The Destruction of Israel

1I saw the Lord standing upon the altar; and he said, Smite the chapiter that the thresholds may shake; and break all of them in pieces, in the head; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not get away by flight, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.

2Though they dig into Sheol, thence shall my hand take them; and though they climb up to the heavens, thence will I bring them down;

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

4and though they go into captivity before their enemies, there will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.

5And the Lord Jehovah of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it melteth, and all that dwell therein shall mourn; and it shall wholly rise up like the Nile, and sink down as the river of Egypt.

6It is he that buildeth his upper chambers in the heavens, and hath founded his vault upon the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: Jehovah is his name.

7Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith Jehovah. Have not 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 Jehovah are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth: only that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith Jehovah.

9For behold, I command, and I will shake the house of Israel to and fro among all the nations, like as one shaketh [corn] in a sieve; yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.

10All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, Evil shall not overtake nor befall us.

The Restoration of Israel

11In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David which is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; 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 upon whom my name is called, saith Jehovah who doeth this.

13Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, when the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop new wine, and all the hills shall melt.

14And I will turn again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; and they shall make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

15And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, saith Jehovah thy God.