Warnings to Judah

14 Because of what will happen in Samaria,

you rulers in Jerusalem who make fun of me,

listen to this message from Yahweh:

15 You boast saying,

“We have made an alliance with the leaders of Egypt,

so we will not be killed in battles;

we will never go to the place where the dead people are.

When the army of Assyria attacks us, they will never defeat us,

because we have made an agreement with Egypt to protect us!”

But that agreement consists of a lot of lies [DOU].

16 Therefore, Yahweh our Lord says this:

“Listen to this! I am going to place in Jerusalem someone who is like [MET] a foundation stone,

he is like a stone that has been tested to determine if it is solid.

He will be like a valuable cornerstone around which it will be safe to build a house;

and whoever trusts in him will never be disappointed.

17 I will test you people of Jerusalem to find out if you will act justly and righteously

like [MET] someone uses a plumb line to determine if a wall is straight and vertical.

But because your agreement with Egypt to protect you was made by leaders lying to each other and deceiving each other,

you will be defeated and taken away from your country

by an army that will come against you like [MET] a flood.

18 I will annul/destroy the agreement that you made with the leaders of Egypt.

You thought that because of that agreement you would not be killed, and you would not go to the place where the dead are.

But when the vast army of Assyria overwhelms you like a flood,

they will trample you into the ground.

19 Their soldiers will come during the morning, at noontime, and at night,

and they will carry you all away.”

And when you understand this message,

you will be terrified.

20 You have heard people say, “Your bed is very short, you will not be able to sleep in it;

your blankets are very narrow; they will not cover you!”

That means for you that your agreement with Egypt is not going to save you.

21 Yahweh will come and cause you to be defeated;

he will do to you like he did to the army of Philistia at Perizim Mountain

and like he did to the Amor people-group at Gibeon Valley.

What he will do will be very strange and unusual [DOU].

22 The Commander of the armies of angels has told me that he is going to destroy the entire land.

So do not ridicule what I say any more,

because if you do that

he will punish you even more severely.

23 Listen [IDM] to what I say;

pay attention carefully.

24 When a farmer plows some ground, does he never plant seeds [RHQ]?

Does he continue to plow it and never plant anything [RHQ]?

25 No, he makes the ground very level,

and then he plants seeds—

dill and cumin and wheat and barley.

He plants each kind of seed in the correct manner.

26 He does that because God has taught him the correct way to do it.

27 Farmers never thresh caraway/dill with a heavy sledge/club;

instead, they beat it only with a stick.

Farmers never thresh cumin by driving a cart over it;

instead, they hit it only with a rod.

28 And grain for baking bread is crushed easily,

so the farmers do not continue to pound it for a long time.

They sometimes cause their horses to pull a cart over it to thresh it,

but doing that does not grind the grain.

29 The Commander of the armies of angels

gives us wonderful advice about how to do things; he causes us to be very wise.

So what the farmers do is very smart/wise, but what your leaders are doing is very stupid.