The Destruction of Israel 1 UST { In another vision,} I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said,“Strike the tops of the pillars{ of the temple} so hard that the thresholds shake, and shatter them so that the pieces fall down on all the people there{ and crush them}. I will cause enemies to kill with swords anyone who survives. None of them will be able to run away and 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 UST Even if they dig down to the place where dead people go{ as they try to escape from me}, I will reach down there and seize them. Even if they climb up to the sky, I will bring them down from there. 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 UST Even if they hide themselves on the top of Mount Carmel, I will search for them there and capture them. Even if they hide from me at the bottom of the sea, I will command the{ sea} snake there 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 UST Even if their enemies capture them and force them to march away as exiles, I will command those enemies to kill them there with their swords. I will continually do things to harm 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 UST Yahweh our Lord,{ the commander} of the heavenly armies, is the one who can make the earth melt by touching it, so that everyone who lives in it mourns. He can make the whole land rise up and then sink down again, just as the Nile River in Egypt 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 UST He made the stairway{ to his palace} in the sky, and he set his dome{ of the sky} firmly in place above the earth. He gathers up the water from the sea and pours it out{ as rain} on the surface of the ground. The name of the one who does all this 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 UST Listen! I, Yahweh your Lord, am fully aware of how sinful you people are in the kingdom{ of Israel}, so I will destroy your kingdom and remove it from existing on the earth. However, I will not completely destroy all of the descendants of Jacob.” That is what Yahweh declares. 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 UST Yahweh also says,“Listen! This will happen because I am giving the command to send you people of Israel to live among all the nations, and there{ it will be as though} I am shaking you in a sieve{ to sort you out into those who are faithful and those who are not faithful, just as a farmer shakes a sieve to separate grain from the stones}.{ It will be as though} not one pebble slips through the sieve and falls to the ground, because not one of the unfaithful people among you will escape. 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 UST All of the sinful ones among my people will die as enemies kill them with swords. They are the ones who say that nothing bad will ever happen to them. 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 UST At that time, I will restore the kingdom that King David once ruled, the kingdom that sinners have ruined. I will repair it and rebuild it, and I will cause it to prosper again, as it did long ago, 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 UST so that the kingdom of my people may contain those who remain in Edom and those who belong to me in all of the nations.” That is what Yahweh declares, and he is the one who will do it. 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 UST Yahweh declares this,“Listen! The time is coming when{ your crops will grow so well it will be as if} those who plow the ground will catch up with those who are still harvesting the grain, and those who tread on the grapes will still be working when the sowers are ready to start planting the seed. There will be so much sweet wine that{ it will seem as if} it will flow down from the mountains and that all of the hills will melt{ with it}. 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 UST For my people Israel I will make things as good as they were before they became captives{ in other nations}. They will rebuild the cities that now lie in ruins, and they will live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink the wine that comes from them, and they will plant gardens and eat the fruit 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 UST I will settle my people securely in their own land, and no one will ever remove them again from the land that I gave to them.” That is what Yahweh your God says. 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.