1 Then I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: Strike the tops of the Temple pillars so that the foundations shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people below. Those who survive I will kill by the sword. None of them will escape, not a single one. 2 Even if they dig down into Sheol,* I will catch them and pull them up. Even if they climb up to heaven, I will bring them down. 3 Even if they hide themselves at the top of Mount Carmel, I will search for them and catch them. Even if they hide from me at the bottom of the sea, I will command the sea serpent to bite them. 4 Even if they are driven into exile by their enemies, I will order them put to death by the sword. I will watch them carefully—and for evil, not for good. 5 The Lord God of power touches the earth and it melts, and all who live there mourn. The earth rises up like the Nile river in flood, and then falls again.

6 The Lord builds his upper rooms in heaven, and places the foundations on the earth. He calls for the water of the seas, and pours it down as rain upon the earth—the Lord is his name! 7 Aren't the Ethiopians† as important to me as you, people of Israel? asks the Lord. Yes, I brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir.

8 Watch out! I'm watching this sinful kingdom.‡ I will eradicate it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not completely destroy the descendants of Jacob. 9 See what I'm doing! I will give the command, and the people of Israel will be shaken among the nations like flour through a sieve, and nothing will fall to the ground. 10 All the sinners of my people will be killed by the sword—all those who say, “Nothing bad is going to happen; no disaster will fall on us.”

11 On that day I will restore the fallen kingdom of David; I will repair the broken walls, I will rebuild the ruins, and I will make it as it was in days of old. 12 And they will possess what is left of Edom and all the nations that were once mine,§ declares the Lord. He will make this happen. 13 Look! The time is coming, says the Lord, when the reaper will overtake the plowman, and the one who treads the grapes will overtake the one who sows the seed.* The mountains will drip with sweet wine, and flow from all the hills. 14 I will bring my people back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, and they shall live in them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will plant gardens and eat the fruit they produce. 15 I will plant them in their own land, and they shall never be uprooted again from the land I have given them, declares the Lord your God.