1I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, "Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape. 2Though they dig into Sheol, there my hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, there I will bring them down. 3Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out there; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them. 4Though they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it will kill them. I will set my eyes on them for evil, and not for good. 5For the Lord, JEHOVAH of hosts, is he who touches the land and it melts, and all who dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise up wholly like the River, and will sink again, like the River of Egypt. 6It is he who builds his chambers in the heavens, and has founded his vault on the earth; he who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth; JEHOVAH is his name. 7Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to me, children of Israel?" says JEHOVAH. "Haven't I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? 8Behold, the eyes of the Lord JEHOVAH are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob," says JEHOVAH. 9"For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall on the earth. 10All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, 'Evil won't overtake nor meet us.' 11In that day I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen, and close up its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old; 12that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations who are called by my name," says JEHOVAH who does this. 13"Behold, the days come," says JEHOVAH, 14I will bring my people Israel back from captivity, 15I will plant them on their land,