Now the Egyptians are men and not God, And their horses are flesh and not spirit; So the LORD will stretch out His hand, And he who helps will stumble And he who is helped will fall, And all of them will come to an end together.
For thus says the LORD to me, “As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey, Against which a band of shepherds is called out, And he will not be terrified at their voice nor disturbed at their noise, So will the LORD of hosts come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill.”
Like flying birds so the LORD of hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will protect and deliver it; He will pass over and rescue it.
And the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man, And a sword not of man will devour him. So he will not escape the sword, And his young men will become forced laborers.
“His rock will pass away because of panic, And his princes will be terrified at the standard,” Declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
Each will be like a refuge from the wind And a shelter from the storm, Like streams of water in a dry country, Like the shade of a huge rock in a parched land.
Then the eyes of those who see will not be blinded, And the ears of those who hear will listen.
The mind of the hasty will discern the truth, And the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak clearly.
No longer will the fool be called noble, Or the rogue be spoken of as generous.
For a fool speaks nonsense, And his heart inclines toward wickedness: To practice ungodliness and to speak error against the LORD, To keep the hungry person unsatisfied And to withhold drink from the thirsty.
As for a rogue, his weapons are evil; He devises wicked schemes To destroy the afflicted with slander, Even though the needy one speaks what is right.
But the noble man devises noble plans; And by noble plans he stands.
Within a year and a few days You will be troubled, O complacent daughters; For the vintage is ended, And the fruit gathering will not come.
Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine,
For the land of my people in which thorns and briars shall come up; Yea, for all the joyful houses and for the jubilant city.
Because the palace has been abandoned, the populated city forsaken. Hill and watch-tower have become caves forever, A delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks;
Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, And the wilderness becomes a fertile field, And the fertile field is considered as a forest.
Then justice will dwell in the wilderness And righteousness will abide in the fertile field.
And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.
And it will hail when the forest comes down, And the city will be utterly laid low.
How blessed will you be, you who sow beside all waters, Who let out freely the ox and the donkey.
O LORD, be gracious to us; we have waited for You. Be their strength every morning, Our salvation also in the time of distress.
At the sound of the tumult peoples flee; At the lifting up of Yourself nations disperse.
Your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers; As locusts rushing about men rush about on it.
The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
And He will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; The fear of the LORD is his treasure.
Behold, their brave men cry in the streets, The ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
The highways are desolate, the traveler has ceased, He has broken the covenant, he has despised the cities, He has no regard for man.
The land mourns and pines away, Lebanon is shamed and withers; Sharon is like a desert plain, And Bashan and Carmel lose their foliage.
“Now I will arise,” says the LORD, “Now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up.
“The peoples will be burned to lime, Like cut thorns which are burned in the fire.
Sinners in Zion are terrified; Trembling has seized the godless. “Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning?”
He will dwell on the heights, His refuge will be the impregnable rock; His bread will be given him, His water will be sure.
Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will behold a far-distant land.
Your heart will meditate on terror: “Where is he who counts? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?”
Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an undisturbed habitation, A tent which will not be folded; Its stakes will never be pulled up, Nor any of its cords be torn apart.
But there the majestic One, the LORD, will be for us A place of rivers and wide canals On which no boat with oars will go, And on which no mighty ship will pass--
For the LORD is our judge, The LORD is our lawgiver, The LORD is our king; He will save us--
Your tackle hangs slack; It cannot hold the base of its mast firmly, Nor spread out the sail. Then the prey of an abundant spoil will be divided; The lame will take the plunder.
And no resident will say, “I am sick”; The people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.
Draw near, O nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples! Let the earth and all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.
For the LORD’S indignation is against all the nations, And His wrath against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to slaughter.
So their slain will be thrown out, And their corpses will give off their stench, And the mountains will be drenched with their blood.
And all the host of heaven will wear away, And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; All their hosts will also wither away As a leaf withers from the vine, Or as one withers from the fig tree.
For My sword is satiated in heaven, Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom And upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction.
The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, It is sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, With the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
For the LORD has a day of vengeance, A year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
But pelican and hedgehog will possess it, And owl and raven will dwell in it; And He will stretch over it the line of desolation And the plumb line of emptiness.
The desert creatures will meet with the wolves, The hairy goat also will cry to its kind; Yes, the night monster will settle there And will find herself a resting place.
The tree snake will make its nest and lay eggs there, And it will hatch and gather them under its protection. Yes, the hawks will be gathered there, Every one with its kind.
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
For Permission to Quote information visit http://www.lockman.org by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif.
All rights reserved.