11. How terrible it will be for you people who rise early in the morning and go looking for beer to drink. You stay awake late at night, getting drunk on wine.
12. At your parties with your wine, harps, drums, flutes, and other musical instruments, you don’t see what the Lord has done. You don’t notice what his hands have made.
13. My people don’t really know God. So they will be captured and taken away. Everyone, the respected leaders and the common people as well, will be hungry and thirsty.
14. They will die, and the place of death will open its mouth wide and swallow many of them. Then the noisy crowds and all the beautiful, happy people who are now so comfortable will go down into the grave.
15. Everyone, common people and leaders alike, will be humbled. Those who are now so proud will bow their heads in shame.
16. The Lord All-Powerful will judge fairly, and people will honor him. They will respect the Holy God when he brings justice.
17. Then sheep will be able to go wherever they want and graze on the land that rich people once owned.
18. Look at those people! They pull their guilt and sins behind them like people pulling wagons with ropes.
19. They say, “We wish God would hurry and do what he plans to do so that we can see it. Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel happen soon so that we can know what it is.”
20. Look at those people! They say good is bad and bad is good. They think light is dark and dark is light. They think sour is sweet and sweet is sour.
21. They think they are so smart. They think they are very intelligent.
22. They are famous for drinking wine and are heroes known for mixing drinks.
23. And if you pay them enough money, they will forgive a criminal. But they will not let good people be judged fairly.
24. So bad things will happen to them. Their descendants will be destroyed completely, just as fire burns straw and leaves. Their descendants will be like plants with rotten roots, whose flowers have all blown away like dust in the wind. Those people refused to obey the teachings of the Lord All-Powerful. They hated the message from the Holy One of Israel.
25. So the Lord became angry with his people, and he raised his hand to punish them. Even the mountains shook with fear. Dead bodies were left in the streets like garbage. And he is not finished yet. He is still angry, and his arm is raised to continue punishing his people.
26. Look! God is giving a sign to the nations far away. He is raising a flag and whistling for them to come. Now the enemy is coming from a faraway land and will soon enter the country. They are moving very quickly.
27. The enemy soldiers never get tired and stumble. They never get sleepy and fall asleep. Their weapon belts are always ready. Their sandal straps never break.
28. Their arrows are sharp. Their bows are strung and ready to shoot. The horses’ hooves are as hard as flint. Clouds of dust rise from behind their chariots.