³ Our God will come, and He will not enter on a whisper.
    A fire will devour the earth before Him;
    the wind will storm wildly about Him.
⁴ He calls heaven above and earth below
    to assist in bringing judgment on His people.
⁵ “Gather up those who are aligned with Me; bring them to Me;
    bring everyone who belongs to Me who have made covenant sacrifice.”
⁶ And the heavens shout of His justice,
    for He is the True God, an honest judge.

[pause]^[a]

⁷ “Listen, My people, I have something to say:
    O Israel, My testimony comes against you;
    I am God, your God.
⁸ I am not going to scold you because of your sacrifices;
    your burnt offerings are always before Me.

²² All you who have forgotten Me, your God, should think about what I have said,
    or I will tear you apart and leave no one to save you.
²³ Set out a sacrifice I can accept: your thankfulness.
    Do this, and you will honor Me.
    Those who straighten up their lives
    will know the saving grace of God.”

⁸ The Lord has dispatched a word against Jacob;
    it will come down hard on Israel.
⁹ All the people of Ephraim and the citizens of its capital Samaria will know.
    In their pride and arrogance they say:
¹⁰ “Hey! The walls have collapsed, but this gives us a chance to rebuild
    better than it was before with the best stones instead of brick.
The invaders may have chopped down the sycamores,
    but we will plant cedars in their place.”
¹¹ But the Eternal stirs up Rezin’s enemies to move against Israel
    and arouses all their foes to join them.
¹² They come, these enemies, from both sides (Syrians on the east and Philistines on the west)
    and consume Israel, swallowing it whole.
Still, God’s anger smolders.
    His hand is raised; there’s more to come.

¹³ But the people don’t return to God after all His punishment.
    They don’t change their ways and right their paths
To seek the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies.
¹⁴ Therefore, He will take them to task.
    In a single day He’ll cut off from Israel the head and the tail;
He’ll cut down the noble palm and lowly reed.
¹⁵ The head are those charged with leadership—political and religious—
    who used their power in the worst possible ways;
And the tail are the prophets who slur their lies.
¹⁶ These misguided leaders have misled this people;
    and those who follow have become swallowed up in their deceit.
^17-18 Even now the Lord takes no joy in a single one, not even the young.
    Mercy has run out for even those without power—the widows and orphans.
For every single person is at fault and behaves badly.
    No one thinks or acts as God would have them do.
Every mouth utters foolishness like a wildfire, out of control;
    wickedness rages, leveling and clearing briars and thorns;
Forests and thickets burn, leaving the whole a smoking heap.
    Still, God’s anger smolders. His hand is raised; there’s more to come.