“ I have wiped out many nations, devastating their fortress walls and towers. Their streets are now deserted; their cities lie in silent ruin. There are no survivors— none at all.

“我耶和华已经除灭列国的民；他们的城楼毁坏。我使他们的街道荒凉，以致无人经过；他们的城邑毁灭，以致无人，也无居民。

“我已经除灭列国，使他们的城楼荒废。我使他们街道荒凉，无人经过；他们的城镇毁坏，没有人，没有居民。

“我已经除灭列国，使他们的城楼荒废。我使他们街道荒凉，无人经过；他们的城镇毁坏，没有人，没有居民。

“我已消灭列国，摧毁他们的城楼，使他们的街道荒废，没有路人；他们的城邑沦为废墟，杳无人迹，没有居民。

我耶和华已经剪除列国，他们的城楼被毁；我已经使他们的街道荒凉，以致杳无人迹；他们的城市荒废，以致无人存留，无人居住。

我－耶和華已經除滅列國的民；他們的城樓毀壞。我使他們的街道荒涼，以致無人經過；他們的城邑毀滅，以致無人，也無居民。

「我已經除滅列國，使他們的城樓荒廢。我使他們街道荒涼，無人經過；他們的城鎮毀壞，沒有人，沒有居民。

「我已經除滅列國，使他們的城樓荒廢。我使他們街道荒涼，無人經過；他們的城鎮毀壞，沒有人，沒有居民。

「我已消滅列國，摧毀他們的城樓，使他們的街道荒廢，沒有路人；他們的城邑淪為廢墟，杳無人跡，沒有居民。

我耶和華已經剪除列國，他們的城樓被毀；我已經使他們的街道荒涼，以致杳無人跡；他們的城市荒廢，以致無人存留，無人居住。

『我剪滅了列國；他們的城角樓荒涼；我使他們的街道荒廢，全無經過的人；他們的城市被毁壞，沒有一人，沒有居民。

我曾翦滅列邦、使其堞樓闃寂、街衢荒涼、無人經之、其邑被毀、寂然無人、無居之者、

我耶和華滅列邦、毀城邑、使屋隅傾圯、逵衢荒寂、無人履之、無人居之、

主曰、我翦滅列邦、使其堞樓傾圮、使其街衢荒蕪、無人來往、其城邑盡毀、無人在、無人在或作以致無人無居民、

“ I have destroyed nations; their strongholds are demolished. I have left their streets deserted, with no one passing through. Their cities are laid waste; they are deserted and empty.

The Lord says to his people,“ I have destroyed other nations. I have wiped out their forts. I have left their streets deserted. No one walks along them. Their cities are destroyed. They are deserted and empty.

“ I have cut off nations; their battlements are in ruins; I have laid waste their streets so that no one walks in them; their cities have been made desolate, without a man, without an inhabitant.

I have cut off nations; their corner towers are destroyed. I have laid waste their streets, with no one to pass through. Their cities lie devastated, without a person, without an inhabitant.

“ I have eliminated nations; Their corner towers are deserted. I have laid waste their streets, With no one passing by; Their cities have been laid waste, Without a person, without an inhabitant.

“ I have cut off nations, Their fortresses are devastated; I have made their streets desolate, With none passing by. Their cities are destroyed; There is no one, no inhabitant.

I have cut off nations; their battlements are desolate; I have made their streets waste, so that none passeth by; their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.

I have cut off nations; their corner towers are destroyed. I have laid waste their streets, with no one to pass through. Their cities lie devastated, without a person, without an inhabitant.

I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.

“ I destroyed nations; their walled cities are in ruins. I turned their streets into ruins; no one passes through them. Their cities are desolate; no one lives there.

I have cut off nations. Their battlements are desolate. I have made their streets waste, so that no one passes by. Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.

These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did,

I will gather together all the armies of the north under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom I have appointed as my deputy. I will bring them all against this land and its people and against the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy you and make you an object of horror and contempt and a ruin forever.I will take away your happy singing and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. Your millstones will fall silent, and the lights in your homes will go out.This entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

And what sorrow awaits you Philistines who live along the coast and in the land of Canaan, for this judgment is against you, too! The Lord will destroy you until not one of you is left.

These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.

By your messengers you have defied the Lord. You have said,‘ With my many chariots I have conquered the highest mountains— yes, the remotest peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypress trees. I have reached its farthest heights and explored its deepest forests.I have dug wells in many foreign lands and refreshed myself with their water. With the sole of my foot, I stopped up all the rivers of Egypt!’“ But have you not heard? I decided this long ago. Long ago I planned it, and now I am making it happen. I planned for you to crush fortified cities into heaps of rubble.

Your enemy is coming to crush you, Nineveh. Man the ramparts! Watch the roads! Prepare your defenses! Call out your forces!Even though the destroyer has destroyed Judah, the Lord will restore its honor. Israel’s vine has been stripped of branches, but he will restore its splendor.Shields flash red in the sunlight! See the scarlet uniforms of the valiant troops! Watch as their glittering chariots move into position, with a forest of spears waving above them.

As with a whirlwind, I scattered them among the distant nations, where they lived as strangers. Their land became so desolate that no one even traveled through it. They turned their pleasant land into a desert.”

You know perfectly well what the kings of Assyria have done wherever they have gone. They have completely destroyed everyone who stood in their way! Why should you be any different?Have the gods of other nations rescued them— such nations as Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Tel assar? My predecessors destroyed them all!What happened to the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad? What happened to the kings of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?”

That night the angel of the Lord went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere.

I went to Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah, and their kings and officials drank from the cup. From that day until this, they have been a desolate ruin, an object of horror, contempt, and cursing.I gave the cup to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, his attendants, his officials, and all his people,along with all the foreigners living in that land. I also gave it to all the kings of the land of Uz and the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod.Then I gave the cup to the nations of Edom, Moab, and Ammon,and the kings of Tyre and Sidon, and the kings of the regions across the sea.I gave it to Dedan, Tema, and Buz, and to the people who live in distant places.I gave it to the kings of Arabia, the kings of the nomadic tribes of the desert,and to the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media.And I gave it to the kings of the northern countries, far and near, one after the other— all the kingdoms of the world. And finally, the king of Babylon himself drank from the cup of the Lord’s anger.

What sorrow awaits the unjust judges and those who issue unfair laws.They deprive the poor of justice and deny the rights of the needy among my people. They prey on widows and take advantage of orphans.What will you do when I punish you, when I send disaster upon you from a distant land? To whom will you turn for help? Where will your treasures be safe?You will stumble along as prisoners or lie among the dead. But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike.“ What sorrow awaits Assyria, the rod of my anger. I use it as a club to express my anger.I am sending Assyria against a godless nation, against a people with whom I am angry. Assyria will plunder them, trampling them like dirt beneath its feet.But the king of Assyria will not understand that he is my tool; his mind does not work that way. His plan is simply to destroy, to cut down nation after nation.He will say,‘ Each of my princes will soon be a king.We destroyed Calno just as we did Carchemish. Hamath fell before us as Arpad did. And we destroyed Samaria just as we did Damascus.Yes, we have finished off many a kingdom whose gods were greater than those in Jerusalem and Samaria.So we will defeat Jerusalem and her gods, just as we destroyed Samaria with hers.’”After the Lord has used the king of Assyria to accomplish his purposes on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he will turn against the king of Assyria and punish him— for he is proud and arrogant.He boasts,“ By my own powerful arm I have done this. With my own shrewd wisdom I planned it. I have broken down the defenses of nations and carried off their treasures. I have knocked down their kings like a bull.I have robbed their nests of riches and gathered up kingdoms as a farmer gathers eggs. No one can even flap a wing against me or utter a peep of protest.”But can the ax boast greater power than the person who uses it? Is the saw greater than the person who saws? Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it? Can a wooden cane walk by itself?Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will send a plague among Assyria’s proud troops, and a flaming fire will consume its glory.The Lord, the Light of Israel, will be a fire; the Holy One will be a flame. He will devour the thorns and briers with fire, burning up the enemy in a single night.The Lord will consume Assyria’s glory like a fire consumes a forest in a fruitful land; it will waste away like sick people in a plague.Of all that glorious forest, only a few trees will survive— so few that a child could count them!In that day the remnant left in Israel, the survivors in the house of Jacob, will no longer depend on allies who seek to destroy them. But they will faithfully trust the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.A remnant will return; yes, the remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.But though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant of them will return. The Lord has rightly decided to destroy his people.Yes, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, has already decided to destroy the entire land.So this is what the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, says:“ O my people in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they oppress you with rod and club as the Egyptians did long ago.In a little while my anger against you will end, and then my anger will rise up to destroy them.”The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will lash them with his whip, as he did when Gideon triumphed over the Midianites at the rock of Oreb, or when the Lord’s staff was raised to drown the Egyptian army in the sea.In that day the Lord will end the bondage of his people. He will break the yoke of slavery and lift it from their shoulders.Look, the Assyrians are now at Aiath. They are passing through Migron and are storing their equipment at Micmash.They are crossing the pass and are camping at Geba. Fear strikes the town of Ramah. All the people of Gibeah, the hometown of Saul, are running for their lives.Scream in terror, you people of Gallim! Shout out a warning to Laishah. Oh, poor Anathoth!There go the people of Madmenah, all fleeing. The citizens of Gebim are trying to hide.The enemy stops at Nob for the rest of that day. He shakes his fist at beautiful Mount Zion, the mountain of Jerusalem.But look! The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will chop down the mighty tree of Assyria with great power! He will cut down the proud. That lofty tree will be brought down.He will cut down the forest trees with an ax. Lebanon will fall to the Mighty One.

I will make your cities desolate and destroy your places of pagan worship. I will take no pleasure in your offerings that should be a pleasing aroma to me.

This message came to me concerning Moab: In one night the town of Ar will be leveled, and the city of Kir will be destroyed.Your people will go to their temple in Dibon to mourn. They will go to their sacred shrines to weep. They will wail for the fate of Nebo and Medeba, shaving their heads in sorrow and cutting off their beards.They will wear burlap as they wander the streets. From every home and public square will come the sound of wailing.The people of Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out; their voices will be heard as far away as Jahaz! The bravest warriors of Moab will cry out in utter terror. They will be helpless with fear.My heart weeps for Moab. Its people flee to Zoar and Eglath shelishiyah. Weeping, they climb the road to Luhith. Their cries of distress can be heard all along the road to Horonaim.Even the waters of Nimrim are dried up! The grassy banks are scorched. The tender plants are gone; nothing green remains.The people grab their possessions and carry them across the Ravine of Willows.A cry of distress echoes through the land of Moab from one end to the other— from Eglaim to Beer elim.The stream near Dibon runs red with blood, but I am still not finished with Dibon! Lions will hunt down the survivors— both those who try to escape and those who remain behind.

This message came to me concerning Egypt: Look! The Lord is advancing against Egypt, riding on a swift cloud. The idols of Egypt tremble. The hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear.“ I will make Egyptian fight against Egyptian— brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, province against province.The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will confuse their plans. They will plead with their idols for wisdom and call on spirits, mediums, and those who consult the spirits of the dead.I will hand Egypt over to a hard, cruel master. A fierce king will rule them,” says the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.The waters of the Nile will fail to rise and flood the fields. The riverbed will be parched and dry.The canals of the Nile will dry up, and the streams of Egypt will stink with rotting reeds and rushes.All the greenery along the riverbank and all the crops along the river will dry up and blow away.The fishermen will lament for lack of work. Those who cast hooks into the Nile will groan, and those who use nets will lose heart.There will be no flax for the harvesters, no thread for the weavers.They will be in despair, and all the workers will be sick at heart.What fools are the officials of Zoan! Their best counsel to the king of Egypt is stupid and wrong. Will they still boast to Pharaoh of their wisdom? Will they dare brag about all their wise ancestors?Where are your wise counselors, Pharaoh? Let them tell you what God plans, what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is going to do to Egypt.The officials of Zoan are fools, and the officials of Memphis are deluded. The leaders of the people have led Egypt astray.The Lord has sent a spirit of foolishness on them, so all their suggestions are wrong. They cause Egypt to stagger like a drunk in his vomit.There is nothing Egypt can do. All are helpless— the head and the tail, the noble palm branch and the lowly reed.In that day the Egyptians will be as weak as women. They will cower in fear beneath the upraised fist of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.Just to speak the name of Israel will terrorize them, for the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has laid out his plans against them.In that day five of Egypt’s cities will follow the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. They will even begin to speak Hebrew, the language of Canaan. One of these cities will be Heliopolis, the City of the Sun.In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and there will be a monument to the Lord at its border.It will be a sign and a witness that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is worshiped in the land of Egypt. When the people cry to the Lord for help against those who oppress them, he will send them a savior who will rescue them.The Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians. Yes, they will know the Lord and will give their sacrifices and offerings to him. They will make a vow to the Lord and will keep it.The Lord will strike Egypt, and then he will bring healing. For the Egyptians will turn to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas and heal them.In that day Egypt and Assyria will be connected by a highway. The Egyptians and Assyrians will move freely between their lands, and they will both worship God.In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth.For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will say,“ Blessed be Egypt, my people. Blessed be Assyria, the land I have made. Blessed be Israel, my special possession!”