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9. Israel to Be Destroyed

¹ I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:

   “Strike the tops of the pillars
   so that the thresholds shake.
Bring them down on the heads of all the people;
   those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
   none will escape.
² Though they dig down to the depths below,
   from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens above,
   from there I will bring them down.
³ Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
   there I will hunt them down and seize them.
Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea,
   there I will command the serpent to bite them.
⁴ Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
   there I will command the sword to slay them.

“I will keep my eye on them
for harm and not for good.”

    ⁵ The Lord, the LORD Almighty—
he touches the earth and it melts,
   and all who live in it mourn;
the whole land rises like the Nile,
   then sinks like the river of Egypt;
⁶ he builds his lofty palace The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. in the heavens
   and sets its foundation The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. on the earth;
he calls for the waters of the sea
   and pours them out over the face of the land—
   the LORD is his name.

    ⁷ “Are not you Israelites
   the same to me as the Cushites That is, people from the upper Nile region?” declares the LORD.
“Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt,
   the Philistines from Caphtor That is, Crete
   and the Arameans from Kir?

    ⁸ “Surely the eyes of the Sovereign LORD
   are on the sinful kingdom.
I will destroy it
   from the face of the earth.
Yet I will not totally destroy
   the descendants of Jacob,” declares the LORD.
⁹ “For I will give the command,
   and I will shake the people of Israel
   among all the nations
as grain is shaken in a sieve,
   and not a pebble will reach the ground.
¹⁰ All the sinners among my people
   will die by the sword,
all those who say,
   ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’

Israel’s Restoration

¹¹ “In that day

   “I will restore David’s fallen shelter—
   I will repair its broken walls
   and restore its ruins—
   and will rebuild it as it used to be,
¹² so that they may possess the remnant of Edom
   and all the nations that bear my name, Hebrew; Septuagint so that the remnant of people / and all the nations that bear my name may seek me” declares the LORD, who will do these things.

¹³ “The days are coming,” declares the LORD,

   “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman
   and the planter by the one treading grapes.
New wine will drip from the mountains
   and flow from all the hills,
    ¹⁴ and I will bring my people Israel back from exile. Or will restore the fortunes of my people Israel

   “They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.
   They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;
   they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
¹⁵ I will plant Israel in their own land,
   never again to be uprooted
   from the land I have given them,”

says the LORD your God.

As the prophecy we have noticed was one difficult to be believed, especially when the people were led away into exile, the Prophet comes to the help of this lack of faith, and shows that this would be no hindrance to God to lead his people to the felicity of which he speaks. These things seem indeed to be quite contrary, the one to the other, — that the people, spoiled of all dignity, should be driven to a far country to live in miserable exile, and that they should also be scattered into various parts and oppressed by base tyranny; — and that at the same time a most flourishing condition should be promised them, and that such an extension of their kingdom should be promised them, as had never been previously witnessed. Lest then their present calamities should fill their minds with fear and bind them fast in despair; he says that the Israelites shall return from exile, not indeed all; but as we have already seen, this promise is addressed to the elect alone: at the same time he speaks here simply of the people. But, this prophecy is connected with other prophecies: it ought not therefore to be extended except to that remnant seed, of whom we have before taken notice.

Restore then will I the captivity of my people Israel; and then, They shall build nested cities and dwell there; they shall plant vineyards, and their wine shall they drink; they shall make gardens, and shall eat their fruit. He reminds the people here of the blessings mentioned in the Law. They must indeed have known that the hand of the Lord was opposed to them in their exile. Hence the Prophet now shows, that as soon as the Lord would again begin to be propitious to them, there would be a new state of things; for when God shows his smiling countenance, prosperity follows and a blessed success in all things. This then is what the Prophet now intends to show, that the miserable exiles might not faint in despair, when the Lord chastised them. It follows at last —