1   I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, "Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape. 2   Though they dig into Sheol, there my hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, there I will bring them down. 3   Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out there; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them. 4   Though they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it will kill them. I will set my eyes on them for disaster, and not for good. 5   For the Lord, the LORD of hosts, is he who touches the land and it melts, and all who dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise up wholly like the River, and will sink again, like the River of Egypt. 6   It is he who builds his upper chamber in the heavens, and has founded his vault on the earth; he who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth; the LORD is his name. 7   Are you not like the people of Ethiopia to me, children of Israel?" says the LORD. "Haven't I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir? 8   Look, the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob," says the LORD. 9   "For, look, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, as one sifts with a sieve, but not even a pebble will fall to the ground. 10   All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, 'Evil won't overtake nor meet us.' 11   On that day I will rebuild the tabernacle of David that has fallen, and repair its broken places, and I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it as in the days of old; 12   that the rest of humanity may seek after the LORD, and all the nations who are called by my name," says the LORD who does this. 13   "Look, the days come," says the LORD, "that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the one treading grapes him who sows seed; and sweet wine will drip from the mountains, and flow from the hills. 14   I will bring my people Israel back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they will plant vineyards, and drink wine from them. They shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 15   I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them," says the LORD your God.

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