¹I saw the Lord standing beside the altar , and he said, “Strike the tops of the pillars , that the thresholds may shake . Break them in pieces on the head of all of them . I will kill the last of them with the sword . Not one of them will flee away . Not one of them will escape .

²Though they dig into Sheol , there my hand will take them ; and though they climb up to heaven , there I will bring them down .[#9:2 Sheol is the place of the dead.]

³Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel , I will search and take them out from there ; and though they be hidden from my sight in the bottom of the sea , there I will command the serpent , and it will bite them .

⁴Though they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword , and it will kill them . I will set my eyes on them for evil , and not for good .

⁵For the Lord , the GOD of Armies , is he who touches the land and it melts , and all who dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise up wholly like the River , and will sink again, like the River of Egypt .[#9:5 When rendered in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, “” or “GOD” is the translation of God’s Proper Name (Hebrew “”, usually pronounced Yahweh).]

⁶It is he who builds his rooms in the heavens , and has founded his vault on the earth ; he who calls for the waters of the sea , and pours them out on the surface of the earth —the LORD is his name .

⁷Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to me , children of Israel ?” says the LORD . “Haven’t I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt , and the Philistines from Caphtor , and the Syrians from Kir ?

⁸Behold , the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom , and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth, except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob ,” says the LORD .

⁹“For behold , I will command , and I will sift the house of Israel amongst all the nations as grain is sifted in a sieve , yet not the least kernel will fall on the earth.

¹⁰All the sinners of my people will die by the sword , who say, ‘Evil won’t overtake nor meet us .’

¹¹In that day I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen and close up its breaches , and I will raise up its ruins , and I will build it as in the days of old ,

¹²that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name ,” says the LORD who does this .

¹³“Behold , the days come ,” says the LORD ,

“that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper ,

and the one treading grapes him who sows seed ;

and sweet wine will drip from the mountains ,

and flow from the hills .

¹⁴I will bring my people Israel back from captivity ,

and they will rebuild the ruined cities , and inhabit them ;

and they will plant vineyards , and drink wine from them .

They shall also make gardens ,

and eat their fruit .

¹⁵I will plant them on their land,

and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them ,”

says the LORD your God .