Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

1 A prophecy about the Valley of Vision:

Tell me what is wrong with you,

that you have all gone up on the roofs.

2 You city full of noise, confusion

and boisterous excitement,

your slain did not fall to the sword,

nor did they die in battle.

3 All your leaders fled together

and were captured without the use of a bow;

all from you who were found were captured,

even though they had fled far away.

4 This is why I said, “Don’t look at me,

leave me alone to weep bitterly,

don’t try to comfort me

over the destruction of my people.”

5 For it is a day of panic,

trampling and confusion

fromAdonaiElohim-Tzva’ot

in the Valley of Vision.

With walls crashing down,

they cry for help to the mountains.

6 ‘Eilam picks up the quivers,

with cavalry and horsemen,

and Kir uncovers the shields.

7 In time, your choicest valleys

are overrun by chariots,

and the cavalry take their posts by the gate;

8 thus is Y’hudah’s protection removed.

That day you looked for the armor

in the House of the Forest.

9 You saw how many breaches there were

in the City of David,

you collected water from the lower pool,

10 you surveyed the houses in Yerushalayim,

tearing some down to fortify the wall.

11 You also built a reservoir between the two walls

for the water from the Old Pool;

but you didn’t look to Him who made these things;

you had no respect for Him who fashioned them long ago.

12 That dayAdonaiElohim-Tzva’ot

called on you to weep and mourn,

to shave your heads and wear sackcloth;

13 but instead, one sees joy and celebrating,

killing of oxen, slaughtering of sheep,

eating of meat, drinking of wine —

“Let’s eat and drink now,

because tomorrow we’ll be dead!”

14 ThenAdonai-Tzva’otrevealed himself in my ears: “You will not atone for this iniquity until you die.” This is whatAdonaiElohim-Tzva’otsays.

15 Thus saysAdonaiElohim-Tzva’ot: “Go and find that steward, Shevna, administrator of the palace, and ask him:

16 ‘What do you own here,

and who gave you the right

to cut yourself a tomb here?

Why do you get such an eminent tomb?

Why are you carving a resting-place

for yourself in the rock?’”

17 Look, strong man!Adonaiis about

to throw you out! He will grab you,

18 roll you up, and toss you around

like a ball in the open country.

There you will die, with your fancy chariots,

you disgrace to your master’s palace!

19 “I will remove you from your office,

I will snatch you from your post.

20 When that day comes, I will summon

my servant Elyakim the son of Hilkiyahu.

21 I will dress him in your robe,

gird him with your sash of office,

and invest him with your authority.

He will be a father to the people

living in Yerushalayim

and to the house of Y’hudah.

22 I will place the key of David’s house

on his shoulder;

no one will shut what he opens;

no one will open what he shuts.

23 “I will fasten him firmly in place like a peg, so that he will become a seat of honor for his clan.

24 They will hang on him all the weight of his clan, descendants and offspring, as well as all the vessels of small capacity, from pitchers to cups.

25 When that day comes, the peg fastened firmly in place will give way; it will be cut down and fall, and the weight that was on it will be cut off.” ForAdonaihas said it.

1 A prophecy about Tzor:

Howl, you “Tarshish” ships,

because the harbor is destroyed!

On returning from Kittim,

they discover they cannot enter it.

2 Silence, you who live on the coast,

you who have been enriched

by the merchants of Tzidon crossing the sea.

3 By the great water the grain of Shichor,

the harvest of the Nile, brought you profits.

She was marketplace for the nations.

4 Shame, Tzidon, for the sea speaks;

the fortress of the sea says,

“I no longer have labor pains or bear children,

yet I have raised neither boys nor girls.”

5 When the report reaches Egypt,

they will be in anguish at the fate of Tzor.

6 Cross over to Tarshish!

Howl, you who live on the coast!

7 Is this your boisterous city,

whose feet long ago in antiquity

carried her off to found distant colonies?

8 Who planned this against Tzor,

the city that once bestowed crowns,

whose merchants are princes,

whose traders are honored throughout the earth?

9 Adonai-Tzva’otplanned it

to break the pride of all the arrogant,

to humiliate all those who are honored

everywhere on earth.

10 People of Tarshish!

Nothing restricts you now.

You can flow freely over your land

just like the Nile River.

11 He has stretched out his hand against the sea,

he has shaken kingdoms;

Adonaihas ordered that Kena‘an’s

fortresses be destroyed.

12 He has said, “Exult no more,

oppressed virgin daughter of Tzidon.

Arise, cross to Kittim;

even there you will find no rest.”

13 Look at the land of the Kasdim!

This was the people who did not exist

when Ashur destined it for desert creatures.

They erected their siege towers

and tore down her palaces,

so that it has been made a ruin.

14 Howl, you “Tarshish” ships,

because your fortress is destroyed.

15 When that day comes, Tzor will be forgotten for seventy years, the lifetime of a king. After seventy years, its fate will be the same as that of the prostitute in this song:

16 “Take a lyre, walk the city,

you poor, forgotten whore!

Play sweetly, sing all your songs,

so that they will remember you!”

17 After seventy years are overAdonaiwill remember Tzor. She will receive her wages again and prostitute herself to all the world’s kingdoms on the face of the earth.

18 But her merchandise and profits will be dedicated toAdonai; they will not be stored up or hoarded, because her profits will be for those living inAdonai’s presence, so that they can eat their fill and wear fine clothing.

1 Look!Adonaiis stripping

and destroying the land,

turning it upside down

and scattering its inhabitants —

2 cohenand commoner, slave and master,

maid and mistress, buyer and seller,

lender and borrower, creditor and debtor.

3 The land will be completely stripped,

completely plundered,

forAdonaihas spoken this word.

4 The land fades and withers,

the world wilts and withers,

the exalted of the land languish.

5 The land lies defiled under its inhabitants;

because they have transgressed the teachings,

changed the law

and broken the everlasting covenant.

6 Therefore a curse is devouring the land,

and its inhabitants are punished for their guilt.

It is why those living there waste away,

and the people left are few.

7 The new wine fails, the vines wilt,

all the revelers sigh,

8 the happy sound of tambourines ceases,

the shouts of merrymakers are stilled,

the joy of the lyre ends.

9 They no longer sing as they drink their wine,

strong liquor tastes bitter to those drinking it.

10 The city of chaos is shattered,

every house closed up; no one can enter.

11 In the streets they are crying over the wine;

all joy has faded, cheer has left the land.

12 In the city, only desolation,

its gates are battered beyond repair.

13 Around the earth, among the peoples,

it will be as when beating an olive tree,

as when gleaning the grapes at the end of the harvest.

14 They lift their voices, singing for joy,

shouting from the west to honorAdonai.

15 So in the east, honorAdonai;

in the coastlands, honor the name ofAdonai,

the God of Isra’el.

16 From the farthest part of the earth

we have heard them sing,

“Glory to the Righteous One!”

But, I say, I’m wasting away,

I am wasting away!

Woe to me! Traitors betray!

Oh, how the traitors betray and betray!

17 Terror, pit and trap are upon you,

you who are living on earth.

18 He who flees at the sound of terror

will fall into the pit.

He who climbs up out of the pit

will be caught in the trap.

For the windows above have been opened,

and the earth’s foundations shake.

19 The earth cracks and breaks open,

the earth crumbles to pieces,

the earth trembles and totters.

20 The earth staggers to and fro like a drunk,

sways back and forth like a watchman’s shelter;

its transgression weighs heavy upon it;

it will fall and not rise again.

21 When that day comes,Adonaiwill punish

the armies of the high heaven on high,

and the kings of the earth here on earth.

22 They will be assembled like prisoners in a dungeon

and shut up in prison to be punished many years.

23 Then the moon will be confused and the sun ashamed,

forAdonai-Tzva’otwill rule on Mount Tziyon

and in Yerushalayim,

with his glory manifest to the rulers of his people.

1 Adonai, you are my God.

I exalt you, I praise your name.

For you have accomplished marvels,

[fulfilled] ancient plans faithfully and truly.

2 For you have made a city a heap of stones,

turned a fortified city into rubble,

made the foreigners’ fortress

a city that will never be rebuilt.

3 Therefore mighty peoples glorify you,

the city of ruthless nations fears you.

4 For you have been a refuge for the poor,

a refuge for the needy in distress,

shelter from the storm,

shade from the heat —

for the blast from the ruthless

was like a storm that could destroy a wall.

5 Like desert heat, you subdue

the foreigners’ uproar;

like heat subdued by a cloud’s shadow,

the song of the ruthless dies away.

6 On this mountainAdonai-Tzva’ot

will make for all peoples

a feast of rich food and superb wines,

delicious, rich food and superb, elegant wines.

7 On this mountain he will destroy

the veil which covers the face of all peoples,

the veil enshrouding all the nations.

8 He will swallow up death forever.

AdonaiElohimwill wipe away

the tears from every face,

and he will remove from all the earth

the disgrace his people suffer.

ForAdonaihas spoken.

9 On that day they will say,

“See! This is our God!

We waited for him to save us.

This isAdonai; we put our hope in him.

We are full of joy, so glad he saved us!”

10 For on this mountain

the hand ofAdonaiwill rest.

But Mo’av will be trampled down where they are,

like straw trampled into a pile of manure.

11 They will spread out their hands in Mo’av,

like a swimmer using his hands to tread water;

but their pride will be humbled and sunk,

no matter how clever the strokes of their hands.

12 Your high, fortified walls he will level,

strike to the ground, lay in the dust.

1 On that day this song will be sung

in the land of Y’hudah:

“We have a strong city!

He has built walls and ramparts for our safety.

2 Open the gates! Let the righteous nation enter,

a nation that keeps faith!

3 “A person whose desire rests on you

you preserve in perfect peace,

because he trusts in you.

4 Trust inAdonaiforever,

because inYahAdonai,

is a Rock of Ages.”

5 For he has humbled those in high places,

levelling the lofty city,

levelling it to the ground,

laying it in the dust.

6 It is trampled underfoot by the feet of the poor,

by the footsteps of the needy.

7 The way of the righteous is level;

Righteous One, you smooth the path for the righteous.

8 Following the way of your judgments,

we put our hope in you.

The desire of all our soul

is to remember you and your name.

9 My soul desires you at night,

my spirit in me seeks you at dawn;

for when your judgments are here on earth,

the people in the world learn what righteousness is.

10 Even if pity is shown to the wicked,

he still doesn’t learn what righteousness is.

In a land of uprightness he will still act wrongly

and fail to see the majesty ofAdonai.

11 Adonai, you raised your hand,

but they still didn’t see.

Yet with shame they will see your zeal for the people.

Yes, fire will destroy your enemies.

12 Adonai, you will grant us peace;

because all we have done, you have done for us.

13 Adonaiour God, other lords

besides you have ruled us,

but only you do we invoke

by name.

14 The dead will not live again,

the ghosts will not rise again;

for you punished and destroyed them,

wiped out all memory of them.

15 You enlarged the nation,Adonai,

you enlarged the nation;

and thus you glorified yourself;

you extended all the frontiers of the country.

16 Adonai, when they were troubled,

they sought you.

When you chastened them,

they poured out a silent prayer.

17 As a pregnant woman about to give birth

cries out and writhes in her labor pains,

so we have been at your presence,Adonai—

18 we have been pregnant and been in pain.

But we, as it were, have given birth to wind;

we have not brought salvation to the land,

and those inhabiting the world have not come to life.

19 Your dead will live, my corpses will rise;

awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust;

for your dew is like the morning dew,

and the earth will bring the ghosts to life.

20 Come, my people, enter your rooms,

and shut your doors behind you.

Hide yourselves for a little while

until the wrath is past.

21 For see!Adonaiemerges from his place

to punish those on earth for their sin.

Then the earth will reveal the blood shed on it

and no longer conceal its slain.

1 On that dayAdonai,

with his great, strong, relentless sword,

will punish Livyatan the fleeing serpent,

the twisting serpent Livyatan;

he will slay the sea monster.

2 On that day, a pleasant vineyard —

sing about it!

3 “I,Adonai, guard it.

Moment to moment I water it.

So that no harm will come to it,

I guard it night and day.

4 I have no anger in me.

If it gives me briars and thorns,

then, as in war, I will trample it down

and burn it up at once;

5 unless it takes hold of my strength,

in order to make peace with me,

yes, to make peace with me.”

6 The time is coming when Ya‘akov will take root;

Isra’el will bud and flower,

and fill the whole world with a harvest.

7 [Adonai]will not strike Isra’el,

as he did others who struck Isra’el;

he will not kill them,

as he did the others.

8 Your controversy with her is fully resolved

by sending her [into exile].

He removes her with a rough gust of wind

on a day when it’s blowing from the east.

9 So the iniquity of Ya‘akov is atoned for by this,

and removing his sin produces this result:

he chops up all the altar stones like chalk —

sacred poles and sun-pillars stand no more.

10 For the fortified city is alone,

abandoned and deserted, like the desert.

Calves graze and lie down there,

stripping its branches bare.

11 When its harvest dries up, it is broken off;

women come and set it on fire.

For this is a people without understanding.

Therefore he who made them will not pity them,

he who formed them will show them no mercy.

12 On that dayAdonaiwill beat out the grain

between the Euphrates River and theVadiof Egypt;

and you will be gathered, one by one,

people of Isra’el!

13 On that day a greatshofarwill sound.

Those lost in the land of Ashur will come,

also those scattered through the land of Egypt;

and they will worshipAdonai

on the holy mountain in Yerushalayim.

1 Woe to the haughty crown of Efrayim’s drunks,

to the fading flower of its proud splendor,

located at the head of the rich valley

belonging to people overcome by wine!

2 Adonaihas someone strong and powerful.

He comes like a hailstorm, a destructive tempest,

like a flood of water, rushing, overwhelming;

with his hand he hurls them to the ground.

3 The haughty crown of Efrayim’s drunks

is trampled underfoot;

4 and the fading flower of its proud splendor,

located at the head of the rich valley,

is like the first ripe fig of summer —

whoever sees it picks and eats it.

5 On that day,Adonai-Tzva’ot

will be a glorious crown,

a brilliant diadem

for the remnant of his people.

6 He will also be a spirit of justice

for whoever sits as a judge,

and a source of strength for those

repelling enemy attacks at the gate.

7 But there are others reeling from wine,

staggering about because of strong liquor;

cohenand prophet reel from strong liquor,

they are confused by wine.

Led astray by strong liquor,

they err in their visions and stumble when judging.

8 All tables are covered with vomit and feces,

not a single place is clean.

9 Can no one be taught anything?

Can no one understand the message?

Must one teach barely weaned toddlers,

babies just taken from the breast,

10 so that [one has to use nursery rhymes]? —

Tzav la-tzav, tzav la-tzav,

kav la-kav, kav la-kav

z‘eir sham, z‘eir sham

[Precept by precept, precept by precept,

line by line, line by line,

a little here, a little there].

11 So with stammering lips, in a foreign accent,

[Adonai] will speak to this people.

12 He once told this people, “It’s time to rest,

the exhausted can rest, now you can relax” —

but they wouldn’t listen.

13 So now the word ofAdonaifor them comes

“precept by precept, precept by precept,

line by line, line by line,

a little here, a little there,”

so that when they walk, they stumble backward,

and are broken, trapped and captured!

14 So listen to the word ofAdonai, you scoffers,

composing taunts for this people in Yerushalayim:

15 Because you said, “We made a covenant with death,

we made a contract with Sh’ol.

When the raging flood passes through,

it will not touch us.

For we have made lies our refuge

and hid ourselves in falsehoods” —

16 therefore here is whatAdonaiElohimsays:

“Look, I am laying in Tziyon

a tested stone, a costly cornerstone,

a firm foundation-stone;

he who trusts will not rush here and there.

17 I will make justice the plumbline

and righteousness the plumb-bob;

hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,

water will overflow the hiding place,

18 your covenant with death will be annulled,

and your contract with Sh’ol will not stand.

When the raging flood passes through,

you will be trampled down by it.

19 As often as it passes through, it will take you,

for it will pass through every morning,

day after day, night after night;

understanding the message will be sheer terror.”

20 For, [as the saying goes,]

“The bed is too short for a person to stretch,

and the blanket too narrow [to protect him from cold]

even if he crams himself in.”

21 ForAdonaiwill arise, as at Mount P’ratzim,

and storm with rage, as in the Giv‘on Valley;

so he can do his deed, his strange deed,

and perform his task, his alien task.

22 Therefore, now, stop your scoffing,

or your bonds will be further tightened;

for I have heard fromAdonaiElohim-Tzva’ot

that destruction is decreed for the whole land.

23 Listen and hear my voice;

pay attention, and hear what I say:

24 Does a farmer sowing keep plowing forever?

Does he never stop breaking up and harrowing his land?

25 No — when he finishes levelling it,

he scatters his dill-seed, sows his cumin,

puts wheat in rows, barley where it belongs,

and plants buckwheat around the edges;

26 because his God has taught him this,

has given him instruction.

27 Dill must not be threshed with a sledge

or cartwheels driven over cumin;

rather, dill one beats with a stick

and cumin with a flail.

28 When crushing grain for bread,

one doesn’t thresh it forever;

one drives the horse and cart wheels over it

but doesn’t crush it to powder.

29 This too comes fromAdonai-Tzva’ot —

his counsel is wonderful, his wisdom great.

1 Woe to Ari’el [fireplace on God’s altar, lion of God] —

Ari’el, the city where David encamped!

Celebrate the feasts for a few more years,

2 but then I will bring trouble to Ari’el.

There will be mourning and moaning,

as she becomes truly anari’elfor me.

3 I will encamp all around you, besiege you with towers

and mount siege-works against you.

4 Prostrate, you will speak from the ground;

your words will be stifled by the dust;

your voice will sound like a ghost in the ground,

your words like squeaks in the dust.

5 But your many foes will become like fine powder,

the horde of tyrants like blowing chaff,

and it will happen very suddenly.

6 You will be visited byAdonai-Tzva’ot

with thunder, earthquakes and loud noises,

whirlwinds, tempests, flaming firestorms.

7 Then, all the nations fighting Ari’el,

every one at war with her,

the ramparts around her, the people that trouble her

will fade like a dream, like a vision in the night.

8 It will be like a hungry man dreaming he’s eating;

but when he wakes up, his stomach is empty;

or like a thirsty man dreaming he’s drinking;

but when he wakes up, he is dry and exhausted —

it will be like this for the horde of all nations

fighting against Mount Tziyon.

9 If you make yourselves stupid, you will stay stupid!

If you blind yourselves, you will stay blind!

You are drunk, but not from wine;

you are staggering, but not from strong liquor.

10 ForAdonaihas poured over you a spirit of lethargy;

he has closed your eyes (that is, the prophets)

and covered your heads (that is, the seers).

11 For you this whole prophetic vision

has become like the message in a sealed-up scroll.

When one gives it to someone who can read and says,

“Please read this,” he answers, “I can’t, because it’s sealed.”

12 If the scroll is given to someone who can’t read

with the request, “Please read this,” he says, “I can’t read.”

13 ThenAdonaisaid:

“Because these people approach me with empty words,

and the honor they bestow on me is mere lip-service;

while in fact they have distanced their hearts from me,

and their ‘fear of me’ is just amitzvahof human origin —

14 therefore, I will have to keep shocking these people

with astounding and amazing things,

until the ‘wisdom’ of their ‘wise ones’ vanishes,

and the ‘discernment’ of their ‘discerning ones’ is hidden away.”

15 Woe to those who burrow down deep

to hide their plans fromAdonai!

They work in the dark and say to themselves,

“Nobody sees us, nobody knows us.”

16 How you turn things upside down! —

Is the potter not better than the clay,

Does something made say of its maker,

“He didn’t make me”?

Does the product say of its producer,

“He has no discernment”?

17 In but a little while the L’vanon

will be turned into a fruitful field,

and the fruitful field regarded as a forest.

18 On that day the deaf

will hear the words of a book,

and out of gloom and darkness

the eyes of the blind will see.

19 The humble will again rejoice inAdonai

and the poor exult in the Holy One of Isra’el,

20 for the tyrant is now nothing, the scoffer is finished,

and all alert to do evil are cut off —

21 those whose words make a man out to be a sinner,

those who set traps for the arbitrator at the city gate,

and those who groundlessly deny justice

to the one in the right.

22 Therefore, here are the words ofAdonai, who redeemed Avraham, concerning the house of Ya‘akov:

“Ya‘akov will no longer be ashamed,

no longer will his face grow pale.

23 When his descendants see the work of my hands

among them, they will consecrate my name.

Yes, they will consecrate the Holy one of Ya‘akov

and stand in awe of the God of Isra’el.

24 Those whose spirits stray will come to understand,

and those who complain will learn their lesson.

1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” saysAdonai.

“They make plans, but the plans are not mine;

they develop alliances, but not from my Spirit,

in order to pile sin upon sin.

2 They go down to Egypt but don’t consult me,

seeking refuge in Pharaoh’s protection,

seeking shelter in Egypt’s shadow.

3 But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you shame,

shelter in Egypt’s shadow will lead to disgrace.

4 Though his princes are at Tzo‘an,

and his envoys have reached Hannes,

5 they all are disappointed

with a people that doesn’t help them,

who give no assistance and no advantage,

only disappointment and disgrace.”

6 A prophecy about the animals in the Negev:

In a land of trouble and anguish,

of lionesses and roaring lions,

of vipers and poisonous flying serpents,

they carry their riches on donkeys’ backs

and their treasures on camels’ humps

to a people who will not help them.

7 For Egypt’s help is worthless, pointless;

so I call her “Arrogance Doing Nothing.”

8 Now go, inscribe it on a tablet,

write it for them in a scroll,

so that on the final day it will be

a witness forever and ever.

9 For this is a rebellious people;

they are lying children,

children who refuse to hear

theTorahofAdonai.

10 They say to the seers, “Do not see!”

to those who have visions, “Do not tell us

the visions you have as they really are;

but flatter us, fabricate illusions!

11 Get out of the way! Leave the path!

Rid us of the Holy One of Isra’el!”

12 Therefore here is what the Holy One of Isra’el says:

“Because you reject this word,

trust in extortion and rely on deceit,

13 this sin will become for you

a crack bulging out high on a wall,

showing signs it is ready to fall;

then suddenly, all at once, it breaks.”

14 He will break it like a clay pot,

ruthlessly shattering it into pieces

so tiny not even a potsherd remains

for taking fire from the fireplace

or scooping water from the cistern.

15 For this is whatAdonaiElohim,

the Holy One of Isra’el, says:

“Returning and resting is what will save you;

calmness and confidence will make you strong —

but you want none of this!

16 ‘No!’ you say, ‘We will flee on horseback!’

Therefore you will surely flee.

And, ‘We will ride on swift ones!’

So your pursuers will be swift.

17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one,

you all will flee at the threat of five,

until you are left isolated,

like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,

like a banner on a hill.”

18 YetAdonaiis just waiting to show you favor,

he will have pity on you from on high;

forAdonaiis a God of justice;

happy are all who wait for him!

19 People in Tziyon, who live in Yerushalayim,

you will weep no more.

At the sound of your cry, he will show you his grace;

on hearing it, he will answer you.

20 ThoughAdonaimay give you but bread and water,

and not very much of that;

your teacher will no longer hide himself,

but with your own eyes you will see your teacher.

21 With your ears you will hear a word from behind you:

“This is the way; stay on it,

whether you go to the right or the left.”

22 You will treat as unclean your silver-covered idols

and your cast metal images plated with gold;

you will throw them away, like menstrual cloths;

you will say to them, “Get out of here!”

23 Then he will give you rain for the seed

you use to sow your land;

and the food that comes from the ground

will be rich and abundant.

When that day comes, your cattle

will graze in spacious pastures.

24 The oxen and donkeys that work the land

will eat a tasty mixture,

winnowed free of chaff,

spread by pitchfork and shovel.

25 On every high mountain and lofty hill

will be streams and flowing brooks,

on a day of great slaughter,

when the towers fall.

26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be

as bright as the light of the sun;

and the light of the sun will be seven times stronger,

like the light of seven days [in one],

on the dayAdonaibinds up the wounds of his people

and heals the bruise caused by the blow.

27 Here comes the name ofAdonaifrom afar,

his anger burning, in thick rising smoke.

His lips are full to the brim with fury,

his tongue a consuming fire.

28 His breath is like a racing torrent

that rises up to the neck,

to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,

and put a bridle in the peoples’ mouths to lead them astray.

29 Your song will be like one that is sung

on a night when a holy feast is kept,

and your hearts will be happy,

as if walking to the sound of the flute,

to the mountain ofAdonai,

to the Rock of Isra’el.

30 Adonaiwill make his glorious voice heard,

and he will reveal his arm descending

with furious anger in a flaming firestorm,

with cloudbursts, tempests and hailstones.

31 ForAdonai’s voice will terrify Ashur,

as with his scepter he strikes them down.

32 Every sweep of the punishing rod

thatAdonaiimposes on him

will be to tambourines and lyres,

as he brandishes his arm against them in battle.

33 For the Tofet fire pit has long been ready,

prepared for the king, made large and deep,

with plenty of wood and blazing with fire;

like a stream of sulfur,Adonai’s breath sets it aflame.

1 Woe to those going down to Egypt

expecting help — relying on horses;

trusting in chariots, because they have many,

and in the strength of their cavalrymen —

but not looking to the Holy One of Isra’el,

not consultingAdonai.

2 But he too is wise and can bring disaster,

and he does not take back his words;

he will rise against the house of evildoers

and against the help of those who do wrong.

3 Now the Egyptians are men and not God,

and their horses flesh and not spirit.

So whenAdonaistretches out his hand,

both he who helps will stumble,

and he who is helped will fall;

both will perish together.

4 For here is whatAdonaisays to me:

“As a lion or lion cub growls at its prey

and isn’t frightened away by the shouts

of hordes of shepherds called out against him —

their voices do not upset him —

so likewiseAdonai-Tzva’otwill descend

to fight on Mount Tziyon, on its hill.

5 Like hovering birds,Adonai-Tzva’ot

will protect Yerushalayim.

In protecting it, he will rescue it;

in sparing it, he will save it.

6 People of Isra’el! Return to him

to whom you have been so deeply disloyal!

7 For on that day everyone will discard

his idols of silver and idols of gold,

which you made for yourselves

with your own sinful hands.

8 Then Ashur will fall by a sword not of mortals,

a sword, not of humans, will devour him;

he will flee before the sword,

and his young men will be put to forced labor.

9 His rock, out of terror, will pass away,

and his panicked officers will desert the standard.”

So saysAdonai, whose fire is in Tziyon,

whose furnace is in Yerushalayim.