Strike the capitals

so that the threshold shakes!

Break them off on the heads of them all!

Those who are left I will slay with the sword.

Not one shall get away,

no survivor shall escape.* a

2Though they dig down to Sheol,

even from there my hand shall take them;

Though they climb to the heavens,

even from there I shall bring them down.b

3Though they hide on the summit of Carmel,

there too I will hunt them down and take them;

Though they hide from my gaze at the bottom of the sea,

there I will command the serpent* to bite them.c

4Though they go into captivity before their enemies,

there I will command the sword to slay them.

I will fix my gaze upon them

for evil and not for good.

5The Lord God of hosts,

Who melts the earth with his touch,

so that all who dwell on it mourn,

So that it will all rise up like the Nile,

and subside like the river of Egypt;d

6Who has built his upper chamber in heaven,

and established his vault over the earth;

Who summons the waters of the sea

and pours them upon the surface of the earth—

the Lord is his name.e

7Are you not like the Ethiopians to me,

O Israelites?—oracle of the Lord—

Did I not bring the Israelites from the land of Egypt

as I brought the Philistines from Caphtor

and the Arameans* from Kir?

8See, the eyes of the Lord God are on this sinful kingdom,

and I will destroy it from the face of the earth—

But I will not destroy the house of Jacob completely—

oracle of the Lord.

9For see, I have given the command

to sift the house of Israel among all the nations,

As one sifts with a sieve,

letting no pebble fall to the ground.

10All sinners among my people shall die by the sword,

those who say, “Disaster will not reach or overtake us.”f

11* On that day I will raise up

the fallen hut of David;

I will wall up its breaches,

raise up its ruins,

and rebuild it as in the days of old,g

12That they may possess the remnant of Edom,

and all nations claimed in my name—

oracle of the Lord, the one who does this.

13Yes, days are coming—

oracle of the Lord—

When the one who plows shall overtake the one who reaps

and the vintager, the sower of the seed;

The mountains shall drip with the juice of grapes,

and all the hills shall run with it.h

14I will restore my people Israel,

they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities,

Plant vineyards and drink* the wine,

set out gardens and eat the fruits.i

15I will plant them upon their own ground;

never again shall they be plucked

From the land I have given them—

the Lord, your God, has spoken.