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God's Judgment Unavoidable

¹ I saw in a vision the Lord standing at the ^(C1)altar, and He said,

"Destroy the capitals (tops) of the pillars so that the ^(C2)thresholds will shake,
And ^(C3)break them on the heads of all of the people!
Then I will ^(C4)kill the rest of them with the sword;
They will ^(C5)not have a fugitive who will get away,
Or a survivor who will escape.

² "Though they dig into ^(F1)(C1)Sheol to hide in the deepest pit,
From there My hand will take them for judgment;
And though they ^(C2)climb up to heaven to hide in the realm of light,
From there will I bring them down for judgment.

³ "Though they hide on the summit of Mount Carmel,
I will ^(C1)track them down and take them from there;
And though they ^(C2)hide from My sight on the floor of the sea,
From there I shall command the ^(C3)serpent and it will bite them.

⁴ "And though they go into ^(C1)captivity before their enemies,
From there I shall command the sword to kill them,
And I will ^(C2)set My eyes against them for evil (judgment, punishment) and not for good that is, not for correction leading to restoration."

⁵ The Lord GOD of hosts the Omnipotent Ruler,
It is He who ^(C1)touches the earth in judgment and it melts,
And ^(C2)all who dwell on it mourn in despair and fear,
And all of it rises up like the Nile
And subsides like the Nile of Egypt;

⁶ It is He who builds His ^(C1)upper chambers in the heavens
And has established His vaulted dome (the firmament of heaven) over the earth,
He who ^(C2)calls to the waters of the sea
And ^(C3)pours them out on the face of the earth—
^(C4)The LORD is His name.

⁷ "Are you degenerate ones not as the despised sons of ^(C1)Ethiopia to Me,
O sons of Israel?" says the LORD.
"Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt,
And the ^(C2)Philistines from Caphtor and the ^(C3)Arameans (Syrians) from ^(C4)Kir?

⁸ "Behold, the ^(C1)eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful northern kingdom of Israel's ten tribes
And I shall ^(C2)destroy it from the face of the earth;
But I shall ^(C3)not totally destroy the house of Jacob that is, the entire nation of Israel,"
Says the LORD.

⁹ "For behold, I am commanding,
And I shall ^(C1)shake and sift the house of Israel among all nations and cause it to tremble
Like grain is shaken in a sieve removing the chaff,
But not a kernel of the faithful remnant shall fall to the ground and be lost from My sight. ^(VR1)

¹⁰ "All the ^(C1)sinners among My people will die by the sword,
Those who say defiantly, '^(C2)The disaster will not overtake or confront us.'

The Restoration of Israel

¹¹ "In that day I shall ^(C1)raise up and restore the fallen ^(F1)(C2)tabernacle (booth) of David,
And wall up its ^(C3)breaches in the city walls;
I will also raise up and restore its ruins
And rebuild it as it was in the ^(C4)days of old,

^12 (C1)That they may possess the remnant of ^(C2)Edom (ancient enemies)
And all the nations that are ^(C3)called by My name,"
Says the LORD who does this. ^(VR1)

¹³ "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD,
"When the ^(C1)plowman shall overtake the one who gathers the harvest,
And the one who treads the grapes shall overtake him who sows the seed for the harvest continues until planting time;
When the ^(C2)mountains will drip sweet ^(C3)wine
And all the hills shall melt that is, everything that was once barren will overflow with streams of blessing. ^(VR1)

¹⁴ "Also I shall ^(C1)bring back the exiles of My people Israel,
And they will ^(C2)rebuild the deserted and ruined cities and inhabit them:
They will also ^(C3)plant vineyards and drink their wine,
And make gardens and eat their fruit.

¹⁵ "I will also plant them on their land,
And ^(C1)they shall never again be uprooted from their land
Which I have given them,"
Says the LORD your God.