Fifth Vision: The Lord beside the Altar

1I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said:

Strike the capitals of the pillars

so that the thresholds shake;

knock them down on the heads of all the people.

Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword.

None of those who flee will get away;

none of the fugitives will escape.

2If they dig down to Sheol,

from there my hand will take them;

if they climb up to heaven,

from there I will bring them down.

3If they hide

on the top of Carmel,

from there I will track them down

and seize them;

if they conceal themselves

from my sight on the sea floor,

from there I will command

the sea serpent to bite them.

4And if they are driven

by their enemies into captivity,

from there I will command

the sword to kill them.

I will keep my eye on them

for harm and not for good.

5The Lord, the God of Armies —

he touches the earth;

it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn;

all of it rises like the Nile

and subsides like the Nile of Egypt.

6He builds his upper chambers

in the heavens

and lays the foundation of his vault

on the earth.

He summons the water of the sea

and pours it out over the surface of the earth.

The Lord is his name.

Announcement of Judgment

7Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to me?

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Didn’t I bring Israel from the land of Egypt,

the Philistines from Caphtor,

and the Arameans from Kir?

8Look, the eyes of the Lord God

are on the sinful kingdom,

and I will obliterate it

from the face of the earth.

However, I will not totally destroy

the house of Jacob —

this is the Lord’s declaration —

9for I am about to give the command,

and I will shake the house of Israel

among all the nations,

as one shakes a sieve,

but not a pebble will fall to the ground.

10All the sinners among my people

who say, “Disaster will never overtake

or confront us,”

will die by the sword.

Announcement of Restoration

11In that day

I will restore the fallen shelter of David:

I will repair its gaps,

restore its ruins,

and rebuild it as in the days of old,

12so that they may possess

the remnant of Edom

and all the nations

that bear my name —

this is the declaration of the Lord; he will do this.

13Look, the days are coming —

this is the Lord’s declaration —

when the plowman will overtake the reaper

and the one who treads grapes,

the sower of seed.

The mountains will drip with sweet wine,

and all the hills will flow with it.

14I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel.

They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities,

plant vineyards and drink their wine,

make gardens and eat their produce.

15I will plant them on their land,

and they will never again be uprooted

from the land I have given them.

The Lord your God has spoken.