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God's Judgment Unavoidable

¹ I saw the Lord standing beside the ^(C1)altar, and He said,

"Smite the capitals so that the ^(C2)thresholds will shake,
And ^(C3)break them on the heads of them all!
Then I will ^(C4)slay the rest of them with the sword;
They will ^(C5)not have a fugitive who will flee,
Or a refugee who will escape.

² "Though they dig into ^(C1)Sheol,
From there will My hand take them;
And though they ^(C2)ascend to heaven,
From there will I bring them down.

³ "Though they hide on the summit of Carmel,
I will ^(C1)search them out and take them from there;
And though they ^(C2)conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea,
From there I will command the ^(C3)serpent and it will bite them.

⁴ "And though they go into ^(C1)captivity before their enemies,
From there I will command the sword that it slay them,
And I will ^(C2)set My eyes against them for evil and not for good."

⁵ The Lord ^(F1)GOD of hosts,
The One who ^(C1)touches the land so that it melts,
And ^(C2)all those who dwell in it mourn,
And all of it rises up like the Nile
And subsides like the Nile of Egypt;

⁶ The One who builds His ^(F1)(C1)upper chambers in the heavens
And has founded His vaulted dome over the earth,
He who ^(C2)calls for the waters of the sea
And ^(C3)pours them out on the face of the earth,
^(C4)The LORD is His name.

⁷ "Are you not as the sons of ^(C1)Ethiopia to Me,
O sons of Israel?" declares the LORD.
"Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt,
And the ^(C2)Philistines from Caphtor and the ^(C3)Arameans from ^(C4)Kir?

⁸ "Behold, the ^(C1)eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom,
And I will ^(C2)destroy it from the face of the earth;
Nevertheless, I will ^(C3)not totally destroy the house of Jacob,"
Declares the LORD.

⁹ "For behold, I am commanding,
And I will ^(C1)shake the house of Israel among all nations
As grain is shaken in a sieve,
But not a ^(F1)kernel will fall to the ground.

¹⁰ "All the ^(C1)sinners of My people will die by the sword,
Those who say, '^(C2)The calamity will not overtake or confront us.'

The Restoration of Israel

¹¹ "In that day I will ^(C1)raise up the fallen ^(F1)(C2)booth of David,
And wall up its ^(C3)breaches;
I will also raise up its ruins
And rebuild it as in the ^(C4)days of old;

^12 (C1)That they may possess the remnant of ^(C2)Edom
And all the ^(F1)nations who are ^(C3)called by My name,"
Declares the LORD who does this.

¹³ "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD,
"When the ^(C1)plowman will overtake the reaper
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
When the ^(C2)mountains will drip sweet ^(C3)wine
And all the hills will be dissolved.

¹⁴ "Also I will ^(C1)restore the ^(F1)captivity of My people Israel,
And they will ^(C2)rebuild the ruined cities and live in them;
They will also ^(C3)plant vineyards and drink their wine,
And make gardens and eat their fruit.

¹⁵ "I will also plant them on their land,
And ^(C1)they will not again be rooted out from their land
Which I have given them,"
Says the LORD your God.