The Destruction of Israel 1 UDB Yahweh showed me another vision. In the vision, I saw him standing next to the altar. He said, "Strike the tops of the pillars of the temple, until they become loose and fall down, so that the foundation will shake. Then cause the pieces of the temple to fall down on the people who are inside. I will kill with a sword anyone who tries to flee; no one will escape. BSB BSB: I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Topple them on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the rest with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape.
2 UDB If they dig deep pits in the ground, even all the way to the place of the dead, or if they try to climb up to the sky in order to escape, I will reach out and grab them. BSB BSB: Though they dig down to Sheol, from there My hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, from there I will pull them down.
3 UDB If they go to the top of Mount Carmel to escape, I will search for them and seize them. If they try to hide from me at the bottom of the sea, I will command the huge sea monster to bite them. BSB BSB: Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.
4 UDB If their enemies capture them and force them to go to other countries, I will command that they be killed there with swords. I am determined to get rid of them, not to help them." BSB BSB: Though they are driven by their enemies into captivity, there I will command the sword to slay them. I will fix My eyes upon them for harm and not for good.”
5 UDB When Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, touches the earth, it melts, and all over the earth many people die, and the others mourn for them. It is as though Yahweh causes the earth repeatedly to rise and fall like water in the Nile River rises and falls. BSB BSB: The Lord GOD of Hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, and all its dwellers mourn—all the land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt—
6 UDB He builds his beautiful palace in heaven and sets the sky to be like a dome over the earth. He scoops up the water from the ocean and puts it into clouds, and then empties the clouds onto the earth. His name is Yahweh. BSB BSB: He builds His upper rooms in the heavens and founds His vault upon the earth. He summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth. The LORD is His name.
8 UDB I, Yahweh the Lord, have seen that you people in the kingdom of Israel are very sinful, so I will destroy you. But I will not get rid of all you descendants of Jacob. That is what will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it. BSB BSB: Surely the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” declares the LORD.
9 UDB When I command it, it will be as though I will shake you Israelite people who are living in various nations, as farmer shakes a sieve to separate the stone pebbles from the grain in order that they do not fall on the ground with the grain. BSB BSB: “For surely I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is sifted in a sieve; but not a pebble will reach the ground.
10 UDB From among my people, all you sinful people who say, 'We will not experience disasters; nothing evil will happen to us,' your enemies will kill you with their swords." BSB BSB: All the sinners among My people will die by the sword—all those who say, ‘Disaster will never draw near or confront us.’”
A Promise of Restoration (Acts 15:5–21)
11 UDB "The kingdom over which King David ruled has been destroyed, like a house that collapsed and then became ruins. But on that day I will cause it to become a kingdom again. I will cause it to prosper again just like it did previously. BSB BSB: “In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,
12 UDB When that happens, your armies will seize the remaining part of the region of Edom, and they will also seize the other nations that previously belonged to me. I, Yahweh, have said that I will do these things, and I will certainly cause them to happen. BSB BSB: that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear My name,” declares the LORD, who will do this.
13 UDB There will be a time when your crops will grow very well; very soon after the crops are harvested, farmers will plow the ground to plant more crops in it again, and soon after the vineyards are planted, farmers will harvest grapes and tread on them to make wine. And because there will be very much wine, it will seem as though wine is flowing down from the hills. BSB BSB: “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, with which all the hills will flow.
14 UDB I will cause you, my Israelite people, to prosper again. You will rebuild your towns and live in them. You will plant vineyards and drink the wine made from the grapes that grows in them. BSB BSB: I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 UDB I will enable you to live in your land again, the land that I gave to your ancestors; never again will you be forced to leave it. That is what will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it." BSB BSB: I will firmly plant them in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land that I have given them,” says the LORD your God.