Bible in 90 Days
God's people will return
14 The Lord will once again be kind to Jacob's descendants. He will choose to help the Israelite people again, as his own people. He will put them back in their land. Foreign people will join them and they will become a part of Jacob's family. 2 People of other nations will help Israel's people to return to their own country. When they are living again in the land that the Lord gave to them, foreign people will become their servants, both men and women. In that way, the people who made the Israelites prisoners will be prisoners themselves! The Israelites will rule over the people who had been cruel to them.
The king of Babylon will die
3 At that time, the Lord will let you live safely, without trouble and without pain. You will no longer have to work for cruel people, as their slaves. 4 Then you will laugh at the king of Babylon. You will say to him,
‘Now you cannot be cruel to us any more! Your power to cause trouble has finished! 5 The Lord has destroyed the authority of wicked rulers like you.
6 You used your power to attack people all the time. In your anger, you ruled over other nations, and you never stopped being cruel to them.
7 But now there is peace in the whole world. People can live safely. Everyone is so happy that they are singing! 8 Even the pine trees and the cedar trees in Lebanon are happy because your power has finished. They say to you, “Now God has knocked you down. So nobody will come again to cut us down!”
9 The deep hole of death below the earth is ready to receive you! People there want to meet you. The spirits of those who ruled on the earth have heard that you are coming. They are standing up from their thrones. 10 All of them will say to you, “Now you have become as weak as we are! You are weak like us!”
11 Your great power has now come down low, into the deep hole of death. People no longer praise you with their harps. Now you will lie on a bed of maggots.[a] A blanket of worms will cover you.
12 Look at you! You have fallen from heaven!
You shine like the bright morning star!
You have won against many nations,
but now you have come down very low!
13 You said to yourself, “I will go up into heaven.
I will put my throne above the stars of God.
I will rule as king on the mountain in the far north,
where the gods of the nations meet together.
14 I will go up above the tops of the clouds.
I will become like the Most High God.”
15 But instead of that, you have come down into the deep hole of death.
You have fallen to the deepest place under the earth.
16 In that deep place, people will look at you carefully. They will be very surprised. They will think, “This is the man who caused the earth to shake. He caused kingdoms to shake with fear. Is that really true? 17 Is this really the man who made the world become like a desert? He destroyed its cities. He did not let his prisoners go back to their homes.”
18 All the kings of all the nations lie down there, with all their valuable things. Each king lies in his own grave. 19 But as for you, Babylon's king, they have thrown you out! You have no grave! You are like a branch that has broken off. You lie among the dead bodies of soldiers that their enemies have killed with their swords. They have thrown your body into a big hole in the rocks, and they have walked over it.
20 They will not bury you with those other kings, because you destroyed your land and you killed your people. Nobody will ever remember the family of a wicked person like you.
21 Prepare to kill this king's children, because of the sins of their ancestors. Then his children will not rule the world. They will not build cities everywhere.’
22 This is what the Lord Almighty says, ‘I will attack Babylon and I will destroy it. I will leave nothing that people can remember. No people or their descendants will remain.’
23 The Lord Almighty says, ‘I will make Babylon a place where wild animals live. There will be pools of bad water. I will sweep everything away, like someone who sweeps dirt away with a brush.’
A message about Assyria
24 The Lord Almighty promises this: ‘It will happen exactly as I have decided. Yes, it will really happen like that. 25 I will destroy the Assyrians who are in my land. I will knock them down on my mountains. They will no longer be cruel to my people. My people will not be their slaves any more. 26 That is what I have decided for the whole earth. I am ready to show my power against all the nations.’
27 Yes, the Lord Almighty has decided what he will do. Nobody can change it. He is ready to show his power. Nobody can stop it.
A message about Philistia
28 In the year that King Ahaz died, God showed this message to Isaiah:
29 Do not feel happy, you Philistine people. God has destroyed the king who was attacking you. That king hit you with a big stick, but a dangerous snake will follow! And that snake will give birth to an even more dangerous snake that moves very fast.
30 The Lord will give food to the poorest of his people. The weak and helpless people will live safely. But you Philistine people will die from famine. I will destroy you all, so that nobody remains.
31 Gate of the city, weep![b] City, cry out in pain! You Philistine people should be very afraid! See that cloud of smoke in the north! It is the dust of an army that is marching towards you. Their soldiers are ready to fight, and none of them is afraid.
32 When a foreign nation sends a message, what should we say? Say that the Lord has made Zion very strong. When his people have trouble, they will be safe there.
A message about Moab
15 This is a message about Moab:
In one night an enemy has destroyed Ar.
In one night they have destroyed Kir.
Those towns in Moab are now a heap of stones!
2 The people in Dibon have gone up to their temple to weep. They have gone up to the altars where they worship their gods. Moab's people are weeping because of what has happened at Nebo and Medeba. They are so upset that they have cut off their hair and their beards. 3 They are wearing rough sackcloth in the streets. On the roofs of their houses and in the open places in their towns, they are weeping. They fall to the ground as they weep.
4 The people in Heshbon and Elealeh cry aloud. People as far as Jahaz hear the sound of their voices! The soldiers of Moab cry aloud because they are afraid. They are shaking with fear.
5 I am very upset because of what is happening to Moab's people. They are running away, as far as Zoar and Eglath-Shelishiyah.
They weep while they climb up the hill to Luhith.
On the road to Horonaim they shout aloud,
‘An enemy has destroyed us!’
6 Streams in Nimrim valley have become dry.
The grass has died. No green plants remain.
7 So Moab's people are leaving.
They are going across Willow stream.
They are carrying away their things
and the food that they had stored.
8 Everywhere in Moab's country the people are calling out for help.
The noise of their sad songs has reached Eglaim and Beer-Elim.
9 Blood fills the streams of Dimon.
But I, the Lord, will cause even more trouble to happen there.
A lion is ready to attack!
Those who are trying to escape will die,
as well as those who remain in the land.
Moab's troubles
16 We must send sheep as gifts to the ruler of our land. Send them from Sela across the desert. Send them to Mount Zion in Jerusalem.[c]
2 Moab's women are standing at the shore of Arnon river. They want to go across. They are like birds that people have chased out of their nests.
3 The Moabites say, ‘Tell us what we should do! Help us in our troubles! Give us some shade in the middle of the day! Hide the people who are escaping! Our enemies are chasing us. Do not let them find us. 4 Let us escape from Moab and come to live among you. Our enemy wants to destroy us. Please keep us safe!’
Yes, one day, the cruel enemy will have gone. He will no longer attack the land and destroy it. 5 One of David's descendants will rule as king. He will be true and honest. He will judge people in a fair way. He will quickly bring justice among his people.
6 The people of Judah say, ‘We know how proud Moab's people are. We have heard how they boast about themselves. They think that they can do anything that they want. But all their pride is empty and useless!’
7 Because of their troubles, Moab's people weep. They are all very upset. They are sad because there are no more sweet raisins from Kir-Hareseth!
8 Yes, nothing grows in Heshbon's fields. There are no grapes on Sibmah's vines. The rulers of other nations have destroyed the vineyards. The branches of those vines reached as far as Jazer, and the desert. They even grew to go across the sea.[d] 9 Because of that, I weep for the vines of Sibmah, as Jazer weeps. I pour out my tears all over you, Heshbon and Elealeh. Your people no longer sing because they are happy at harvest time. There is no more fruit on your trees or crops in your fields. 10 Nobody is happy in the fields. Nobody sings or shouts with joy in the vineyards. Nobody squeezes the grapes to make wine. I have caused all the happy noise to stop.
11 So I cry deep inside me for Moab. I cry like the sad music of a harp. I am very upset for Kir-Hareseth.
12 Moab's people go to their altars and temples to pray for help from their gods. But they will only become tired. Their prayers will be useless.
13 That is the message that the Lord has already spoken about Moab. 14 But now the Lord says, ‘In three years' time, all Moab's glory will have gone. Count every day of those years, as if you are working to receive money. After that, there will only be a few of Moab's people who are still alive. Now they are many and they are strong. But by then they will be few and weak.’
A message about Damascus
17 This is a message about Damascus:
‘Look! Damascus is no longer a city! It has become a heap of stones.
2 Nobody lives in the cities of Aroer. Sheep and goats can safely go there to eat. They can lie down there and nobody will chase them away. 3 There will be no strong cities in Ephraim.[e] No king will rule in Damascus. The few people who remain in Syria are no longer great, like Israel's people!’
That is what the Lord Almighty says.
4 ‘At that time, Israel will no longer be great. It will be like a rich, fat person who becomes weak and hungry.
5 Israel will be like a field of grain in Rephaim valley after the harvest. The workers have cut down the crops. They have picked up the grain from the ground. 6 There will be only a few people that remain in Israel. They will be like a few olives that remain on a tree after the harvest. Perhaps two or three olives are still there on the highest branches. Four or five olives may remain on the other branches.’
That is what the Lord God of Israel says.
7 At that time, people will turn back to their Maker. They will trust the Holy God of Israel to help them.
8 They will no longer trust their idols to help them. They made altars for themselves, where they worshipped their gods. They worshipped Asherah at special poles. They made altars where they burned incense. But they will not do those things any more.
9 At that time, Israel's strong cities will be empty. People will run away from those cities, as the Amorites ran away from the hills when the Israelites attacked them. Israel's strong cities will become heaps of stones. 10 That will happen because you have forgotten the God who rescues you. He is the Rock where you can safely hide, but you have turned away from him.[f]
Instead, you plant the best plants and vines in your gardens. You buy them from foreign countries for a lot of money. 11 You take care of them so that they grow quickly. They may even make flowers on the same morning that you plant them! But you will never have any fruit from them. You will only get trouble and pain that will never go away.
12 It will be very bad for the armies of other nations! They are making a noise like the sea in a storm! They are as loud as powerful waves! 13 But it does not matter how much noise they make. Those people may roar like powerful waves, but the Lord will shout at them to stop. Then they will run far away! They will run like the wind as it blows chaff across the hills. It will be like a strong storm that carries away dead weeds!
14 Look at what happens! In the evening the enemy attacks, and we are very afraid. But by the morning they have disappeared! That is what happens to people who attack us. Anyone who tries to take away our valuable things for themselves will fail.
A message about Cush[g]
18 It will be very bad for that land beyond the rivers of Cush. Their ships seem to have wings and fly everywhere! 2 They send messages over the sea in boats that they make from reeds. Their boats sail quickly on the water.
Go now! Take a message quickly.
Go to a country where the people are tall
and their skin has no hair.
Everyone is afraid of that nation's people.
They are a powerful and strong nation.
Many rivers cross their land.
3 All you people who live in the world, listen to this! You will see a battle flag on the mountains. You will hear the sound of a trumpet.
4 This is what the Lord said to me: ‘I will watch quietly from my place. I will work quietly, like the heat that comes from the sun. I will be as quiet as the mist that comes at harvest time.’[h]
5 Then, when the grapes on the vines are nearly ready for harvest, the Lord will cut them off! He will use his knife to cut off the branches.[i]
6 Like those branches, the dead bodies of the soldiers will lie in the fields. The wild animals and the vultures will come to eat them. The vultures will feed on them all through the summer. The wild animals will eat them all through the winter.
7 At that time, the Lord Almighty will receive gifts from the people of that land. Many rivers cross that land. Its people are tall and their skin has no hair. Everyone is afraid of them. Their nation is strong and powerful. Those people will bring their gifts to Mount Zion. That is the place that the Lord Almighty has chosen for people to worship him there.
A message about Egypt
19 This is a message about Egypt.
Look! The Lord is coming to Egypt! He is riding quickly on a cloud and he will soon arrive! The idols of Egypt will shake with fear when he comes. All the people in Egypt will be very afraid.
2 ‘I will cause Egypt's people to fight against each other. People will fight against their own family. They will fight against their neighbours. Cities and kingdoms will fight against each other. 3 The Egyptians will become afraid, so that they do not know what to do. They will ask for help from their idols. They will ask the spirits of dead people to tell them what to do. They will ask magicians to talk to those spirits on their behalf. 4 I will cause a cruel master to have power over Egypt. A powerful king will rule over its people.’
That is what the Lord, the Almighty Lord.
5 The water of the sea will become dry. The Nile river will also become dry and it will have no water in it. 6 The streams will have a bad smell. All the streams and rivers will slowly become dry. The reeds and the river grasses will die. 7 The plants beside the river will die, as well as the crops in the fields along the shore. Everything will become dry and the wind will blow it all away.
8 The people who catch fish in the Nile river will be very sad. Yes, everyone who throws a hook into the river will cry. The people who throw nets into the river will not catch any fish.
9 The people who make linen cloth will not know what to do. There will be no flax for them to use. 10 They will be very upset. All the people who work to get money will be sad.
11 The royal officers in Zoan are fools! Pharaoh's wise leaders tell him to do stupid things! They should not boast to Pharaoh that they are wise. They should not say that they are descendants of wise kings from long ago.
12 Pharaoh, where have your wise men gone? Call them to come! Ask them to tell you what the Lord Almighty has decided to do against Egypt.
13 The officers in Zoan are fools. The officers in Memphis have confused each other. The leaders of Egypt's clans have led their people in the wrong direction.
14 The Lord has sent among the people in Egypt a spirit that confuses them. They go the wrong way in everything that they do. They are like drunk people who have been sick. They cannot walk in a straight line.
15 Nobody in Egypt will be able to do anything. They may be Egypt's head or its tail, a palm branch or a reed.[j] There is nothing that anyone can do.
16 At that time, the Egyptians will be weak, like women. They will shake with fear because the Lord Almighty is ready to punish them. 17 The people of Judah will frighten the Egyptians very much. If anyone says Judah's name, everyone who hears it will be afraid. They will be very afraid of the punishment that the Lord Almighty will bring to them.
18 At that time, five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan.[k] The people in those cities will promise to obey the Lord Almighty. One of the cities will have the name ‘Sun City’.
19 At that time, there will be an altar in the middle of Egypt's land, where people will worship the Lord. There will also be a tall stone for the Lord at Egypt's border. 20 Those two things will be signs to tell everyone in Egypt about the Lord Almighty. Because of those signs, the Egyptians will remember that the Lord is powerful. When their enemies are cruel to them, they will call out to the Lord for help. Then he will send a strong saviour to rescue them. 21 The Lord will cause the Egyptians to know him. They will agree to serve him. They will worship the Lord with sacrifices and offerings. They will make promises to the Lord, and they will do what they have promised to do. 22 The Lord himself will punish the Egyptians. But after that, they will turn to the Lord. He will answer their prayers, and he will make them well again.
23 At that time, there will be a road from Egypt to Assyria. People from Assyria will travel to Egypt and Egyptians will travel to Assyria. Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.
24 At that time, Israel will join Egypt and Assyria as a third important nation. They will bring blessing to the whole world. 25 The Lord Almighty will bless them all. He will say, ‘I will bless Egypt, who are now my people. I will bless Assyria, the people that I have made. And I will bless Israel, the people that I have chosen to belong to me.’
A message about Egypt and Cush
20 One year, Sargon, the king of Assyria, sent the leader of his army to attack Ashdod.[l] His army fought against Ashdod and they took the city. 2 At that time, the Lord gave this message to Isaiah, the son of Amoz. He said, ‘Go and remove the rough clothes that you are wearing. Take your shoes off your feet.’ Isaiah did what the Lord told him to do. He walked about without clothes and without shoes.[m]
3 After three years, the Lord said, ‘My servant Isaiah has walked without clothes and without shoes for three years. That is a sign to warn Egypt and Cush about what will happen to them. 4 The king of Assyria will take away people from Egypt as prisoners. He will do the same thing to the people of Cush. Young people and old people will go as prisoners to Assyria. They will not wear any clothes or shoes. People will see their bare bodies. The Egyptians will be very ashamed. 5 Anyone who trusted that Cush or Egypt would be strong enough to save them will be ashamed. They will be afraid. 6 At that time, the people who live on this coast will say, “Look! This has happened to the people that we trusted to help us. We thought that they would rescue us from the king of Assyria. Now we will never escape from his power.” ’
A message about Babylon
21 This is a message about the desert near the sea.
Trouble is coming from the desert, like a strong wind that blows from the south. It comes from a land of great fear.
2 The Lord showed me a vision of terrible things.
‘People are deceiving one another!
People are destroying one another!
Elam, go to attack Babylon!
People from Media, attack all round the city!
I will stop all the tears that Babylon's armies have caused.’
3 Because of that vision, I am very upset. Bad pains attack me, like the pains of a woman who is giving birth. My body hurts because of the things that I have heard. I am afraid to look! 4 It confuses my mind. I shake with fear. I wanted a quiet evening, but instead there is terror.
5 Look! They are preparing a feast. They put down carpets for people to sit on. They are eating and they are drinking. Officers, stand up! Make your shields ready for battle!
6 This is what the Lord God has said to me:
‘Go! Put someone on the city wall to watch.
Tell him to report what he sees.
7 If he sees chariots that two horses are pulling,
or riders on donkeys,
or riders on camels,
he must watch very carefully.’
8 Then the guard shouted, ‘Lord God, I am standing every day on the tower where I watch. I stand at my place every night. 9 And look! Something is coming! It is a chariot that two horses are pulling!’ The rider reports, ‘An enemy has completely destroyed Babylon! All the idols of its people's gods lie in pieces on the ground!’
10 Yes, my people, Babylon's army has hurt you very much. But now I have reported to you the message from the Lord Almighty, Israel's God.
A message about Edom
11 This is a message about Dumah.
Someone is shouting to me from Seir.[n] They are asking, ‘Guard, how soon will the night finish? Please tell me.’
12 The guard replies, ‘The morning will come soon. But the night will quickly follow. If you want to ask again, then come back. Come and ask!’
A message about Arabia
13 This is a message about Arabia.
Traders from Dedan, you put up your tents in Arabia's wilderness. 14 You must bring some water for the thirsty people to drink. You people who live in Tema, bring food to give to the hungry people who are running away from danger.[o] 15 They are running away from the weapons of war. They are running from the swords, bows and arrows of a dangerous battle.
16 This is what the Lord God has said to me: ‘In one year's time, all Kedar's glory will have gone. Count every day, as if you are working to receive money. 17 Only a few of Kedar's brave soldiers will remain, with their bows and arrows.’
That is what the Lord, Israel's God, has said.
A message about Jerusalem
22 This is a message about the city that is called ‘Vision Valley’.[p]
What are you doing? You have all climbed up on the roofs of your houses![q]
2 Your city is full of the noise of parties, and people are shouting. It was not war that killed the people who are lying in your streets. They did not die in a battle.
3 When the enemy came, all your leaders ran far away. The enemy caught all your people. They caught them all and they did not need to shoot any arrows!
4 So I say, ‘Leave me alone! Let me weep with many tears. The enemy has killed many of my people, so do not try to comfort me.’
5 The Lord, the Almighty Lord, has decided to bring great trouble to Vision Valley. It is a day of fear. People run here and there because they do not know what to do. The enemy knocks down the city's walls. People shout to the hills for help. 6 Elam's soldiers came with bows and arrows. They came with chariots and riders on horses. Kir's soldiers prepared their shields to fight. 7 So your beautiful valleys were full of chariots. Soldiers on horses prepared to attack your city's gates.
8 The enemy destroyed Judah's strong places where people could be safe. In that day, you looked for weapons in the House of the Forest.[r] 9 You saw that there were many holes in the walls of the City of David. You stored water in the Lower Pool. 10 You counted the houses in Jerusalem and you knocked down some of them. You used the stones to make the city's wall stronger.
11 You built a place between the city's walls to store water from the Old Pool. But you did not trust the One who made the city. You did not think about the One who decided to build it a long time ago.
12 At that time, the Lord Almighty told you to be very sad and weep. He told you to cut all the hair off your heads and to wear rough clothes.
13 But instead, you are happy and you dance! You kill cows and sheep for a feast! You eat lots of meat and you drink lots of wine. You say, ‘We will have a big feast today, because tomorrow we will be dead!’
14 But the Lord Almighty has told me this: ‘I will never forgive this sin of my people for as long as they live.’
That is what the Lord, the Almighty Lord has said.
15 This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Now go and speak to Shebna, the officer with authority in the king's palace.[s] 16 Say to him, “You should not be here in the palace. You have cut a grave in the rock here for yourself, but you do not have the authority to do that! You have made a beautiful grave high up on the hill, as if you belong with the kings.
17 But look! The Lord will catch you and he will throw you out! You are just a man. He will take hold of you with all his strength. 18 He will hold you in his hand like a ball and he will throw you far away. You will die in that large, open country. Your great chariots will be useless there with you. You have brought shame to your master's family.”
19 I will remove you from your job. You will no longer be an important officer in the palace.
20 At that time, I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, to come. 21 I will put on him your special clothes. I will tie your belt round him. I will give your authority to him. Then Eliakim will become like a father to the people in Jerusalem and the people in Judah. 22 I will give the key of David's royal family to him. He will have complete authority. Any door that he opens, nobody may close it. Any door that he closes, nobody may open it.
23 I will fix him strongly in his place, like a peg in a strong wall. Because of him, people will respect and praise his father's family. 24 His children and his family will become more important because of him. They will be like bowls, cups and jars that hang on him as the strong peg.’
25 The Lord Almighty says, ‘When the time comes, the strong peg will fall out of the wall. I will cut it down and it will fall. Then all the things that hang on it will fall down as well.’
That is what the Lord has said.
A message about Tyre
23 This is a message about Tyre.
Weep aloud, you people in the great ships of Tarshish. An enemy has destroyed the port and the houses of Tyre. They heard this news in Cyprus.
2 Weep quietly, you people who live on the coast of the sea. Yes, weep, you traders of Sidon city. Your sailors travelled across the sea and you became rich. 3 They brought grain to you from Shihor region in Egypt. You received crops that had grown beside the Nile river. Tyre became an important city where traders from many nations came.
4 Be ashamed, you people in Sidon. You have become strong because of the sea. But the sea now speaks against you! It says, ‘I have not given birth to any children. I have not taken care of any sons or daughters as a parent should do.’
5 When the people in Egypt hear the news about Tyre, they will be very sad and upset.
6 Travel to Tarshish! Weep aloud, you people who live on the coast of the sea. 7 Tyre is a city where you had many parties. It has been there since long ago. People from this city went to live in foreign countries far away. 8 It is a royal city and its traders are princes. They are famous everywhere on earth. So who decided to destroy it?
9 The Lord Almighty did that! He decided to show that the pride of those people is useless. He decided to bring all those famous people down low.
10 People of Tarshish, now you will have to grow your own crops. Grow them like they do beside the Nile river. Traders no longer come to Tyre to sell their things.
11 The Lord has lifted his hand up over the sea. He has made kingdoms shake with fear. He has given his command against Canaan, to destroy all its strong places.[t]
12 He says to Sidon's people, ‘Your parties have finished! Now it will be a time of pain for you. Move away, if you can! Travel to Cyprus. But you will still not be safe there.’
13 Look at what happened in Babylonia. Its people have disappeared! The Assyrian army has made it a place for wild animals to live in. Their soldiers built hills of earth against the city's walls. They climbed over and they destroyed its strong buildings. Babylon's buildings became heaps of stones.
14 So weep aloud, you great ships of Tarshish. Enemies have destroyed your strong place.
15 At that time people will forget Tyre for 70 years. That is how long one king lives. At the end of 70 years, there will be a change in Tyre. It will happen to them like the song about the prostitute:
16 ‘Prostitute that people have forgotten,
walk about the city with your harp.
Play it well. Sing many songs.
Then people will remember you again.’
17 At the end of 70 years, the Lord will be kind to Tyre. People from all the nations of the world will come to Tyre to buy things. Tyre will receive their money, like the prostitute in the song. 18 But the money that Tyre receives will belong to the Lord. Tyre's traders will not hide their riches or store them. Their money will buy plenty of food and beautiful clothes for people who worship the Lord.
The Lord will judge all people
24 Understand this! The Lord is ready to destroy the earth. It will become a desert. He will spoil the ground. He will chase away all the people who live on it.
2 It will be the same for all people:
priests as well as ordinary people,
masters as well as their servants,
rich ladies as well as their servant girls,
sellers as well as buyers,
people who lend money as well as those who borrow it,
rich people as well as poor people.
3 The whole earth will become empty. Nothing will remain. The Lord has said that this punishment will certainly happen.
4 The earth becomes dry and all the plants die. The whole world becomes weak and helpless. Its important people also become weak.
5 The people who live on the earth have caused it to become unclean.
They have not obeyed God's laws.
They have turned against his teaching.
They have not obeyed the covenant that God made with them for ever.
6 That is why a curse is destroying the land. The people who live on it are guilty and God is punishing them. They become fewer and fewer. Only a very few of them remain.
7 There is no new wine and the vines are dying. The people who were happy to drink the wine are now sad. 8 The happy sound of tambourines has stopped. The noise from parties has finished. The harps no longer make any happy music. 9 People cannot drink wine, so they do not sing. When people drink beer, it seems bitter.
10 The city has become so spoiled that it is useless. People have locked their houses so that nobody can go in. 11 They shout in the streets because they have no wine. Nobody is happy any more, anywhere on the earth.
12 The city has become a heap of stones. Its gates lie in pieces on the ground.
13 This is what will happen among all the nations on the earth. Only a few people will remain, like a few olives that remain on a tree after the harvest. After people have picked the grapes off a vine, there are only a few that remain.
14 Those people who are still alive sing aloud because they are happy. People who live in the west praise the Lord because he is great. 15 So people who live in the east should praise the Lord too. People who live on the coast of the sea will also praise the name of the Lord, Israel's God. 16 From every part of the earth, we hear songs. People sing to praise the Righteous One.
But I say, ‘I have become very weak and thin! It will be very bad for me! Evil people are turning against their friends. They deceive people more and more!’
17 People everywhere on the earth, terror is ready to catch you! You will fall into a deep hole, and a trap will catch you! 18 Anyone who runs away from the sound of the terror will fall into the deep hole. The trap will catch anyone who climbs out of the big hole. God has opened the windows of the sky. He has caused the foundations of the earth to shake.
19 The earth has become broken into many pieces. It has torn apart. It is shaking powerfully. 20 The earth is like a drunk man. It cannot walk in a straight line. It moves in all directions, like a tent in a storm. The people's sins are like a heavy weight on the earth. It cannot carry them and it will fall. It will never be able to get up again.
21 At that time, the Lord will punish the powerful beings in the skies above. He will punish the kings who rule on the earth below. 22 He will bring them together like prisoners in a deep hole. That will be their prison. They will be there for a time, and then he will come to punish them.
23 The moon will hide its face in shame. The bright light of the sun will become dark. Yes, the Lord Almighty will become king on Mount Zion. He will rule with great power in Jerusalem. The leaders of the people will see his great glory.
A song to thank God
25 Lord, you are my God!
I will praise you
because your name is great.
You have done wonderful things.
You decided a long time ago what you would do.
And you have done exactly what you promised to do.
2 You have destroyed cities
so that they become a heap of stones.
You have destroyed the strongest cities.
The beautiful palaces in foreign lands have disappeared.
Nobody will build them again.
3 So people of strong nations will praise you.
The people of cruel nations will be afraid of you.
4 You Lord have been a safe place for poor people.
When helpless people were in trouble,
you have kept them safe.
You were a place for them to hide from the storm.
You gave them shade from the heat.
Yes, cruel people attack them
like a storm that hits against a wall.
5 and like strong heat in the desert.
You Lord stopped the proud noise of foreign people.
Like the shadow of a cloud that stops the heat of the sun,
you stopped our cruel enemy's songs.
You stopped them as they boasted of their strength.
6 The Lord Almighty will prepare a feast on this mountain.[u]
It will be a feast for all the nations of the world.
It will be a great feast, with plenty of meat and wine.
The best meat and the best wine will be there.
7 On this mountain the Lord will take away the things
that make all people sad.
He will remove the cloth
that covers the people of all nations.
8 The Almighty Lord will destroy death for ever.
He will clean away the tears in everyone's eyes.
His people will not feel ashamed any more.
Nobody in all the world will ever insult them again.
That is what the Lord has said.
9 At that time, people will say,
‘Look! This is our God!
We trusted him to keep us safe,
and he rescued us.
Yes, this is the Lord!
We trusted him to keep us safe.
We will sing with joy,
because he has saved us.’
10 The Lord's power will bless this mountain.
He will knock down Moab's people
and he will walk all over them.
He will walk on them,
as if they are straw in a heap of dung.
11 Moab's people will try to escape from that punishment.
They will push with their hands as they try to swim out!
But the Lord will make their proud strength useless,
whatever they do to escape.
12 He will knock down the high walls of Moab's city.
He will completely destroy their strong place.
It will all fall down into the dust on the ground.
A song to praise God
26 At that time, people will sing this song in Judah:
We have a strong city, where we are safe.
The Lord has made it safe,
like strong walls that protect us all round.[v]
2 Open the gates of the city,
so that the righteous nation can come in.
They are the people who continue to be faithful.
3 Lord, you keep those people safe
who continue to trust in you.
You give them peace in their minds,
because they believe in you.
4 Trust in the Lord now and for ever!
The Almighty Lord will always be our strong Rock.
5 He brings down low the proud people who live in high places.
He destroys their cities.
He knocks down their cities
so that they fall to the ground and become dust.
6 The poor people and the helpless people
will walk all over it.
Trust in the Lord
7 Righteous people walk on a path that is flat. You make their path straight, Lord.
8 Yes, Lord, as we follow the path of your justice, we wait for you to help us. We really want people to know that you are great. We want them to praise your name.
9 During the night, I think about you a lot. When morning arrives, I want to be near to you in my spirit. When you come to judge people on the earth, then people will understand your justice.
10 If you are kind to wicked people, they will never learn to do what is right. They continue to do wrong things, even in a land where people are honest. They do not see that you are great, Lord.
11 Lord, you are ready to punish them, but they do not realize that. Make them see that you love your own people. Then they will become ashamed. In your anger, punish them with fire, as your enemies deserve.
12 Lord, you will give us peace. Everything that we have done, you have done on our behalf.
13 Lord, our God, other lords have ruled over us. But you are the only one that we worship.
14 Those other lords are dead. They will not live again. Their spirits will not rise up again. You punished them and you destroyed them. Nobody remembers them any more.
15 Lord, you have made our nation larger. You have made our nation larger and you have shown how great you are. You have made all the borders of our land grow bigger.
A sad prayer
16 Lord, when your people had trouble, they came to you for help. When you punished them, they turned to you and they prayed.
17 Because of your punishment, Lord, we had much pain. We were like a woman who is giving birth and she cries out with pain. 18 Yes, it seemed like we were pregnant and ready to give birth. But we could only give birth to wind! We could not do anything to make the land safe. We have no descendants who will bring new life to the world.
19 But Lord, your people who have died will live again. Their bodies will rise up from their graves. You people who live in the ground, wake up! Shout because you are happy. You bring new life to the earth, like dew that comes in the morning. Dead people will come up from the earth and they will live again.
20 My people, go into your homes. Shut the doors and hide yourselves for a short time. Wait there until the Lord is not angry any more. 21 Look! Now the Lord is coming from the place where he lives. He is coming to punish the people who live on the earth for their sins. The earth will clearly show the blood that murderers poured out on it. Murderers will no longer be able to hide the people that they have killed.
27 At that time, the Lord will punish Leviathan. The Lord will use his great and powerful sword to destroy that monster. Leviathan is a snake that moves very fast in the sea and it turns in every direction. But the Lord will kill it.
God will take care of his people
2 At that time, sing a song about a beautiful vineyard!
3 I, the Lord, keep it safe. I will continue to put water on it. I will guard it night and day, so that nobody can hurt it.
4 I am not angry now. If there were thorn bushes or weeds in my vineyard, I would attack them. I would burn them all. 5 But my enemies should turn to me for help. They should agree to live in peace with me. Yes, that is what they should do.
6 The time will come when Jacob will grow well, like a strong plant in the ground. Yes, Israel will make flowers and branches. Their fruit will fill all the world.
7 The Lord did not punish Israel's people as much as he punished their enemies. He did not kill them as much as he killed their enemies. 8 But Lord you sent your people to a land far away. That is how you punished them. You blew them away with a storm that came from the east. 9 In that way the Lord punished Jacob's descendants for their sins. They are no longer guilty. This will be the result when God has taken away Jacob's sin completely: All the stones in their altars will become small pieces of chalk. There will be no Asherah pole or altars for incense that continue to stand.
10 The strong city will become empty. Nobody will live there any more. It will be like an empty desert. Young cows will eat the grass there, and they will lie down there. They will eat all the leaves on the branches of the tree. 11 When the branches become dry, they break off the tree. Women will take the sticks and they will make fires with them. That is what these people are like. They do not understand anything. So their Maker will not help them or be kind to them.
12 At that time, the Lord will shake the tree! He will do that to his people everywhere from the River Euphrates to the Stream of Egypt.[w] Then he will bring together all of you, one by one, you Israelite people.
13 At that time, they will hear the sound of a loud trumpet. Then people who were dying in exile in Assyria will come. People who went away into Egypt will also come. They will worship the Lord on his holy hill in Jerusalem.[x]
A sad song about Ephraim[y]
28 It will be very bad for Ephraim's beautiful city, Samaria! The people who live there drink too much wine and they become drunk. They are proud of their great city. It is on a hill above a valley where many good things grow. It is like a beautiful flower, but it will be beautiful no more and it will die.
2 Look! The Lord God is sending a strong and powerful army to attack it.[z] It comes like a strong storm of ice. Its wind destroys everything. It is like rain that pours down and causes a flood. He will knock down Ephraim's great city to the ground with his great power!
3 The drunk people of Samaria think that their city is great. But their enemies will knock it down and walk all over it. 4 The city is like a beautiful flower that will soon die. It is on a hill above a valley where many good things grow. But it will be like a fig on a tree. It is ready to eat before the harvest time. When someone sees it, he will quickly pick it. And he will eat it!
5 At that time. the Lord Almighty will be a great leader of his people. He will be like a beautiful crown for his people who still remain alive. 6 He will help judges to decide what is right. He will give strength to the people who keep the city safe from those who attack it.
7 But now wine causes the leaders in Ephraim to become drunk. They cannot walk in a straight line because they drink too much beer. Beer causes the priests and the prophets to fall over. Wine confuses their minds. When they see visions, they cannot understand them. When they judge people, they cannot decide what is right.
8 They are sick over all their tables. Everywhere is covered with dirt.
9 They say, ‘Why does the Lord try to teach us like that? Who does he think that we are? He speaks to us as if we are babies! He thinks that we have just left our mother's breast! 10 He teaches us one rule at a time, one line at a time. He says it several times, a little bit here, a little bit there.’
11 So now the Lord will use foreign enemies to speak to these people. He will speak to them in a strange language.
12 In the past, he said to them, ‘This is a place where you can rest when you are tired. It is a place where you can be safe.’ But his people refused to listen. 13 So the Lord's message will seem to them like, ‘One rule at a time, one line at a time, a little bit here, a little bit there.’ So as they try to move forward, they will fall over. An enemy will hurt them, and he will catch them in a trap.
A message about Jerusalem
14 So listen to the Lord's message, you leaders in Jerusalem who rule these people. Do not laugh at what the Lord is doing.
15 You boast, ‘We have made a covenant with death. Yes, we have made an agreement with Sheol. When trouble comes to our city like a deep flood of water, we will be safe. We trust in our lies to keep us safe.’
16 So the Almighty Lord says this:
‘Look! I am putting a special stone in Zion. It is a valuable stone, because it makes a strong foundation at the corner of my building. Anyone who trusts in that foundation will never be disappointed.
17 Justice and righteousness will make that foundation strong and true. But if you trust in lies, a storm of ice will destroy your safe place. A flood of water will destroy the place where you are hiding. 18 I will stop your covenant with death. Your agreement with Sheol will not continue. When trouble comes like a deep flood of water, it will drown you. 19 A flood of punishment will come again and again, and it will carry you away. It will come every morning, and all through the day and the night.’
When you understand this message from the Lord, you will be very afraid. 20 You will not be able to rest, like a tall person who tries to sleep on a short bed. Your blanket will not cover your whole body.
21 But the Lord will do a great thing, like he did at Mount Perazim. He will be very angry, as he was in the Gibeon Valley. He will do something that is very wonderful and strange.
22 So do not laugh at me when I warn you. If you do not listen, your punishment will become even worse. The Lord Almighty has told me what he has decided. He has decided to destroy the whole land.
23 So listen carefully to my message. Hear what I am saying!
24 A farmer ploughs the ground because he wants to plant seeds in it. He does not continue to plough for ever. 25 When he has prepared the ground, he plants many different seeds. He plants dill and cummin. He plants wheat, barley and different grains in their proper places.
26 God teaches the farmer and he tells him the right thing to do. 27 After the harvest, the farmer knows how to remove seeds from dill or from cummin. He will not pull a heavy iron weight over dill. He will not run the wheels of a cart over cummin. Instead, he will hit them with a light stick.
28 When he crushes grain to make flour for bread, he does not do it for a long time. He drives the wheels of his cart over the grain, but he does not let his horses crush it.
29 The Lord Almighty causes farmers to know all that. His ideas are very wise, and he shows us how to live in a wise way.
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