,
    and repay her ^(N)double for her deeds;
    mix a double portion for her ^(O)in the cup she mixed.
^7 (P)As she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
    so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,
since in her heart she says,
    ^(Q)‘I sit as a queen,
I am no widow,
    and mourning I shall never see.’
⁸ For this reason her plagues will come ^(R)in a single day,
    death and mourning and famine,
and ^(S)she will be burned up with fire;
    for ^(T)mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

“Alas! Alas! ^(Y)You great city,
    you mighty city, Babylon!
For ^(Z)in a single hour your judgment has come.”

¹⁴ “The fruit for which your soul longed
    has gone from you,
and all your delicacies and your splendors
    are lost to you,
    never to be found again!”

¹⁶ “Alas, alas, for the great city
    ^(AD)that was clothed in fine linen,
        in purple and scarlet,
    adorned with gold,
        with jewels, and with pearls!
¹⁷ For ^(AE)in a single hour all this wealth ^(AF)has been laid waste.”

^(AJ)“What city was like the great city?”

“Alas, alas, for the great city
    ^(AL)where all who had ships at sea
    grew rich by her wealth!
For ^(AM)in a single hour she has been laid waste.
^20 (AN)Rejoice over her, O heaven,
    and you saints and ^(AO)apostles and prophets,
for ^(AP)God has given judgment for you against her!”

“So will Babylon ^(AS)the great city be thrown down with violence,
    and will be found no more;
²² and ^(AT)the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,
    will be heard in you no more,
and a craftsman of any craft
    will be found in you no more,
and ^(AU)the sound of the mill
    will be heard in you no more,
²³ and the light of a lamp
    will shine in you no more,
and ^(AV)the voice of bridegroom and bride
    will be heard in you no more,
for ^(AW)your merchants were the great ones of the earth,
    and all nations were deceived ^(AX)by your sorcery.
²⁴ And ^(AY)in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
    and of ^(AZ)all who have been slain on earth.”