The Lord's Victory over the Nations

¹“Who is this coming from the city of Bozrah in Edom? Who is this so splendidly dressed in red, marching along in power and strength?” It is the Lord, powerful to save, coming to announce his victory.

²“Why is his clothing so red, like that of someone who tramples grapes to make wine?”

³The Lord answers, “I have trampled the nations like grapes, and no one came to help me. I trampled them in my anger, and their blood has stained all my clothing.

⁴I decided that the time to save my people had come; it was time to punish their enemies.

⁵I was amazed when I looked and saw that there was no one to help me. But my anger made me strong, and I won the victory myself.

⁶In my anger I trampled whole nations and shattered them. I poured out their lifeblood on the ground.”

The Lord's Goodness to Israel

⁷I will tell of the Lord's unfailing love; I praise him for all he has done for us. He has richly blessed the people of Israel because of his mercy and constant love.

⁸The Lord said, “They are my people; they will not deceive me.” And so he saved them

⁹from all their suffering. It was not an angel, but the Lord himself who saved them. In his love and compassion he rescued them. He had always taken care of them in the past,

¹⁰but they rebelled against him and made his holy spirit sad. So the Lord became their enemy and fought against them.

¹¹But then they remembered the past, the days of Moses, the servant of the Lord, and they asked, “Where now is the Lord, who saved the leaders of his people from the sea? Where is the Lord, who gave his spirit to Moses?

^12-13Where is the Lord, who by his power did great things through Moses, dividing the waters of the sea and leading his people through the deep water, to win everlasting fame for himself?” Led by the Lord, they were as sure-footed as wild horses, and never stumbled.

¹⁴As cattle are led into a fertile valley, so the Lord gave his people rest. He led his people and brought honor to his name.

A Prayer for Mercy and Help

¹⁵Lord, look upon us from heaven, where you live in your holiness and glory. Where is your great concern for us? Where is your power? Where are your love and compassion? Do not ignore us.

¹⁶You are our father. Our ancestors Abraham and Jacob do not acknowledge us, but you, Lord, are our father, the one who has always rescued us.

¹⁷Why do you let us stray from your ways? Why do you make us so stubborn that we turn away from you? Come back, for the sake of those who serve you, for the sake of the people who have always been yours.

¹⁸We, your holy people, were driven out by our enemies for a little while; they trampled down your sanctuary.

¹⁹You treat us as though you had never been our ruler, as though we had never been your people.

¹Why don't you tear the sky open and come down? The mountains would see you and shake with fear.

²They would tremble like water boiling over a hot fire. Come and reveal your power to your enemies, and make the nations tremble at your presence!

³There was a time when you came and did terrifying things that we did not expect; the mountains saw you and shook with fear.

⁴No one has ever seen or heard of a God like you, who does such deeds for those who put their hope in him.

⁵You welcome those who find joy in doing what is right, those who remember how you want them to live. You were angry with us, but we went on sinning; in spite of your great anger we have continued to do wrong since ancient times.

⁶All of us have been sinful; even our best actions are filthy through and through. Because of our sins we are like leaves that wither and are blown away by the wind.

⁷No one turns to you in prayer; no one goes to you for help. You have hidden yourself from us and have abandoned us because of our sins.

⁸But you are our father, Lord. We are like clay, and you are like the potter. You created us,

⁹so do not be too angry with us or hold our sins against us forever. We are your people; be merciful to us.

¹⁰Your sacred cities are like a desert; Jerusalem is a deserted ruin,

¹¹and our Temple, the sacred and beautiful place where our ancestors praised you, has been destroyed by fire. All the places we loved are in ruins.

¹²Lord, are you unmoved by all this? Are you going to do nothing and make us suffer more than we can endure?

The Lord's Sword

¹The Lord spoke to me.

²“Mortal man,” he said, “denounce Jerusalem. Denounce the places where people worship. Warn the land of Israel

³that I, the Lord, am saying: I am your enemy. I will draw my sword and kill all of you, good and evil alike.

⁴I will use my sword against everyone from south to north.

⁵Everyone will know that I, the Lord, have drawn my sword and that I will not put it away.

⁶“Mortal man, groan as if your heart is breaking with despair. Groan in sorrow where everyone can watch you.

⁷When they ask you why you are groaning, tell them it is because of the news that is coming. When it comes, their hearts will be filled with fear, their hands will hang limp, their courage will fail, and their knees will tremble. The time has come; it is here.” The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

⁸The Lord said to me,

⁹“Mortal man, prophesy. Tell the people what I, the Lord, am saying: A sword, a sword is sharpened and polished.

¹⁰It is sharpened to kill, polished to flash like lightning. There can be no rejoicing, for my people have disregarded every warning and punishment.

¹¹The sword is being polished, to make it ready for use. It is sharpened and polished, to be put in the hands of a killer.

¹²Howl in grief, mortal man; this sword is meant for my people and for all the leaders of Israel. They are going to be killed with all the rest of my people. Beat your breast in despair!

¹³I am testing my people, and if they refuse to repent, all these things will happen to them.

¹⁴“Now, mortal man, prophesy. Clap your hands, and the sword will strike again and again. It is a sword that kills, a sword that terrifies and slaughters.

¹⁵It makes my people lose courage and stumble. I am threatening their city with a sword that flashes like lightning and is ready to kill.

¹⁶Cut to the right and the left, you sharp sword! Cut wherever you turn.

¹⁷I also will clap my hands, and my anger will be over. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

The Sword of the King of Babylonia

¹⁸The Lord spoke to me.

¹⁹“Mortal man,” he said, “mark out two roads by which the king of Babylonia can come with his sword. Both of them are to start in the same country. Put up a signpost where the roads fork.

²⁰One will show the king the way to the Ammonite city of Rabbah, and the other the way to Judah, to the fortified city, Jerusalem.

²¹The king of Babylonia stands by the signpost at the fork of the road. To discover which way to go, he shakes the arrows; he consults his idols; he examines the liver of a sacrificed animal.

²²Now! His right hand holds the arrow marked ‘Jerusalem’! It tells him to go and set up battering rams, to shout the battle cry, to place battering rams against the gates, to throw up earthworks, and to dig trenches.

²³The people of Jerusalem won't believe this because of the treaties they have made. But this prediction is to remind them of their sins and to warn them that they will be captured.

²⁴This then is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: Your sins are exposed. Everyone knows how guilty you are. You show your sins in your every action. You stand condemned, and I will hand you over to your enemies.

²⁵“You wicked, unholy ruler of Israel, your day, the day of your final punishment, is coming.

²⁶I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. Take off your crown and your turban. Nothing will be the same again. Raise the poor to power! Bring down those who are ruling!

²⁷Ruin, ruin! Yes, I will make the city a ruin. But this will not happen until the one comes whom I have chosen to punish the city. To him I will give it.

A Sword and the Ammonites

²⁸“Mortal man, prophesy. Announce what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to the Ammonites, who are insulting Israel. Say to them: ‘A sword is ready to destroy; It is polished to kill, to flash like lightning.

²⁹The visions that you see are false, and the predictions you make are lies. You are wicked and evil, and your day is coming, the day of your final punishment. The sword is going to fall on your necks.

³⁰“‘Put up the sword! I will judge you in the place where you were created, in the land where you were born.

³¹You will feel my anger when I turn it loose on you like a blazing fire. And I will hand you over to brutal men, experts at destruction.

³²You will be destroyed by fire. Your blood will be shed in your own country, and no one will remember you any more.’” The Lord has spoken.

The Crimes of Jerusalem

¹The Lord spoke to me.

²“Mortal man,” he said, “are you ready to judge the city that is full of murderers? Make clear to her all the disgusting things she has done.

³Tell the city what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: Because you have murdered so many of your own people and have defiled yourself by worshiping idols, your time is coming.

⁴You are guilty of those murders and are defiled by the idols you made, and so your day is coming, your time is up! That is why I have let the nations make fun of you and all the countries sneer at you.

⁵Countries nearby and countries far away sneer at you because of your lawlessness.

⁶All Israel's leaders trust in their own strength and commit murder.

⁷None of you in the city honor your parents. You cheat foreigners and take advantage of widows and orphans.

⁸You have no respect for the holy places, and you don't keep the Sabbath.

⁹Some of your people tell lies about others in order to have them put to death. Some of them eat sacrifices offered to idols. Some are always satisfying their lusts.

¹⁰Some of them sleep with their father's wife. Some force women to have intercourse with them during their period.

¹¹Some commit adultery, and others seduce their daughters-in-law or their half sisters.

¹²Some of your people murder for pay. Some charge interest on the loans they make to other Israelites and get rich by taking advantage of them. They have forgotten me.” The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

¹³“I will bring my fist down on your robberies and murders.

¹⁴Do you think you will have any courage left or have strength enough to lift your hand when I am finished with you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I keep my word.

¹⁵I will scatter your people to every country and nation and will put an end to your evil actions.

¹⁶And so the other nations will dishonor you, but you will know that I am the Lord.”

God's Refining Furnace

¹⁷The Lord said to me,

¹⁸“Mortal man, the Israelites are of no use to me. They are like waste metal—copper, tin, iron, and lead—left over after silver has been refined in a furnace.

¹⁹So now I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling them that they are just as useless as that. I will bring them all together in Jerusalem

²⁰in the same way that the ore of silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin is put in a refining furnace. My anger and rage will melt them the way fire melts ore.

²¹Yes, I will gather them in Jerusalem, build a fire under them, and melt them with my anger.

²²They will be melted in Jerusalem the way silver is melted in a furnace, and then they will know that they are feeling the anger of the Lord.”

The Sins of Israel's Leaders

²³The Lord spoke to me again.

²⁴“Mortal man,” he said, “tell the Israelites that their land is unholy, and so I am punishing it in my anger.

²⁵The leaders are like lions roaring over the animals they have killed. They kill the people, take all the money and property they can get, and by their murders leave many widows.

²⁶The priests break my law and have no respect for what is holy. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. They do not teach the difference between clean and unclean things, and they ignore the Sabbath. As a result the people of Israel do not respect me.

²⁷The government officials are like wolves tearing apart the animals they have killed. They commit murder in order to get rich.

²⁸The prophets have hidden these sins like workers covering a wall with whitewash. They see false visions and make false predictions. They claim to speak the word of the Sovereign Lord, but I, the Lord, have not spoken to them.

²⁹The wealthy cheat and rob. They mistreat the poor and take advantage of foreigners.

³⁰I looked for someone who could build a wall, who could stand in the places where the walls have crumbled and defend the land when my anger is about to destroy it, but I could find no one.

³¹So I will turn my anger loose on them, and like a fire I will destroy them for what they have done.” The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

¹⁷Unreliable messengers cause trouble, but those who can be trusted bring peace.

¹⁸Someone who will not learn will be poor and disgraced. Anyone who listens to correction is respected.

¹⁹How good it is to get what you want! Stupid people refuse to turn away from evil.

²⁰Keep company with the wise and you will become wise. If you make friends with stupid people, you will be ruined.