The Desolation of Israel

They have blown the trumpet

and made everything ready,

but no one goes to war,

for My wrath is upon the whole multitude.

15 

The sword is outside;

plague and famine are within.

Those in the country will die by the sword,

and those in the city will be devoured

by famine and plague.

16 

The survivors will escape

and live in the mountains,

moaning like doves of the valley,

each for his own iniquity.

17 

Every hand will go limp,

and every knee will turn to water.

18 

They will put on sackcloth,

and terror will overwhelm them.

Shame will cover all their faces,

and all their heads will be shaved.

19 

They will throw their silver into the streets,

and their gold will seem unclean.

Their silver and gold cannot save them

in the day of the wrath of the LORD.

They cannot satisfy their appetites

or fill their stomachs with [wealth],

for it became the stumbling block

that brought their iniquity.

20 

His beautiful ornaments

they transformed into pride

and used them to fashion

their vile images and detestable idols.

Therefore I will make these

into something unclean for them.

21 

And I will hand these things over

as plunder to foreigners

and loot to the wicked of the earth,

who will defile them.

22 

I will turn My face away from them,

and they will defile My treasured place.

Violent men will enter it,

and they will defile it.

23 

Forge the chain,

for the land is full of crimes of bloodshed,

and the city is full of violence.

24 

So I will bring the most wicked of nations

to take possession of their houses.

I will end the pride of the mighty,

and their holy places will be profaned.

25 

Anguish is coming!

They will seek peace, but find none.

26 

Disaster upon disaster will come,

and rumor after rumor.

Then they will seek a vision from a prophet,

but instruction from the priests will perish,

as will counsel from the elders.

27 

The king will mourn,

the prince will be clothed with despair,

and the hands of the people of the land will tremble.

I will deal with them according to their conduct,

and I will judge them by their own standards.

Then they will know that I am the LORD.’ ” 8