1 I saw the Lord standing beside1Or on the altar, and he said:
eZeph. 2:14 “Strike the capitals untileZeph. 2:14 the thresholdsf[Isa. 6:4] shake,
gSee Judg. 16:26-30 and shatter them on the heads of all the people;
and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword;
h[ch. 2:14] not one of them shall flee away;
not one of them shall escape.
2 i[Ps. 139:8-10] If they dig into Sheol,
from there shall my hand take them;
i[Ps. 139:8-10] if they climb up to heaven,
from there I will bring them down.
3 If they hide themselves onjch. 1:2 the top of Carmel,
from there I will search them out and take them;
k[Job 26:5] and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.
4 l[Deut. 28:65] And if they go into captivity before their enemies,
there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them;
mSee Jer. 21:10 and I will fix my eyes upon them
for evil and not for good. ”
5 The Lord God of hosts,
he who touches the earth andnPs. 46:6 it melts,
and all who dwell in it mourn,
och. 8:8 and all of it rises like the Nile,
och. 8:8 and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;
6 p[Ps. 104:3, 5] who builds his upper chambers in the heavens
and founds his vault upon the earth;
qSee ch. 5:8 who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—
rSee ch. 4:13 the Lord is his name.
7 “Are you not likes[Zeph. 3:10] the Cushites to me,
O people of Israel? ” declares the Lord.
tEx. 20:2 “Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
anduJer. 47:4 the Philistines fromvGen. 10:14 Caphtor and the Syrians fromwch. 1:5 Kir?
8 Behold,x[ver. 4] the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,
yJer. 30:11; [Obad. 17] except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, ”
declares the Lord.
9 “For behold, I will command,
z[Jer. 15:7; Matt. 3:12; Luke 3:17] and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who say,a[ch. 6:3] ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us. ’
11
In that daybCited Acts 15:16 I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
and raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
12 c[Obad. 19] that they may possess the remnant of Edom
anddCited Acts 15:17, 18 all the nations who are called by my name, ”
declares the Lord who does this.
13 “Behold, the days are coming, ” declares the Lord,
eLev. 26:5 “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper
and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
fJoel 3:18 the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and all the hills shall flow with it.
14 gJer. 30:3 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
andhIsa. 61:4 they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
iJer. 31:5 they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 jJer. 24:6; Ezek. 34:29 I will plant them on their land,
k[Joel 3:20] and they shall never again be uprooted
out of the landl[Jer. 3:18] that I have given them, ”
says the Lord your God.