And her gates will lament and mourn, And she will sit deserted on the ground.

A Remnant Prepared

For seven women will take hold of one man on that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our disgrace!”

On that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the beauty of the survivors of Israel.

When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning,

then the Lord will create over the entire area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy.

And there will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain.

Parable of the Vineyard

Let me sing now for my beloved A song of my beloved about His vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.

He dug it all around, cleared it of stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it, And also carved out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones.

So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground.

For the vineyard of the Lord of armies is the house of Israel, And the people of Judah are His delightful plant. So He waited for justice, but behold, there was bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.

In my ears the Lord of armies has sworn, “Many houses shall certainly become desolate, Even great and fine ones, without occupants.

For ten acres of vineyard will yield only one bath of wine, And a homer of seed will yield only an ephah of grain.”

Woe to those who rise early in the morning so that they may pursue intoxicating drink, Who stay up late in the evening so that wine may inflame them!

Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth beyond measure; And Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her noise of revelry, and the jubilant within her, descend into it.

So the common people will be humbled and the person of importance brought low, The eyes of the haughty also will be brought low.

But the Lord of armies will be exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.

Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat in the ruins of the wealthy.

Woe to those who drag wrongdoing with the cords of deceit, And sin as if with cart ropes;

Who say, “Let Him hurry, let Him do His work quickly, so that we may see it; And let the plan of the Holy One of Israel approach And come to pass, so that we may know it!”

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight!

Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble, And dry grass collapses in the flame, So their root will become like rot, and their blossom blow away like dust; For they have rejected the Law of the Lord of armies, And discarded the word of the Holy One of Israel.

For this reason the anger of the Lord has burned against His people, And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them. And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not spent, But His hand is still stretched out.

He will also lift up a flag to the distant nation, And whistle for it from the ends of the earth; And behold, it will come with speed swiftly.

No one in it is tired or stumbles, No one slumbers or sleeps; Nor is the undergarment at his waist loosened, Nor his sandal strap broken.