The Fate of Jerusalem

29 God's altar, Jerusalem itself, is doomed! The city where David camped is doomed! Let another year or two come and go, with its feasts and festivals, ² and then God will bring disaster on the city that is called “God's altar.” There will be weeping and wailing, and the whole city will be like an altar covered with blood. ³ God will attack the city, surround it, and besiege it. ⁴ Jerusalem will be like a ghost struggling to speak from under the ground, a muffled voice coming from the dust.

⁵ Jerusalem, all the foreigners who attack you will be blown away like dust, and their terrifying armies will fly away like straw. Suddenly and unexpectedly ⁶ the Lord Almighty will rescue you with violent thunderstorms and earthquakes. He will send windstorms and raging fire; ⁷ then all the armies of the nations attacking the city of God's altar, all their weapons and equipment—everything—will vanish like a dream, like something imagined in the night.