Amplified Bible (AMP)

Prophecy about Damascus

1 The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Damascus [capital of Aram (Syria), and Israel’s defense against Assyria].

“Listen carefully, Damascus will cease to be a city

And will become a fallen ruin.

2 “The cities of Aroer [east of the Jordan] are deserted;

They will be [only a refuge] for flocks to lie down in,

And there will be no one to make them afraid.

3 “The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,

And the kingdom from Damascus

And the remnant of Aram (Syria);

They will be like the [departed] glory of [her ally] the children of Israel,”

Declares the Lordof hosts.

4 “Now in that day the [former] glory of Jacob [Israel–his might, his population, his prosperity] will fade,

And the fatness of his flesh will become lean.

5 “And it will be like the reaper gathering the standing grain,

As his arm harvests the ears of grain;

Yes, it will be like one gleaning ears of grain

In the [fertile] Valley of Rephaim.

6 “Yet gleanings will be left in the land [of Israel] like the shaking of the olive tree,

Two or three olives on the topmost branch,

Four or five on the [outermost] branches of the fruitful tree,”

Declares the Lord, the God of Israel.

7 In that day man will have regard for his Maker,

And his eyes will regard the Holy One of Israel [with awe-inspired reverence].

8 And he will not have regard for the [idolatrous] altars, the work of his hands,

Nor will he look to that which his fingers have made,

Neither the Asherim (symbols of the goddess Asherah) nor the incense altars.

9 In that day the strong cities of Aram and Israel will be likedeserted places in the forest,

Or like branches which they abandoned before the children of Israel;

And the land will be a desolation.

10 Because you [Judah] have forgotten the God of your salvation

And have not remembered the Rock of your Stronghold–

Therefore you plantlovely plants

And set the grounds with vine slips of a strangegod,

11 In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in,

And in the morning you bring your seed to blossom;

Yet [promising as it is] the harvest will be a heap [of ruins that passes away]

In the day of sickness and incurable pain.

12 Oh, the uproar of many peoples

Who roar like the roaring of the seas,

And the noise of nations

Who roar like the rumbling of mighty waters!

13 The nations roar on like the roaring of many waters,

But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away,

And be chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind,

Or like whirling dust before the storm.

14 At evening time, now look, sudden terror!

Beforemorning the Assyrians are no more.

This is the portion (fate) of those who plunder us,

And the lot of those who pillage us.

Message to Ethiopia

1 Woe (judgment is coming) to the land ofwhirring wings

Which is beyond the rivers ofCush (Ethiopia),

2 Which sends ambassadors by the sea,

Even in vessels of papyrus on the surface of the waters.

Go, swift messengers, to a nation [of people] tall and smooth (clean shaven),

To a people feared far and wide,

A powerful and oppressive nation

Whose land the rivers divide.

3 All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth,

When a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it!

When a trumpet is blown, you will hear it!

4 For this is what the Lordhas said to me,

“I will be quiet and I will look on from My dwelling place,

Like shimmering heat above the sunshine,

Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

5 For before the harvest, when the blossom is over

And the flower becomes a ripening grape,

He will cut off the sprigs [without buds] with pruning knives,

And [He will] remove and cut away the spreading branches.

6 They (warriors) will be left together for the mountain birds of prey,

And for the beasts of the earth;

And the birds of prey will [spend the] summerfeedingon them,

And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.

7 At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lordof hosts

From a people tall and smooth (clean shaven),

From a people feared far and wide,

A powerful and oppressive nation,

Whose land the rivers divide–

To the place [of worship] of thename of the Lordof hosts, to Mount Zion [in Jerusalem].

Message to Egypt

1 The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Egypt:

Listen carefully, the Lordis riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;

The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence,

And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

2 “So I will provoke Egyptians against Egyptians;

And they will fight, each one against his brother and each one against his neighbor,

City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

3 “Then the spirit of the Egyptians will become exhausted within themandemptied out;

And I will confuse their strategy,

So that they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,

And mediums and soothsayers.

4 “And I will hand over the Egyptians to a hardandcruel master,

And a mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord Godof hosts.

5 The waters from the sea will dry up,

And the river will be parched and dry.

6 The canals will become foul-smelling,

The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up,

The reeds and the rushes will rot away.

7 The meadows by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile,

And all the sown fields of the Nile

Will become dry, be blown away, and be no more.

8 The fishermen will lament (cry out in grief),

And all those who cast a hook into the Nile will mourn,

And those who spread nets upon the waters will languish.

9 Moreover, those who make linen from combed flax

And those who weave white cloth will be ashamed.

10 [Those who are] the pillarsandfoundationsof Egyptwill be crushed;

And all those who work for wages will be grieved in soul.

11 The princes ofZoan are complete fools;

The counsel of the Pharaoh’s wisest advisors has become stupid.

How can you say to Pharaoh,

“I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings?”

12 Where then are your wise men?

Please let them tell you,

And let them understand what the Lordof hosts

Has purposed against Egypt [if they can].

13 The princes of Zoan have acted like fools,

The princes of Memphis are deluded [and entertain false hope];

Those who arethe cornerstone of her tribes

Have led Egypt astray.

14 The Lordhas mixed a spirit of distortion within her;

Her leaders have caused Egypt to stagger in all that she does,

As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

15 There will be no work for Egypt

Which head or tail, [high] palm branch or [low] bulrush, may do.

16 In that day the Egyptians will become like [helpless] women, and they will tremble and be frightened because of the waving of the hand of the Lordof hosts, which He is going to wave over them.

17 The land of Judah [Assyria’s ally] will become a terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of the Lordof hosts which He is planning against Egypt.

18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of [the Hebrews of] Canaan and swearallegianceto the Lordof hosts. One [of them] will be called the City ofDestruction.

19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lordin the midst of the land of Egypt, and a memorial stone to the Lordnear its border.

20 It will become a sign and a witness to the Lordof hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lordbecause of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior, a [Great] Defender, and He will rescue them.

21 And so the Lordwill make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know [heed, honor, and cherish] the Lordin that day. They will even worship with sacrifices [of animals] and offerings [of produce]; they will make a vow to the Lordand fulfill it.

22 The Lordwill strike Egypt, striking but healing it; so they will return to the Lord, and He will respond to them and heal them.

23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worshipandserve [the Lord] with the Assyrians.

24 In that day Israel will be the thirdpartywith Egypt and with Assyria [in a Messianic league], a blessing in the midst of the earth,

25 whom the Lordof hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My heritage.”

Prophecy about Egypt and Cush (Ancient Ethiopia)

1 In the year that the Tartan [the Assyrian commander in chief] came to Ashdod [in Philistia], when Sargon king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it,

2 at that time the Lordspoke through Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, untie thesackcloth from your hips and take your sandals off your feet.” And he did so, walking aroundstripped [to his loincloth] and barefoot.

3 And the Lordsaid, “Even as My servant Isaiah has walkedstripped and barefoot for three years as a sign and forewarning concerning Egypt and Cush (Ethiopia),

4 in the same way the king of Assyria will lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, young and old, stripped and barefoot, even with buttocks uncovered–to theshame of Egypt.

5 Then they will be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their boast.

6 So the inhabitants of this coastland [the Israelites and their neighbors] will say in that day, ‘Look what has happened to those in whom we hopedandtrusted and to whom we fled for help to be spared from the king of Assyria! But we, how will we escape [captivity and exile]?’”

God Commands That Babylon Be Taken

1 The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning the Desert of theSea (the seasonally flooded plains just south of Babylon):

As windstorms in the Negev (the South) sweep through,

So it (God’s judgment) comes from the desert, from [the hostile armies of] a terrifying land.

2 A harsh vision has been shown to me;

The treacherous one deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys.

Go up, Elam! Lay siege, Media!

All the groaning [caused by Babylon’s ruthless oppressions] I [the Lord] have brought to an end.

3 Therefore [continues Isaiah] my loins are filled with anguish;

Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in childbirth;

I am so bentandbewildered that I cannot hear, I am so terrified that I cannot see.

4 My mind reels, horror overwhelms me;

The twilight I longed for has beenturned into fearandtrembling for me.

5 They set the table [for the doomed banquet], they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;

“Rise up, captains [of Belshazzar’s court], oil your shields [for battle, for your enemy is at the gates]!”

6 This is what the Lord says to me,

“Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees.

7 “When he sees a chariot, horsemen in pairs,

A train of donkeys and a train of camels,

Let him pay attentionandlisten closely, very closely.”

8 And the lookout calledlikea lion,

“O Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower by day,

And I am stationed every night at my guard post.

9 “Now look! Here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”

And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;

And all the carved images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”

10 O my threshedpeople[Judah, who must be judged and trampled down by Babylon], my afflicted of the threshing floor.

What I have heard from the Lordof hosts,

The God of Israel, I have [joyfully] announced to you [that Babylon is to fall].

Oracles about Edom and Arabia

11 The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Dumah (Edom):

Someone keeps calling to me from Seir (Edom),

“Watchman, what is left of the night [of Assyrian oppression]?

Watchman, what is left of the night? [How long until morning?]”

12 The watchman says,

“The morning comes [only briefly], but also [comes] the night [of Babylonian oppression].

If you would ask [of me then], ask [again, if Edom really wishes to know];

Come back again.”

13 The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Arabia:

In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night,

Caravans of Dedanites.

14 Bring water for the thirsty [Dedanites],

O inhabitants of the land of Tema [in Arabia];

Meet the fugitive with bread.

15 For they have fled from the swords,

From the drawn sword, from the bent bow

And from the press of battleandgrief of war.

16 For the Lord has said this to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired man [who will work no longer than was agreed], all the splendor of [the tribe of] Kedar will end;

17 and the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.”

The Valley of Vision

1 The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning the Valley of Vision:

What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops,

2 You [Jerusalem] who were full of noise,

A tumultuous city, a joyousandexuberant city;

Your slain were not slain [in a glorious death] with the sword,

Nor did they die in battle.

3 All your leaders have fled together [with your king],

And have been captured without the bow [which they had thrown away];

All of you who were found were taken captive together,

Though they had fled far away.

4 Therefore I say, “Look away from me;

Let me weep bitterly.

Do not try to comfort me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

5 For the Lord Godof hosts has a day of panicandof tumult, of trampling, of confusion

In the Valley of Vision,

A [day of] breaking down walls

And a crying [for help] to the mountain.

6 Elam took up the quiver

With the chariots, infantry and horsemen;

And Kir uncovered the shield.

7 And it came to pass that your choicest valleys were full of chariots,

And the horsemen took their fixed positions [in an offensive array] at the gate [of Jerusalem].

8 Then God removed the [protective] covering of Judah;

And in that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest (Solomon’s armory).

9 You saw that the breaches

In the wall of the City of David [the citadel of Zion] were many;

You collected [within the city’s walls] the waters of the Lower Pool (Siloam).

10 Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem

And you tore down the houses [to get materials] to fortify the city wall [by extending it].

11 You also made a reservoir between the two walls

For the waters of theOld Pool,

But you did not look to its Maker,

Nor did you recognize Him who planned it long ago.

12 Therefore in that day the Lord Godof hosts called you to weeping, to mourning,

To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth [in humiliation].

13 Instead, there is joy and jubilation,

Killing of oxen and slaughtering of sheep,

Eating meat and drinking wine,saying,

“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”

14 But the Lordof hosts revealed Himself in my ears,

“This sin absolutely will not be forgiven you

Until you die,” says the Lord Godof hosts.

15 For the Lord Godof hosts says this, “Go to this [contemptible] steward,

ToShebna, who is in charge of theroyalhousehold [but is building himself a tomb worthy of a king, and say to him],

16 ‘What business do you have here?

And whom do you have here,

That you have hewn out a tomb here for yourself,

You who hew a sepulcher on the height,

You who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock?

17 ‘Listen carefully, the Lordis about to hurl you away violently, O man;

And He is about to grasp you firmly

18 And roll you up tightly like a ball

And toss you into a vast country;

There you will die

And there your splendid chariots will be,

You shame of your master’s house.’

19 “I will depose you from your office,

And you will be pulled down from your position [of importance].

20 “Then it will come to pass in that day

That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah.

21 “And I will clothe him with your tunic [of distinction]

And tie your sash securely around him.

I will entrust him with your authority;

He will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

22 “Then I will set on his shoulder the key of the house of David;

When he opens no one will shut,

When he shuts no one will open.

23 “I will drive himlikea peg in a firm place,

And he will become a throne of honorandglory to his father’s house.

24 “So they will hang on him all the honorandglory [the complete responsibility] of his father’s house, offspring and issue [of the family, high and low], all the least of the articles, from the bowls to all the jars.

25 In that day,” declares the Lordof hosts, “the peg (Eliakim) that was driven into the firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the burden hanging on it will be cut off, for the Lordhas spoken.”

The Fall of Tyre

1 The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerningTyre:

Wail, O ships of Tarshish,

ForTyreis destroyed, without house, without harbor;

It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus (Kittim).

2 Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland,

Youmerchants of Sidon;

Your messengers crossed the sea

3 Andthey wereon great waters.

The grain of theShihor, the harvest of the Nile River, was Tyre’s revenue;

And she was the market of nations.

4 Be ashamed, O Sidon [mother-city of Tyre, now like a widow bereaved of her children];

For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying,

“I have neither labored nor given birth [to children];

I have neither brought up young men nor reared virgins.”

5 When the reportreachesEgypt,

They will be in agony at the report about Tyre.

6 Cross over to Tarshish [to seek safety as exiles];

Wail, O inhabitants of the coastland [of Tyre].

7 Is this your jubilantcity,

Whose origin dates back to antiquity,

Whose feet used to carry her [far away] to colonize distant places?

8 Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,

Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?

9 The Lordof hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty,

To bring into contemptandhumiliation all the honored of the earth.

10 Overflow your land like [the overflow of] the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish;

There is no more restraint [on you to make you pay tribute to Tyre].

11 He has stretched out His hand over the sea,

He has shaken the kingdoms;

The Lordhas given a command concerning Canaan to destroy her strongholdsandher fortresses [like Tyre and Sidon].

12 He has said, “You shall never again exult [in triumph], O crushed Virgin Daughter of Sidon.

Arise, cross over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”

13 Now look at the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonia)–this is the people which was not; the Assyrians allocated Tyre for desert creatures–they set up theirsiege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.

14 Wail, O ships of Tarshish,

For your stronghold [of Tyre] is destroyed.

15 Now in that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the prostitute’s song:

16 Take a harp, walk around the city,

O forgotten prostitute;

Play the strings skillfully, sing many songs,

That you may be remembered.

17 It will come to pass at the end of seventy years that the Lordwill remember Tyre. Then she will return to her prostitute’s wages and will play the [role of a] prostitute [by trading] with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.

18 But her commercial gain and her prostitute’s wages will bededicated to the Lord; it will not be treasured or stored up, but her commercial gain will become sufficient food and stately clothing for those who dwell (minister) in the presence of the Lord.

Judgment on the Earth

1 Behold, the Lordlays waste to the earth, devastates it, twistsanddistorts its face and scatters its inhabitants.

2 And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor [as God’s impartial judgment of sin comes on all].

3 The earth will be completely laid waste and utterly pillaged, for the Lordhas spoken this word.

4 The earth dries up and crumbles away, the world dries out and crumbles away, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away.

5 The earth also is pollutedby its inhabitants, because they have transgressed laws, violated statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.

6 Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer the punishment of their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned [under the curse of God’s wrath], and few people are left.

7 The new wine mourns,

The vine decays;

All the merry-hearted sighandgroan.

8 The mirth of the timbrels (tambourines) ceases,

The noise of those who rejoice ends,

The joy of the harp ceases.

9 They do not drink wine with a song;

Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

10 The city of chaos is broken down;

Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.

11 There is an outcry in the streets concerning the wine;

All jubilation is darkened,

The joy of the earth is banished.

12 Horrible desolation is left in the city,

And the gate is battered into ruins.

13 For so it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples,

As the shaking of an olive tree,

As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over [and only a little of the fruit remains].

14 They [who have escaped and remain] raise their voices, they shout for joy;

They rejoice from the [Mediterranean] Sea in the majesty of the Lord.

15 Therefore honorandglorify the Lordin the east [in the region of light],

The name of the Lord, the God of Israel [honor His name],

In the coastlandsandislands of the [Mediterranean] Sea.

16 From the ends of the earth we hear songs, “Gloryandhonor to the Righteous One,”

But I say, “I waste away, I waste away. Woe to me!

The treacherous deal treacherously,

Indeed, the treacherous deal very treacherously.”

17 Terror and pit [of destruction] and snare

Confront you, O inhabitant of the earth.

18 Then it will be that he who flees at the sound of terror will fall into the pit,

And he who comes up out of the pit will be caught in the snare;

For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.

19 The earth is broken completely apart,

The earth is split apart,

The earth is shaken violently.

20 The earth reels back and forth like a drunkard

And sways like a shack;

Its transgression lies heavily upon it,

And it will fall and not rise again.

21 So it will happen in that day

That the Lordwill visitandpunish the host (fallen angels) of heaven on high,

And the kings of the earth on the earth.

22 They will be gathered together

As prisoners [are gathered] in a dungeon;

They will be shut up in prison,

And after many days they will be visitedandpunished.

23 Then the full moon will be embarrassed and the sun ashamed,

For the Lordof hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,

AndHisgloryandbrilliance will shine before His elders.

Song of Praise for God’s Favor

1 O Lord, You are my God;

I will exalt You, I will praiseandgive thanks to Your name;

For You have done miraculous things,

Plansformedlong, long ago, [fulfilled] with perfect faithfulness.

2 For You have made a city into a heap [of trash],

A fortified city into a ruin;

A palace offoreigners is no longer a city,

It will never be rebuilt.

3 Therefore a strong people will honor You;

Cities of terribleandviolent nations will fear You.

4 For You have been a stronghold for the helpless,

A stronghold for the poor in his distress,

A shelter from the storm, a shade from the heat;

For the breath of tyrants

Is like a rainstormagainsta wall.

5 Like heat in a dry land, You will subdue the noise of foreigners [rejoicing over their enemies];

Like heat in the shadow of a cloud, the song of the tyrants issilenced.

6 On this mountain [Zion] the Lordof hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples [to welcome His reign on earth],

A banquet of aged wines–choice pieces [flavored] with marrow,

Of refined, aged wines.

7 And on this mountain He will destroy the covering that is [cast] over all peoples,

And the veil [of death] that is wovenandspread over all the nations.

8 He will swallow up death [and abolish it] for all time.

And the Lord Godwill wipe away tears from all faces,

And He will take away the disgrace of His people from all the earth;

For the Lordhas spoken.

9 It will be said in that day,

“Indeed, this is our God for whom we have waited that He would save us.

This is the Lordfor whom we have waited;

Let us shout for joy and rejoice in His salvation.”

10 For the hand of the Lordwill rest on this mountain [Zion],

And Moab will be trampled down in his place

As straw is trampled down in the [filthy] water of a manure pile.

11 And Moab will spread out his hands in the middle of the filth

As a swimmer spreads outhis handsto swim,

Butthe Lordwill humiliate his pride in spite of the [skillful] movements of his hands.

12 The high fortifications of your walls He will bring down,

Lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

Song of Trust in God’s Protection

1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;

He sets up salvation as walls and ramparts.

2 “Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter,

The one thatremains faithfulandtrustworthy.

3 “You will keep inperfectandconstant peacethe onewhose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You–in bothinclination and character],

Because he trustsandtakes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].

4 “Trust [confidently] in the Lordforever [He is your fortress, your shield, your banner],

For the LordGodis an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].

5 “For He has thrown down the [arrogant] ones who dwell on high, the loftyandinaccessible city;

He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He hurls it to the dust.

6 “The foot will trample it,

Eventhe feet of the suffering, and the steps of the helpless.”

7 The way of the righteous [those in right-standing with God–living in moral and spiritual integrity] is smoothandlevel;

O Upright One, make a level path for the justandrighteous.

8 Indeed, in the path of Your judgments, O Lord,

We have waited expectantly for You;

Your name, even Your memory, is the desireanddeep longing of our souls.

9 In the night my soul longs for You [O Lord],

Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently;

For [only] when Your judgments are experienced on the earth

Will the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

10 Thoughthe wicked is shown compassionandfavor,

He does not learn righteousness;

In the land of uprightness he deals unjustly,

And refuses to see the majesty of the Lord.

11 ThoughYour hand is lifted up [to strike], O Lord, the wicked do not see it.

Let them see Your zeal forYourpeople and be put to shame;

Indeed, let the fire reserved for Your enemies consume them.

12 Lord, You will establish peace for us,

Since You have also performed for us all that we have done.

13 O Lordour God, other masters besides You have ruled over us;

But through You alone we confess Your name.

14 The [wicked] dead will not live [again], the spirits of the dead will not riseandreturn;

Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,

And You have wiped out every memory of them [every trace of them].

15 You have increased the nation, O Lord;

You have increased the nation, You are glorified;

You have extended all the borders of the land.

16 O Lord, they sought You in distress;

They managed only a prayerful whisper

When Your discipline was upon them.

17 As a woman with child approachesthe timeto give birth,

She is in painandstruggles and cries out in her labor,

So we were before You, O Lord.

18 We have been with child, we have twistedandstruggledin labor;

We gave birth, as it seems,onlyto wind.

We could not accomplish salvation for the earth,

Nor were inhabitants of the worldborn.

19 Your dead will live;

Their dead bodies will rise.

You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy!

For your dew is a dew of [celestial] light [heavenly, supernatural],

And the earth will give birth to the spirits of the dead.

20 Come, my people, enter your chambers

And shut your doors behind you;

Hide for a little while

Until the [Lord’s]wrath is past.

21 Listen carefully, the Lordis about to come out of His [heavenly] place

To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing];

The earth will reveal the [innocent] blood shed upon her

And will no longer cover her slain.