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God Answers the Prophet

¹ I will ^(C1)stand at my guard post
And station myself on the watchtower;
And I will ^(C2)keep watch to see ^(C3)what He will say to me,
And how I may reply ^(F1)when I am reprimanded.

² Then the LORD answered me and said,
"^(C1)Write down the vision
And inscribe it clearly on tablets,
So that one who ^(F1)reads it may run.

³ "For the vision is yet for the ^(C1)appointed time;
It ^(F1)hurries toward the goal and it will not ^(F2)fail.
Though it delays, ^(C2)wait for it;
For it will certainly come, it ^(C3)will not delay long.

⁴ "Behold, as for the ^(C1)impudent one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the ^(C2)righteous one will live by his ^(F1)faith.

⁵ "Furthermore, ^(C1)wine betrays an ^(C2)arrogant man,
So that he does not ^(C3)achieve his objective.
He ^(C4)enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
And he is like death, never satisfied.
He also gathers to himself all the nations
And collects to himself all the peoples.

⁶ "Will all of these not ^(C1)take up a song of ridicule against him,
Even a saying and insinuations against him
And say, '^(C2)Woe to him who increases what is not his—
For how long—
And makes himself ^(F1)rich with debts!'

⁷ "Will ^(F1)your creditors not ^(C1)rise up suddenly,
And those who ^(F2)collect from you awaken?
Indeed, you will become plunder for them.

⁸ "Since you have ^(C1)looted many nations,
All the rest of the peoples will loot you—
Because of human bloodshed and violence ^(F1)done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.

⁹ "Woe to him who makes ^(C1)evil profit for his household,
To ^(C2)put his nest on high,
To be saved from the hand of catastrophe!

¹⁰ "You have planned a ^(C1)shameful thing for your house
By bringing many peoples to an end;
So you are ^(C2)sinning against yourself.

¹¹ "For the ^(C1)stone will cry out from the wall,
And the rafter will answer it from the ^(F1)framework.

¹² "Woe to him who ^(C1)builds a city with bloodshed,
And founds a town with ^(F1)violence!

¹³ "Is it not indeed from the LORD of armies
That peoples ^(C1)labor merely for fire,
And nations become weary for nothing?

¹⁴ "For the earth will be ^(C1)filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
As the waters cover the sea.

¹⁵ "Woe to him who makes his neighbor drink;
^(F1)To you who mix in your venom even to make your neighbors drunk,
So as to look at their genitalia!

¹⁶ "You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor.
^(C1)Drink, you yourself, and ^(F1)expose your own foreskin!
The ^(C2)cup in the LORD'S right hand will come around to you,
And ^(C3)utter disgrace will come upon your glory.

¹⁷ "For the ^(C1)violence ^(F1)done to Lebanon will ^(F2)overwhelm you,
And the devastation of its animals ^(F3)by which you terrified them,
^(C2)Because of human bloodshed and ^(C3)violence ^(F4)done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.

¹⁸ "What ^(C1)benefit is a carved image when its maker has carved it,
Or a cast metal image, a ^(C2)teacher of falsehood?
For its maker ^(C3)trusts in his own handiwork
When he fashions speechless idols.

¹⁹ "Woe to him who ^(C1)says to a piece of wood, '^(C2)Awake!'
To a mute stone, 'Arise!'
That is your teacher?
Behold, it is overlaid with ^(C3)gold and silver,
Yet there is ^(C4)no breath at all inside it.

²⁰ "But the ^(C1)LORD is in His holy temple.
^(F1)Let all the earth ^(C2)be silent before Him."