A Useless Treaty with Egypt

¹The Lord has spoken: “Those who rule Judah are doomed because they rebel against me. They follow plans that I did not make, and sign treaties against my will, piling one sin on another.

²They go to Egypt for help without asking for my advice. They want Egypt to protect them, so they put their trust in Egypt's king.

³But the king will be powerless to help them, and Egypt's protection will end in disaster.

⁴Although their ambassadors have already arrived at the Egyptian cities of Zoan and Hanes,

⁵the people of Judah will regret that they ever trusted that unreliable nation, a nation that fails them when they expect help.”

⁶This is God's message about the animals of the southern desert: “The ambassadors travel through dangerous country, where lions live and where there are poisonous snakes and flying dragons. They load their donkeys and camels with expensive gifts for a nation that cannot give them any help.

⁷The help that Egypt gives is useless. So I have nicknamed Egypt, ‘The Harmless Dragon.’”

The Disobedient People

⁸God told me to write down in a book what the people are like, so that there would be a permanent record of how evil they are.

⁹They are always rebelling against God, always lying, always refusing to listen to the Lord's teachings.

¹⁰They tell the prophets to keep quiet. They say, “Don't talk to us about what's right. Tell us what we want to hear. Let us keep our illusions.

¹¹Get out of our way and stop blocking our path. We don't want to hear about your holy God of Israel.”

¹²But this is what the holy God of Israel says: “You ignore what I tell you and rely on violence and deceit.

¹³You are guilty. You are like a high wall with a crack running down it; suddenly you will collapse.

¹⁴You will be shattered like a clay pot, so badly broken that there is no piece big enough to pick up hot coals with or to dip water from a cistern.”

¹⁵The Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says to the people, “Come back and quietly trust in me. Then you will be strong and secure.” But you refuse to do it.

¹⁶Instead, you plan to escape from your enemies by riding fast horses. And you are right—escape is what you will have to do! You think your horses are fast enough, but those who pursue you will be faster!

¹⁷A thousand of you will run away when you see one enemy soldier, and five soldiers will be enough to make you all run away. Nothing will be left of your army except a lonely flagpole on the top of a hill.

¹⁸And yet the Lord is waiting to be merciful to you. He is ready to take pity on you because he always does what is right. Happy are those who put their trust in the Lord.

God Will Bless His People

¹⁹You people who live in Jerusalem will not weep any more. The Lord is compassionate, and when you cry to him for help, he will answer you.

²⁰The Lord will make you go through hard times, but he himself will be there to teach you, and you will not have to search for him any more.

²¹If you wander off the road to the right or the left, you will hear his voice behind you saying, “Here is the road. Follow it.”

²²You will take your idols plated with silver and your idols covered with gold, and will throw them away like filth, shouting, “Out of my sight!”

²³Whenever you plant your crops, the Lord will send rain to make them grow and will give you a rich harvest, and your livestock will have plenty of pasture.

²⁴The oxen and donkeys that plow your fields will eat the finest and best fodder.

²⁵On the day when the forts of your enemies are captured and their people are killed, streams of water will flow from every mountain and every hill.

²⁶The moon will be as bright as the sun, and the sun will be seven times brighter than usual, like the light of seven days in one. This will all happen when the Lord bandages and heals the wounds he has given his people.

God Will Punish Assyria

²⁷The Lord's power and glory can be seen in the distance. Fire and smoke show his anger. He speaks, and his words burn like fire.

²⁸He sends the wind in front of him like a flood that carries everything away. It sweeps nations to destruction and puts an end to their evil plans.

²⁹But you, God's people, will be happy and sing as you do on the night of a sacred festival. You will be as happy as those who walk to the music of flutes on their way to the Temple of the Lord, the defender of Israel.

³⁰The Lord will let everyone hear his majestic voice and feel the force of his anger. There will be flames, cloudbursts, hailstones, and torrents of rain.

³¹The Assyrians will be terrified when they hear the Lord's voice and feel the force of his punishment.

³²As the Lord strikes them again and again, his people will keep time with the music of drums and harps. God himself will fight against the Assyrians.

³³Long ago a place was prepared where a huge fire will burn the emperor of Assyria. It is deep and wide, and piled high with wood. The Lord will breathe out a stream of flame to set it on fire.

God Will Protect Jerusalem

¹Those who go to Egypt for help are doomed! They are relying on Egypt's vast military strength—horses, chariots, and soldiers. But they do not rely on the Lord, the holy God of Israel, or ask him for help.

²He knows what he is doing! He sends disaster. He carries out his threats to punish evil people and those who protect them.

³The Egyptians are not gods—they are only human. Their horses are not supernatural. When the Lord acts, the strong nation will crumble, and the weak nation it helped will fall. Both of them will be destroyed.

⁴The Lord said to me, “No matter how shepherds yell and shout, they can't scare away a lion from an animal that it has killed; in the same way, there is nothing that can keep me, the Lord Almighty, from protecting Mount Zion.

⁵Just as a bird hovers over its nest to protect its young, so I, the Lord Almighty, will protect Jerusalem and defend it.”

⁶God said, “People of Israel, you have sinned against me and opposed me. But now, come back to me!

⁷A time is coming when all of you will throw away the sinful idols you made out of silver and gold.

⁸Assyria will be destroyed in war, but not by human power. The Assyrians will run from battle, and their young men will be made slaves.

⁹Their emperor will run away in terror, and the officers will be so frightened that they will abandon their battle flags.” The Lord has spoken—the Lord who is worshiped in Jerusalem and whose fire burns there for sacrifices.

Jerusalem's Sin and Redemption

¹Jerusalem is doomed, that corrupt, rebellious city that oppresses its own people.

²It has not listened to the Lord or accepted his discipline. It has not put its trust in the Lord or asked for his help.

³Its officials are like roaring lions; its judges are like hungry wolves, too greedy to leave a bone until morning.

⁴The prophets are irresponsible and treacherous; the priests defile what is sacred, and twist the law of God to their own advantage.

⁵But the Lord is still in the city; he does what is right and never what is wrong. Every morning without fail, he brings justice to his people. And yet the unrighteous people there keep on doing wrong and are not ashamed.

⁶The Lord says, “I have wiped out whole nations; I have destroyed their cities and left their walls and towers in ruins. The cities are deserted; the streets are empty—no one is left.

⁷I thought that then my people would have reverence for me and accept my discipline, that they would never forget the lesson I taught them. But soon they were behaving as badly as ever.

⁸“Just wait,” the Lord says. “Wait for the day when I rise to accuse the nations. I have made up my mind to gather nations and kingdoms in order to let them feel the force of my anger. The whole earth will be destroyed by the fire of my fury.

⁹“Then I will change the people of the nations, and they will pray to me alone and not to other gods. They will all obey me.

¹⁰Even from distant Ethiopia my scattered people will bring offerings to me.

¹¹At that time you, my people, will no longer need to be ashamed that you rebelled against me. I will remove everyone who is proud and arrogant, and you will never again rebel against me on my sacred hill.

¹²I will leave there a humble and lowly people, who will come to me for help.

¹³The people of Israel who survive will do no wrong to anyone, tell no lies, nor try to deceive. They will be prosperous and secure, afraid of no one.”

A Song of Joy

¹⁴Sing and shout for joy, people of Israel! Rejoice with all your heart, Jerusalem!

¹⁵The Lord has stopped your punishment; he has removed all your enemies. The Lord, the king of Israel, is with you; there is no reason now to be afraid.

¹⁶The time is coming when they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not be afraid, city of Zion! Do not let your hands hang limp!

¹⁷The Lord your God is with you; his power gives you victory. The Lord will take delight in you, and in his love he will give you new life. He will sing and be joyful over you,

¹⁸as joyful as people at a festival.” The Lord says, “I have ended the threat of doom and taken away your disgrace.

¹⁹The time is coming! I will punish your oppressors; I will rescue all the lame and bring the exiles home. I will turn their shame to honor, and all the world will praise them.

²⁰The time is coming! I will bring your scattered people home; I will make you famous throughout the world and make you prosperous once again.” The Lord has spoken.

¹³No one who gossips can be trusted with a secret, but you can put confidence in someone who is trustworthy.

¹⁴A nation will fall if it has no guidance. Many advisers mean security.

¹⁵If you promise to pay a stranger's debt, you will regret it. You are better off if you don't get involved.

¹⁶A gracious woman is respected, but a woman without virtue is a disgrace. Lazy people will never have money, but aggressive people will get rich.