1. ‘Woe to the City of the Altar of God, On which King David waged war. ‘Gather your crops year after year, And share them with the people of Moab.
2. Then I’ll squeeze the City of the Altar of God, And all her strength and wealth will be Mine.
3. ‘I’ll encircle your city like David, And throw up a siege mound against it. With siege towers, I will surround it,
4. And your words will be brought to the ground… Yes, your words will go down to the ground! Then you’ll speak like those who speak from the grave, And from the ground, your voices will get weaker.
5. ‘Then the wealth that you gained from your godless ways, Like clouds of dust, will become… As that which is raised by the passing of wheels. For then, all those who oppress you Will be as many as pieces of dust!’
6. It will happen right away in a moment. Then Jehovah of Armies will arrive and consume you with thunder, shakings, and noise, As well as with wind blasts and flames.
7. It will be like a nightmare to you, when the wealth of many nations come marching against the City of the altar of God. For the armies of all her oppressors will gather against Jerusalem.
8. Then, to all those who are sleeping, and to those who are eating and drinking, it will seem as though it’s a dream… And this is what they’ll be dreaming... Those who get thirsty and drink will still be thirsty when they awake. And there’ll be no more hope in their lives when the wealth of many nations marches on Zion.
9. Be tipsy, be dizzy, and then be amazed… But not from liquor or wine,
10. For the Lord will send you frustration to drink! Then He’ll close the eyes of your prophets, As well as the eyes of your seers and rulers.
11. And all that’s written in this sealed-up scroll Will be given to a man who knows how to read. Then you’ll say to him, ‘Please read these things!’ But he will reply: ‘I can’t read it, Because the scroll has been sealed!’1.
12. Then you’ll hand this scroll to a man who can’t read, And you’ll also ask him to read it; But he’ll answer and say, I can’t read.’
13. For this is what was said by the Lord: ‘With their mouths, these people approach Me, And with their lips, they offer Me praise… But they’re far away from Me in their hearts. So they’re wasting their time when they bow before Me, Since they’re teaching the ideas and instructions of men!
14. ‘And it’s because of this, that I’m coming to bring a change to these people… Yes, I will come and transpose them! The wisdom of their wise, I’ll destroy, And the understanding of their discerning, I’ll hide.’
15. So, woe to those who’ve come up with plans that haven’t been approved by Jehovah! And woe to those who make them in secret, as they do things in darkness and ask: ‘Since no one can see us or recognize us, Who can know what we’re doing?’
16. Aren’t you just clay in the hands of a potter? So can the thing that is shaped say to its shaper: ‘You’re not the one who has shaped me?’ Or can something that’s made say to its maker: ‘I don’t like the way that you made me?’
17. Soon Lebanon will meet with a change… Her mountains will be changed into crop fields, And the crops on her mountains, into forests.
18. Then, in that day, even those who are deaf Will hear the words of this scroll. And those in the darkness and those in the fog, And the eyes of the blind ones will see it!
19. So the poor will cheer because of the Lord, And those without hope will be joyful.
20. For the lawless and evil will then have all failed… The proud will all be destroyed… And those who break laws will be gone,
21. With those whose words led them to sin. Then, all that reprove at the gates Will be known as those who have stumbled; For, they have twisted the law, and the righteous ones, they have wronged.
22. ‘And concerning the house of Jacob,’ said the Lord… ‘Those whom I have selected from among Abraham's sons… Jacob’s offspring will not come to shame, Nor will their faces be saddened again.
23. ‘For, when their young see the things that I’ll do; Look! They’ll treat God’s Name as holy once more… They’ll praise the Holy One of Jacob, And learn to fear Israel's God.
24. ‘Then, those with wandering spirits Will have to gain understanding… Yes, those who complain must learn to obey, And stuttering tongues will learn to speak peace.’