14. It will break like pottery.It will be smashed, and nothing will be left of it.No piece will be big enough to carry live coals from a fireplaceor to dip water from a reservoir.
15. This is what the Almighty Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:You can be saved by returning to me.You can have rest.You can be strong by being quiet and by trusting me.But you don’t want that.
16. You’ve said, “No, we’ll flee on horses.”So you flee.You’ve added, “We’ll ride on fast horses.”So those who chase you will also be fast.
17. One thousand people will flee when one person threatens them,and you will flee when five threaten you.Then you will be left alonelike a flagpole on top of a mountain,like a signpost on a hill.
18. The Lord is waiting to be kind to you.He rises to have compassion on you.The Lord is a God of justice.Blessed are all those who wait for him.
19. You will live in Zion, in Jerusalem. You won’t cry anymore. The Lord will certainly have pity on you when you cry for help. As soon as he hears you, he will answer you.
20. The Lord may give you troubles and hardships. But your teacher will no longer be hidden from you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes.
21. You will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way. Follow it, whether it turns to the right or to the left.”
22. Then you will dishonor your silver-plated idols and your gold-covered statues. You will throw them away like clothing ruined by stains. You will say to them, “Get out!”
23. The Lord will give you rain for the seed that you plant in the ground, and the food that the ground provides will be rich and nourishing. When that day comes, your cattle will graze in large pastures.
24. The oxen and the donkeys which work the soil will eat a mixture of food that has been winnowed with forks and shovels.
25. There will be brooks and streams on every lofty mountain and every high hill. When the day of the great slaughter comes, towers will fall.
26. Then the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun. The light of the sun will be seven times as strong, like the light of seven days. When that day comes, the Lord will bandage his people’s injuries and heal the wounds he inflicted.
27. The name of the Lord is going to come from far away.His anger is burning.His burden is heavy.His lips are filled with fury.His tongue is like a devouring flame.