The Lord says,“ Ariel, I will surround you. Jerusalem, I will get ready to attack you. Your people will mourn. They will sing songs of sadness. I will make you like the front of an altar covered with blood.

我终必使亚利伊勒困难；她必悲伤哀号，我却仍以她为亚利伊勒。

我却要使亚利伊勒遭难；它必悲伤哀号，它对我是亚利伊勒。

我却要使亚利伊勒遭难；它必悲伤哀号，它对我是亚利伊勒。

我还是要叫你受苦。你必悲伤哀号，在我面前成为一座祭坛。

我却要使亚利伊勒受困苦，成了一座充满悲伤哀号的城，我要以它为亚利伊勒。

我还是要使亚利伊勒受困苦，那里必有悲伤和哀哭；它对我必像是祭坛的炉膛。

我終必使亞利伊勒困難；她必悲傷哀號，我卻仍以她為亞利伊勒。

我卻要使亞利伊勒遭難；它必悲傷哀號，它對我是亞利伊勒。

我卻要使亞利伊勒遭難；它必悲傷哀號，它對我是亞利伊勒。

我還是要叫你受苦。你必悲傷哀號，在我面前成為一座祭壇。

我卻要使亞利伊勒受困苦，成了一座充滿悲傷哀號的城，我要以它為亞利伊勒。

我終要使亞利伊勒受窘迫；那裏雖有傷悲哀傷，我卻仍以她為上帝之祭壇火盆。

我還是要使亞利伊勒受困苦，那裡必有悲傷和哀哭；它對我必像是祭壇的爐膛。

我必困苦亞利伊勒、使有哀哭悲慘、然於我仍為亞利伊勒、

我於亞列降以災害、試以患難、厄以憂愁、而其邑尚存、

我終使亞利伊勒遭遇患難、必哀歎悲慘、然仍使如人不能勝之英雄、然仍使如人不能勝之英雄原文作彼將如亞利伊勒於我前

Yet I will besiege Ariel; she will mourn and lament, she will be to me like an altar hearth.

Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be moaning and lamentation, and she shall be to me like an Ariel.

Yet I will bring disaster upon you, and there will be much weeping and sorrow. For Jerusalem will become what her name Ariel means— an altar covered with blood.

I will oppress Ariel, and there will be mourning and crying, and she will be to me like an Ariel.

I will bring distress to Ariel, And she will be a city of grieving and mourning; And she will be like an Ariel to me.

Yet I will distress Ariel; There shall be heaviness and sorrow, And it shall be to Me as Ariel.

then will I distress Ariel, and there shall be mourning and lamentation; and she shall be unto me as Ariel.

I will oppress Ariel, and there will be mourning and crying, and she will be to Me like an Ariel.

Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.

I will threaten Ariel, and she will mourn intensely and become like an altar hearth before me.

then I will distress Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation. She shall be to me as an altar hearth.

So the Lord is angry with his people. He raises his hand against them and strikes them down. The mountains shake. The bodies of dead people lie in the streets like trash. Even then, the Lord is still angry. His hand is still raised against them.He lifts up a banner to gather the nations that are far away. He whistles for them to come from the farthest places on earth. Here they come. They are moving very quickly.None of them grows tired. None of them falls down. None of them sleeps or even takes a nap. All of them are ready for battle. Every belt is pulled tight. Not a single sandal strap is broken.The enemies’ arrows are sharp. All their bows are ready. The hooves of their horses are as hard as rock. Their chariot wheels turn like a twister.The sound of their army is like the roar of lions. It’s like the roar of young lions. They growl as they capture what they were chasing. They carry it off. No one can take it away from them.At that time the enemy army will roar over Israel. It will sound like the roaring of the ocean. If someone looks at the land of Israel, there is only darkness and trouble. The clouds will make even the sun become dark.

Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, went to Hezekiah. Eliakim was in charge of the palace. Shebna the secretary went with him. So did Joah, the son of Asaph. Joah kept the records. All of them went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn. They told him what the field commander had said.

Be silent in front of him. He is the Lord and King. The day of the Lord is near. The Lord has prepared a sacrifice. He has set apart for himself the people he has invited.When the Lord’ s sacrifice is ready to be offered, I will punish the officials and the king’s sons. I will also judge all those who follow the practices of other nations.

In the evening, the nations terrify us. But before morning comes, they are gone. That’s what happens to those who steal our goods. That’s what happens to those who take what belongs to us.

The Lord says,“ How terrible it will be for the people of Assyria! They are the war club that carries out my anger.I will send them against the ungodly nation of Judah. I will order them to fight against my own people. My people make me angry. I will order Assyria to take their goods and carry them away. I will order Assyria to walk on my people as if they were walking on mud.

The Lord was like an enemy. He swallowed up Israel. He swallowed up all of its palaces. He destroyed its forts. He filled the people of Judah with sorrow and sadness.

So the Lord says,“ I am about to hand this city over to the armies of Babylon. I will give it to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He will capture it.The armies of Babylon are now attacking this city. They will come in and set it on fire. They will burn it down. They will burn down the houses where the people made me very angry. They burned incense on their roofs to the god named Baal. And they poured out drink offerings to other gods.“ The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my eyes. They have done it since the nation was young. In fact, they have done nothing but make me very angry. They have worshiped statues of gods their own hands have made,” announces the Lord.“ This city has always stirred up my great anger. It has done it since the day it was built. Now I must remove it from my sight.The people of Israel and Judah have made me very angry. They have done many evil things. They, their kings and officials have sinned. So have their priests and prophets. And the people of Judah and Jerusalem have also sinned.

His sword will be red with blood. It will be covered with fat. The blood will flow like the blood of lambs and goats being sacrificed. The fat will be like the fat taken from the kidneys of rams. That’s because the Lord will offer a sacrifice in the city of Bozrah. He will kill many people in the land of Edom.

I saw an angel standing in the sun. He shouted to all the birds flying high in the air,“ Come! Gather together for the great supper of God.Come and eat the dead bodies of kings, generals, and other mighty people. Eat the bodies of horses and their riders. Eat the bodies of all people, free and slave, great and small.”

Today the Assyrians have stopped at Nob. They are shaking their fists at Mount Zion in the city of Jerusalem.

Look! Judah’s brave men cry out loud in the streets. The messengers who were sent to bring peace weep bitter tears.The wide roads are deserted. No one travels on them. Our peace treaty with Assyria is broken. Those who witnessed it are looked down on. No one is respected.The land dries up and wastes away. Lebanon is full of shame and dries up. The rich land of Sharon is like the Arabah Desert. The trees of Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.

They told Isaiah,“ Hezekiah says,‘ Today we’re in great trouble. The Lord is warning us. He’s bringing shame on us. Sometimes babies come to the moment when they should be born. But their mothers aren’t strong enough to give birth to them. Today we are like those mothers. We aren’t strong enough to save ourselves.

King Zedekiah and all the soldiers saw them. Then they ran away. They left the city at night. They went by way of the king’s garden. They went out through the gate between the two walls. And they headed toward the Arabah Valley.But the armies of Babylon chased them. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains near Jericho. They captured him there. And they took him to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He was at Riblah in the land of Hamath. That’s where Nebuchadnezzar decided how Zedekiah would be punished.

The city of Zion will be very sad. Like a widow, she will lose everything. She will sit on the ground and mourn.

Your people refuse to obey me. So tell them a story. Say to them,‘ The Lord and King told me,“‘ “Put a cooking pot on the fire. Pour water into it.Put pieces of meat in it. Use all the best pieces. Use the leg and shoulder. Fill it with the best bones.Pick the finest animal in the flock. Pile wood under the pot to cook the bones. Bring the water to a boil. Cook the bones in it.” ’ ”The Lord and King says,“ How terrible it will be for this city! It has so many murderers in it. How terrible for the pot that is coated with scum! The scum on it will not go away. Take the meat out of the pot piece by piece. Take it out in whatever order it comes.“ The blood Jerusalem’s people spilled is inside its walls. They poured it out on a bare rock. They did not pour it on the ground. If they had, dust would have covered it up.So I put their blood on the bare rock. I did not want it to be covered up. I poured out my great anger on them. I paid them back.”So the Lord and King said to me,“ How terrible it will be for this city! It has so many murderers in it. I too will pile the wood high.So pile on the wood. Light the fire. Cook the meat well. Mix in the spices. Let the bones be blackened.Then set the empty pot on the coals. Let it get hot. Let its copper glow. Then what is not pure in it will melt. Its scum will be burned away.But it can’t be cleaned up. Its thick scum has not been removed. Even fire can’t burn it off.“ Jerusalem, you are really impure. I tried to clean you up. But you would not let me make you pure. So you will not be clean again until I am no longer so angry with you.

The Lord is going to completely destroy everything on earth. He will twist its surface. He’ll scatter those who live on it.Priests and people alike will suffer. So will masters and their servants. And so will women and their female servants. Sellers and buyers alike will suffer. So will those who borrow and those who lend. And so will those who owe money and those who lend it.The earth will be completely destroyed. Everything of value will be taken out of it. That’s what the Lord has said.The earth will dry up completely. The world will dry up and waste away. The heavens will fade away along with the earth.The earth is polluted by its people. They haven’t obeyed the laws of the Lord. They haven’t done what he told them to do. They’ve broken the covenant that will last forever.So the Lord will send a curse on the earth. Its people will pay for what they’ve done. They will be burned up. Very few of them will be left.The vines and fresh wine will dry up completely. Those who used to have a good time will groan.The happy sounds of tambourines will be gone. The noise of those who enjoy wild parties will stop. The joyful music of harps will become silent.People will no longer sing as they drink wine. Beer will taste bitter to those who drink it.Destroyed cities will lie empty. People will lock themselves inside their houses.In the streets people will cry out for wine. All joy will turn into sadness. All joyful sounds will be driven out of the earth.All the buildings will be knocked down. Every city gate will be smashed to pieces.

The Lord and King said to me,“ Son of man, speak to every kind of bird. Call out to all the wild animals. Tell them,‘ Gather together. Come from everywhere. Gather around the sacrifice I am preparing for you. It is the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat human bodies and drink human blood.

So I will pour out my anger on its people. I will destroy them because of my great anger against them. And anything that happens to them will be their own fault,” announces the Lord and King.