8. Now, write this on a tablet for them, and inscribe it in a bookso that it will be there in the future as a permanent witness.
9. These people are rebellious and deceitful children,children who refuse to listen to the Lord’s teachings.
10. They say to the seers, ‘Don’t see ⌊the future⌋.’They say to those who have visions,‘Don’t have visions that tell us what is right.Tell us what we want to hear. See illusions.
11. Get out of our way! Stop blocking our path!Get the Holy One of Israel out of our sight.’ ”
12. This is what the Holy One of Israel says:You have rejected this warning,trusted oppression and deceit,and leaned on them.
13. That is why your sin will belike a high wall with a bulging crack, ready to fall.All of a sudden it will fall.
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.