God Answers the Prophet
1I will stand at my guard post
And station myself on the watchtower;
And I will keep watch to see what He will say to me,
And how I may reply Lit upon my reprimandwhen I am reprimanded.
2Then the Lord answered me and said,
“Write down the vision
And inscribe it clearly on tablets,
So that one who Or is to proclaim; or reads it may read it fluentlyreads it may run.
3For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
It Lit pantshurries toward the goal and it will not Or liefail.
Though it delays, wait for it;
For it will certainly come, it will not delay long.
4“Behold, as for the impudent one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the righteous one will live by his Or faithfulnessfaith.
5Furthermore, wine betrays an arrogant man,
So that he does not achieve his objective.
He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
And he is like death, never satisfied.
He also gathers to himself all the nations
And collects to himself all the peoples.
6“Will all of these not take up a song of ridicule against him,
Even a saying and insinuations against him
And say, ‘Woe to him who increases what is not his—
For how long—
And makes himself Lit heavyrich with debts!’
7Will Lit those who bite youyour creditors not rise up suddenly,
And those who Lit violently shake youcollect from you awaken?
Indeed, you will become plunder for them.
8Since you have looted many nations,
All the rest of the peoples will loot you—
Because of human bloodshed and violence Lit of the landdone to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.
9“Woe to him who makes evil profit for his household,
To put his nest on high,
To be saved from the hand of catastrophe!
10You have planned a shameful thing for your house
By bringing many peoples to an end;
So you are sinning against yourself.
11For the stone will cry out from the wall,
And the rafter will answer it from the Lit woodframework.
12“Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed,
And founds a town with Lit injusticeviolence!
13Is it not indeed from the Lord of armies
That peoples labor merely for fire,
And nations become weary for nothing?
14For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea.
15“Woe to him who makes his neighbor drink;
Another reading is From the cup of your venom
To you who mix in your venom even to make your neighbors drunk,
So as to look at their genitalia!
16You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor.
Drink, you yourself, and Lit show yourself uncircumcised; DSS and ancient versions staggerexpose your own foreskin!
The cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you,
And utter disgrace will come upon your glory.
And the devastation of its animals Lit which shattered themby which you terrified them,
Because of human bloodshed and violence Lit of the landdone to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.
18“What benefit is a carved image when its maker has carved it,
Or a cast metal image, a teacher of falsehood?
For its maker trusts in his own handiwork
When he fashions speechless idols.
19Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, ‘Awake!’
To a mute stone, ‘Arise!’
That is your teacher?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
Yet there is no breath at all inside it.
20But the Lord is in His holy temple.
Lit Hush before Him, all the earth
Let all the earth be silent before Him.”
New American Standard Bible
Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020
by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved.
For Permission to Quote Information visit www.lockman.org