The Day of the LORD

¹“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”

²“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings,and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.

³Then you will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the LORD of Hosts.

⁴“Remember the law of My servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him for all Israel at Horeb.

⁵Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesomeDay of the LORD.

⁶And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

An End to Idolatry

¹“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the people of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

²And on that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will erase the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the prophets and the spirit of impurityfrom the land.

³And if anyone still prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not remain alive, because you have spoken falsely in the name of the LORD.’ When he prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will pierce him through.

⁴And on that day every prophet who prophesies will be ashamed of his vision, and he will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive.

⁵He will say, ‘I am not a prophet; I work the land, for I was purchased as a servant in my youth.’

⁶If someone asks him, ‘What are these wounds on your chest?’ he will answer, ‘These are the wounds I received in the house of my friends.’

The Shepherd Struck, the Sheep Scattered

⁷Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,against the man who is My Companion,declares the LORD of Hosts.Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered,and I will turn My hand against the little ones.

⁸And in all the land,declares the LORD,two-thirds will be cut off and perish,but a third will be left in it.

⁹This third I will bring through the fire;I will refine them like silverand test them like gold.They will call on My name,and I will answer them.I will say, ‘They are My people,’and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”

The Captivity of Ephraim

¹Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’sdrunkards,to the fading flower of his glorious splendor,set on the summit above the fertile valley,the pride of those overcome by wine.

²Behold, the Lord has onewho is strong and mighty.Like a hailstorm or destructive tempest,like a driving rain or flooding downpour,he will smash that crown to the ground.

³The majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkardswill be trampled underfoot.

⁴The fading flower of his beautiful splendor,set on the summit above the fertile valley,will be like a ripe fig before the summer harvest:Whoever sees it will take it in his hand and swallow it.

⁵On that day the LORD of Hosts will be a crown of glory,a diadem of splendor to the remnant of His people,

⁶a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,and a strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate.

⁷These also stagger from wineand stumble from strong drink:Priests and prophets reel from strong drinkand are befuddled by wine.They stumble because of strong drink,muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments.

⁸For all their tables are covered with vomit;there is not a place without filth.

⁹Whom is He trying to teach?To whom is He explaining His message?To infants just weaned from milk?To babies removed from the breast?

¹⁰For they hear:“Order on order, order on order,line on line, line on line;a little here, a little there.”

¹¹Indeed, with mocking lips and foreign tongues,He will speak to this people

¹²to whom He has said:“This is the place of rest, let the weary rest;this is the place of repose.”But they would not listen.

¹³Then the word of the LORD to them will become:“Order on order, order on order,line on line, line on line;a little here, a little there,”so that they will go stumbling backwardand will be injured, ensnared, and captured.

A Cornerstone in Zion

¹⁴Therefore hear the word of the LORD, O scofferswho rule this people in Jerusalem.

¹⁵For you said, “We have made a covenant with death;we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol.When the overwhelming scourge passes throughit will not touch us,because we have made lies our refugeand falsehoodour hiding place.”

¹⁶So this is what the Lord GOD says:“See, I lay a stone in Zion,a tested stone,a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;the one who believes will never be shaken.

¹⁷I will make justice the measuring lineand righteousness the level.Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies,and water will flood your hiding place.

¹⁸Your covenant with death will be dissolved,and your agreement with Sheol will not stand.When the overwhelming scourge passes through,you will be trampled by it.

¹⁹As often as it passes through,it will carry you away;it will sweep through morning after morning,by day and by night.”The understanding of this messagewill bring sheer terror.

²⁰Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on,and the blanket too small to wrap around you.

²¹For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim.He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon,to do His work, His strange work,and to perform His task, His disturbing task.

²²So now, do not mock,or your shackles will become heavier.Indeed, I have heard from the Lord GOD of Hostsa decree of destruction against the whole land.

Listen and Hear

²³Listen and hear my voice.Pay attention and hear what I say.

²⁴Does the plowman plow for planting every day?Does he continuously loosen and harrow the soil?

²⁵When he has leveled its surface,does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin?He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots,and rye within its border.

²⁶For his God instructsand teaches him properly.

²⁷Surely caraway is not threshed with a sledge,and the wheel of a cart is not rolled over the cumin.But caraway is beaten out with a stick,and cumin with a rod.

²⁸Grain for bread must be ground,but it is not endlessly threshed.Though the wheels of the cart roll over it,the horses do not crush it.

²⁹This also comes from the LORD of Hosts,who is wonderful in counseland excellent in wisdom.

Out of the Depths

¹Out of the depthsI cry to You, O LORD!

²O Lord, hear my voice;let Your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy.

³If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities,then who, O Lord, could stand?

⁴But with You there is forgiveness,so that You may be feared.

⁵I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait,and in His word I put my hope.

⁶My soul waits for the Lordmore than watchmen wait for the morning—more than watchmen wait for the morning.

⁷O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,for with the LORD is loving devotion,and with Him is redemption in abundance.

⁸And He will redeem Israelfrom all iniquity.