Beginning

² How long, O Lord, must I cry for help
    while you do not listen?
I cry out to you, “Violence!”
    but you refuse to intervene.
³ Why do you make me witness wrongdoing
    and confront me with wickedness?
Destruction and violence confront me;
    strife is everywhere, and discord abounds.
⁴ As a result, the law becomes ineffective
    and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
    and judgment becomes perverted.
⁵ “Gaze upon the nations and see.
    You will be amazed, even astounded.
You will not believe it when you are told
    what I am doing in your days.
⁶ For I am stirring up the Chaldeans,
    that savage and unruly people,
who march across the whole earth
    to seize dwellings of other people.
⁷ They inspire fear and terror,
    and they impose justice and judgment
    according to their own standards.
⁸ Their horses are swifter than leopards
    and more frightening than wolves at dusk.
Their horses gallop on,
    with riders advancing from far away,
    swooping like eagles to devour their prey.
⁹ They are all bent on violence,
    a horde moving steadily forward like an east wind;
    they scoop up captives like sand.
¹⁰ They scoff at kings,
    they despise rulers.
They regard every fortress with contempt,
    as they build earthen ramps to conquer it.
¹¹ Then they sweep past like the wind and are gone,
    as they ascribe their strength to their god.”
¹² “O Lord, are you not from everlasting,
    my holy God, you who are immortal?
You have marked them for judgment, O Lord;
    you, O Rock, have designated them for punishment.
¹³ Your eyes are too pure to gaze upon evil,
    and you cannot countenance wrongdoing.
Why then do you remain silent
    as you gaze on the treachery of the wicked,
watching them while they devour
    those who are more righteous?
¹⁴ You have made men like the fish of the sea,
    like crawling creatures without a ruler.
¹⁵ The wicked haul all of them up with a hook
    or catch them in a net.
They gather them up in a seine,
    and then rejoice and exult.
¹⁶ Therefore, the wicked offer sacrifice to their net
    and burn incense to their seine,
for, thanks to them, they live sumptuously
    and enjoy elegant food.
¹⁷ Shall they then be allowed
    to draw their sword unceasingly,
    and to slaughter nations without mercy?

¹ I will stand at my post
    and take up my position on the rampart,
and keep watch to see what he will say to me
    and what answer he will offer to my complaints.”

Write down the vision,
    inscribe it clearly on tablets
    so that it can be read easily.
³ For the vision is for the appointed time;
    it will speak of the end,
    and it will not lie.
If it delays in coming, wait for it,
    for it will surely come before too long.
⁴ The proud man’s heart is not upright,
    but the righteous man will live
    because of his faith.^[b]

⁵ Moreover, wealth is treacherous;
    those who are arrogant do not endure.
They open their throats as wide as Sheol
    and are as unstable as death.
They gather to themselves all the nations
    and make a harvest of all the peoples.
⁶ Everyone should taunt such people
    and turn on them with mockery and say,
“Woe to you who store up
    what is not your own.
Woe to you who enrich yourself
    with goods taken in pledge.
⁷ Will not your creditors rise up suddenly?
    Will not those who make you tremble wake up?
    Will you not become a victim to them?
⁸ Since you have plundered many nations,
    all the nations that survive will plunder you
because of the bloodshed and the violence
    you have inflicted on cities
    and all their inhabitants.
⁹ “Woe to the one who amasses
    ill-gotten gains for his household
so as to set his nest on high
    and thereby evade the reach of misfortune.
¹⁰ You have managed to bring shame upon your house
    by cutting off many peoples;
    you have placed your own life in jeopardy.
¹¹ The very stones will cry out from the wall,
    and the beam will respond from the woodwork.
¹² “Woe to the man who builds a city
    by means of bloodshed
    and founds a town on the basis of iniquity.
¹³ Is it not in the eternal design
    of the Lord of hosts
that what the people labor for
    is destined for the flames,
and that everything the nations
    exhaust themselves to achieve
    will come to naught.
¹⁴ However, the earth will be filled
    with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory
    just as the waters cover the sea.
^{15     [c]}“Woe to you who encourage your neighbors to drink,
    pouring it abundantly until they are drunk,
    so that you can gaze upon their nakedness.
¹⁶ You will be filled with shame instead of glory
    as you stagger in your drunkenness.
The cup in the Lord’s right hand
    will be passed on to you,
    and shame will overshadow your glory.
¹⁷ For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
    and the massacre of the animals will terrify you,
all as a result of the bloodshed and violence you inflicted
    on cities and all who dwell in them.
¹⁸ “Of what use is an idol
    after its maker has shaped it?
    It is only a presentation, a source of lies.
And why should its sculptor place his faith in it,
    a dumb idol that he has made?
¹⁹ Woe to anyone who says,
    ‘Wake up!’ to a block of wood,
    ‘Rouse yourself!’ to a lifeless stone.
Can such a thing offer guidance?
    It may be overlaid with gold and silver,
    but there is no breath of life within it.
²⁰ However, the Lord is in his holy temple.
    Let all the earth be silent before him.”

² O Lord, I have heard of your renown;
    your work, O Lord, fills me with awe.
Make it live once again in our own time;
    in the course of the years make it known,
    and in your wrath remember to have compassion on us.
³ God comes from Teman,
    the Holy One from Mount Paran.
His radiance covers the heavens,
    and with his glory the earth is filled.
⁴ His splendor is like that of the sunrise;
    rays shine forth from his hand
    where his power lies hidden.
⁵ Pestilence goes before him,
    and plague follows close behind.
⁶ When he stands up, the earth trembles;
    at his glance the nations panic.
The eternal mountains are shattered;
    along his ancient pathways,
    the age-old hills bow down.
⁷ The tents of the Ethiopians are in distress;
    the dwellings of the land of Midian are trembling.
⁸ Are you angry with the rivers, O Lord?
    Or is your wrath directed against the streams,
    or your rage against the sea,
that your horses are mounted
    and you drive your chariots to victory?
⁹ You uncover your bow
    and fill your quiver with arrows;
    into rivers you split the earth.
¹⁰ At the sight of you the mountains tremble;
    a torrent of water rushes by
    and the ocean thunders aloud.
¹¹ At the glint of your flying arrows
    and the gleam of your flashing spear,
the sun forgets to rise
    and the moon remains motionless in the heavens.
¹² In fury you stride across the earth;
    in anger you trample the nations.
¹³ You go forth to deliver your people,
    to save your anointed one.
You shatter the house of the wicked,
    laying bare its foundations to the bedrock.
¹⁴ You pierced with your arrows
    the leader of those warriors
who stormed toward us like a whirlwind,
    ready to devour the wretched who were in hiding.
¹⁵ You trampled the sea with your horses,
    churning the mighty abyss.
¹⁶ I hear, and my body trembles;
    my lips quiver at the sound.
Decay afflicts my bones,
    and my legs tremble beneath me.
I wait calmly for the day of disaster
    that will dawn on the people who attack us.
¹⁷ Even though the fig tree does not blossom
    and there is no fruit on the vines,
even though the olive crop will fail
    and the orchards will yield no food,
even though the flock is cut off from the fold
    and there is no herd in the stalls,
¹⁸ I will continue to rejoice in the Lord,
    and exult in the God of my salvation.
¹⁹ The Lord God is my strength;
    he makes my feet as swift as those of a deer
    and enables me to tread on the heights.

² I will completely sweep away everything
    from the face of the earth,
    says the Lord.
³ I will sweep away both men and animals,
    the birds of the air and the fish of the sea.
I will force the wicked to their knees
    and wipe out all people from the face of the earth,
    says the Lord.
⁴ I will stretch out my hand against Judah
    and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
I will wipe out from this place every remnant of Baal,
    the very name of his idolatrous priests:
⁵ those who bow down on the roofs
    to worship the host of the heavens,
and those who prostrate themselves before the Lord
    but swear by Milcom,
⁶ and those who have turned their backs on the Lord,
    and those who do not seek him.
⁷ Keep silent in the presence of the Lord God,
    for the day of the Lord is near.
The Lord has prepared a sacrifice;
    he has consecrated his guests.
⁸ On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice,
    I will punish the officials and the king’s sons,
    and all those who clothe themselves in foreign apparel.
⁹ On that day I will punish
    all who leap over the threshold^[a]
and fill the house of their master
    with violence and deceit.
^10 [b]On that day, says the Lord,
    crying will be heard from the Fish Gate,
wailing from the New Quarter,
    a loud crash from the hills.
¹¹ Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar,
    for all the merchants will perish,
    and all those who weigh out silver will be ruined.
¹² At that time
    I will search Jerusalem by lantern-light
and punish all those people
    who have become complacent,
    like wine thickening in its sediment,
and who say in their hearts,
    “The Lord will do nothing,
    either good or bad.”
¹³ As a result, their wealth will be plundered
    and their houses will lie in ruins.
Though they build houses,
    they will not dwell in them;
though they plant vineyards,
    they will not drink their wine.
¹⁴ The great day of the Lord is near,
    near and coming quickly.
The sound of the day of the Lord is bitter
    when the warrior shouts his cry of war.
¹⁵ That day is a day of wrath,
    a day of anguish and distress,
a day of ruin and devastation,
    a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and heavy darkness,
¹⁶     a day of trumpet blasts and battle cries
against the fortified cities
    and against lofty battlements.
¹⁷ I will bring such dire distress on the people
    that they will walk like the blind
    because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
    and their entrails like dung.
¹⁸ Neither their silver nor their gold
    will be able to save them
    on the day of the Lord’s wrath,
when by the fire of his jealousy
    the entire earth will be consumed.
For he will make a sudden and terrible end
    of all who dwell on the earth.

¹ Gather together, gather yourselves together,
    O shameless nation,
² before you are driven away
    and disappear like chaff,
before you are forced to confront
    the fierce anger of the Lord,
before you are overtaken
    by the day of the Lord’s anger.
³ Seek the Lord,
    all you humble of the land^[c]
    who obey his commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility;
    then perhaps you may find shelter
    on the day of the Lord’s anger.
^4 [d]For Gaza will be deserted
    and Ashkelon will be reduced to ruins.
The people of Ashdod will be driven out at midday,
    and Ekron will be uprooted.^[e]
5 Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast,
    you nation of the Cherethites.
This is the word of the Lord against you:
    “I will destroy you, land of the Philistines,
    until not a single inhabitant remains.”
⁶ The coastland of the Cretans
    will be reduced to pastures,
to grazing grounds for shepherds
    and folds for flocks.
⁷ And the coastland will become the possession
    of the remnant of the house of Judah.
They will pasture their flocks there,
    and when evening arrives
    they will lie down in the houses at Ashkelon.
For the Lord, their God, will be mindful of them
    and restore their fortunes.
^8 [f]“I have heard the insults of Moab
    and the taunts of the Ammonites
when they reviled my people
    and threatened their frontiers.
⁹ Therefore, as I live,” says the Lord of hosts,
    the God of Israel,
“Moab will become like Sodom
    and the Ammonites like Gomorrah:
a land filled with nettles and salt pits,
    a wasteland forevermore.
The remnant of my people will plunder them,
    and the survivors of my nation will dispossess them.”
¹⁰ This will be the price they pay for their pride,
    inasmuch as they insulted and mocked
    the people of the Lord of hosts.
¹¹ The Lord will fill them with fear
    when he causes all the gods of the earth
    to waste away.
Then all the coasts and the islands of the nations^[g]
    shall worship him,
    each from its own territory.
¹² You also, O Ethiopians,
    will be killed by the sword of the Lord.
¹³ And he will stretch out his hand against the north
    and destroy Assyria.
He will make Nineveh a wasteland,
    as arid as the desert.
¹⁴ Flocks and herds will lie down there,
    creatures of every kind.
The desert owl and the screech owl
    will roost on her columns;
will hoot at the window
    while the raven croaks at the doorway.
¹⁵ Is this the exultant city
    that once took pride in its security,
that said to itself,
    “I am supreme, without an equal”?
And what now has it come to?
    It is nothing but a desolate waste,
    a lair for wild animals,
at which every passer-by
    will hiss and shake his fist.

¹ Woe to the city of tyrants,
    rebellious and defiled.
² It has not heeded any warning voice,
    it has not accepted any correction.
It has not placed its trust in the Lord;
    it has not drawn near to its God.
³ The officials within it
    are roaring lions;
its judges are wolves of the wasteland
    that leave nothing in reserve for the morning.
⁴ Its prophets are arrogant;
    they are treacherous men.
Its priests have profaned what is holy
    and done violence to the law.
⁵ The Lord within this city is just;
    he does no wrong.
Morning after morning he renders judgment
    unfailingly at dawn.
⁶ I have cut off nations;
    their strongholds lie in ruins.
I have laid waste their streets
    so that no one walks along them.
Their cities have been laid waste,
    and now they are deserted,
    without inhabitants.
⁷ I thought, “Surely you will now fear me
    and be willing to accept correction.
You will not fail to realize
    how I have inflicted punishments on you.”
However, they only seemed more eager
    to make all their deeds corrupt.
⁸ Therefore, wait for me, says the Lord;
    wait for the day when I stand up to accuse you.
For I am determined to gather nations
    and assemble kingdoms
in order to pour forth my wrath upon them,
    all the heat of my anger.
The entire earth will be consumed
    by the fire of my jealousy.

⁹ Then I will purify
    the lips of my people,
so that all may call on
    the name of the Lord
    and serve him with one accord.
¹⁰ From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
    my suppliants, my scattered ones,
    will bring offerings to me.
¹¹ On that day you will not be put to shame
    as a result of all the deeds
    by which you have rebelled against me.
For then I will remove from your midst
    those who are proud and arrogant,
and then you will never again flaunt your pride
    on my holy mountain.
¹² For I will leave in your midst
    those who are meek and humble;
    they will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.
¹³ This remnant of Israel will do no wrong
    and utter no lies.
Nor will a deceitful tongue
    be found in their mouths.
They will eat and lie down,
    and no one will cause them to be afraid.
¹⁴ Cry out with joy, daughter of Zion;
    shout aloud, O Israel.
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
    O daughter, Jerusalem.
¹⁵ The Lord has canceled the punishments against you;
    he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
    you need never again fear any harm.
¹⁶ On that day it will be said to Jerusalem:
    Fear not, O Zion;
    do not let your hands grow weak.
¹⁷ The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
    a warrior and a savior.
He will rejoice over you with gladness
    and renew you through his love.
He will exult over you with shouts of joy
¹⁸     as on a day of festival.
I will remove your misfortune
    so that you no longer will need to endure reproach.
¹⁹ At that time I will deal
    with all those who oppress you.
I will rescue the lame
    and gather the dispersed.
I will win for them praise and renown
    throughout the whole world.
²⁰ At that time I will gather you together
    and bring you home.
For I will make you renowned and praised
    among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
    before your eyes, says the Lord.