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¹ I saw a vision of the Lord
standing by the temple altar,^[a]
    and he said,
"Shake the columns
until the tops fall loose,
    and the doorposts crumble.
Then make the pieces fall
    on the people below.
I will take a sword and kill
    anyone who escapes.

² "If they dig deep into the earth
or climb to the sky,
    I'll reach out and get them.
³ If they escape to the peaks
of Mount Carmel,
    I'll search and find them.
And if they hide from me
    at the bottom of the ocean,
I'll command a sea monster
    to bite them.
⁴ I'll send a sword to kill them,
wherever their enemies
    drag them off as captives.
I'm determined to hurt them,
    not to help them."

⁵ When the Lord God All-Powerful
touches the earth,
it melts,
    and its people mourn.
God makes the earth rise
and then fall,
    just like the Nile River.
⁶ He built his palace in the heavens
and let its foundations
    rest on the earth.^[b]
He scoops up the ocean
and empties it on the earth.
    His name is the Lord.

⁷ Israel, I am the Lord God,
    and the Ethiopians^[c]
are no less important to me
    than you are.
I brought you out of Egypt,
    but I also brought
the Philistines from Crete^[d]
    and the Arameans from Kir.^[e]
8 My eyes have seen
what a sinful nation you are,
    and I'll wipe you out.
But I will leave a few
of Jacob's descendants.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!

⁹ At my command, all of you
    will be sifted like grain.
Israelites who remain faithful
will be scattered
    among the nations.
And the others will be trapped
    like trash in a sifter.
¹⁰ Some of you are evil,
    and you deny
that you will ever get caught.
    But you will be killed.

¹¹ In the future, I will rebuild
    David's fallen kingdom.
I will build it from its ruins
and set it up again,
    just as it used to be.
¹² Then you will capture Edom
and the other nations
    that are mine.
I, the Lord, have spoken,
    and my words will come true.

¹³ You will have such a harvest
    that you won't be able
to bring in all of your wheat
    before plowing time.
You will have grapes left over
    from season to season;
your fruitful vineyards
    will cover the mountains.

¹⁴ I'll make Israel prosper again.
You will rebuild your towns
    and live in them.
You will drink wine
from your own vineyards
    and eat the fruit you grow.
¹⁵ I'll plant your roots deep
in the land I have given you,
    and you won't ever
    be uprooted again.
I, the Lord God, have spoken!