To The Word – Day 96

₁This is a message about Babylonia.

Like a whirlwind sweeping across the desert, disaster will come from a terrifying land. ₂I have seen a vision of cruel events, a vision of betrayal and destruction.

Army of Elam, attack! Army of Media, lay siege to the cities! God will put an end to the suffering which Babylon has caused.

₃What I saw and heard in the vision has filled me with terror and pain, pain like that of a woman in labour. ₄My head is spinning, and I am trembling with fear. I had been longing for evening to come, but it has brought me nothing but terror.

₅In the vision a banquet is ready; rugs are spread for the guests to sit on. They are eating and drinking. Suddenly the command rings out: “Officers! Prepare your shields!”

₆Then the Lord said to me, “Go and post a sentry, and tell him to report what he sees. ₇If he sees men coming on horseback, two by two, and men riding on donkeys and camels, he is to observe them carefully.”

₈The sentry calls out, “Sir, I have been standing guard at my post day and night.”

₉Suddenly, here they come! Men on horseback, two by two. The sentry gives the news, “Babylon has fallen! All the idols they worshipped lie shattered on the ground.”

₁₀My people Israel, you have been threshed like wheat, but now I have announced to you the good news that I have heard from the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel.

₁₁This is a message about Edom.

Someone calls to me from Edom, “Sentry, how soon will the night be over? Tell me how soon it will end.”

₁₂I answer, “Morning is coming, but night will come again. If you want to ask again, come back and ask.”

₁₃This is a message about Arabia.

You people of Dedan, whose caravans camp in the barren country of Arabia, ₁₄give water to the thirsty people who come to you. You people of the land of Tema, give food to the refugees. ₁₅People are fleeing to escape from swords that are ready to kill them, from bows that are ready to shoot, from all the dangers of war.

₁₆Then the Lord said to me, “In exactly one year the greatness of the tribes of Kedar will be at an end. ₁₇The bowmen are the bravest men of Kedar, but few of them will be left. I, the LORD God of Israel, have spoken.”

₁This is a message about the Valley of Vision.

What is happening? Why are all the people of the city celebrating on the roofs of the houses? ₂The whole city is in an uproar, filled with noise and excitement.

Your people who died in this war did not die fighting. ₃All your leaders ran away and were captured before they shot a single arrow. ₄Now leave me alone to weep bitterly over all those of my people who have died. Don't try to comfort me. ₅This is a time of panic, defeat, and confusion in the Valley of Vision, and the Sovereign LORD Almighty has sent it on us. The walls of our city have been battered down, and cries for help have echoed among the hills.

₆The soldiers from the land of Elam came riding on horseback, armed with bows and arrows. Soldiers from the land of Kir had their shields ready. ₇The fertile valleys of Judah were filled with chariots; soldiers on horseback stood in front of Jerusalem's gates. ₈All Judah's defences crumbled.

When that happened, you brought weapons out of the arsenal. _9-10You found the places where the walls of Jerusalem needed repair. You inspected all the houses in Jerusalem and tore some of them down to get stones to repair the city walls. In order to store water, ₁₁you built a reservoir inside the city to hold the water flowing down from the old pool. But you paid no attention to God, who planned all this long ago and who caused it to happen.

₁₂The Sovereign LORD Almighty was calling you then to weep and mourn, to shave your heads and wear sackcloth. ₁₃Instead, you laughed and celebrated. You killed sheep and cattle to eat, and you drank wine. You said, “We might as well eat and drink! Tomorrow we'll be dead.”

₁₄The Sovereign LORD Almighty himself spoke to me and said, “This evil will never be forgiven them as long as they live. I, the Sovereign LORD Almighty, have spoken.”

₁₅The Sovereign LORD Almighty told me to go to Shebna, the manager of the royal household, and say to him, ₁₆“Who do you think you are? What right have you to carve a tomb for yourself out of the rocky hillside? ₁₇You may be important, but the LORD will pick you up and throw you away. ₁₈He will pick you up like a ball and throw you into a much larger country. You will die there beside the chariots you were so proud of. You are a disgrace to your master's household. ₁₉The LORD will remove you from office and bring you down from your high position.”

₂₀The LORD said to Shebna, “When that happens, I will send for my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah. ₂₁I will put your official robe and belt on him and give him all the authority you have had. He will be like a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. ₂₂I will give him complete authority under the king, the descendant of David. He will have the keys of office; what he opens, no one will shut, and what he shuts, no one will open. ₂₃I will fasten him firmly in place like a peg, and he will be a source of honour to his whole family.

₂₄“But all his relatives and dependants will become a burden to him. They will hang on him like pots and bowls hanging from a peg! ₂₅When that happens, the peg that was firmly fastened will work loose and fall. And that will be the end of everything that was hanging on it.” The LORD has spoken.

₁This is a message about Tyre.

Howl with grief, you sailors out on the ocean! Your home port of Tyre has been destroyed; its houses and its harbour are in ruins. As your ships return from Cyprus, you learn the news. ₂Wail, you merchants of Sidon! You sent men ₃across the sea to buy and sell the corn that grew in Egypt and to do business with all the nations.

₄City of Sidon, you are disgraced! The sea and the great ocean depths disown you and say, “I never had any children. I never brought up sons or daughters.”

₅Even the Egyptians will be shocked and dismayed when they learn that Tyre has been destroyed.

₆Howl with grief, you people of Phoenicia! Try to escape to Spain! ₇Can this be the joyful city of Tyre, founded so long ago? Is this the city that sent settlers across the sea to establish colonies? ₈Who was it that planned to bring all this on Tyre, that imperial city, whose merchant princes were the most honoured men on earth? ₉The LORD Almighty planned it. He planned it in order to put an end to their pride in what they had done and to humiliate their honoured ones.

₁₀Go and farm the land, you people in the colonies in Spain! There is no one to protect you any more. ₁₁The LORD has stretched out his hand over the sea and overthrown kingdoms. He has ordered the Phoenician centres of commerce to be destroyed. ₁₂City of Sidon, your happiness has ended, and your people are oppressed. Even if they escape to Cyprus, they will still not be safe.

₁₃(It was the Babylonians, not the Assyrians, who let the wild animals overrun Tyre. It was the Babylonians who put up siege towers, tore down the fortifications of Tyre, and left the city in ruins.)

₁₄Howl with grief, you sailors out on the ocean! The city you relied on has been destroyed.

₁₅A time is coming when Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the lifetime of a king. When those years are over, Tyre will be like the prostitute in the song:

₁₇When the seventy years are over, the LORD will let Tyre go back to her old trade, and she will hire herself out to all the kingdoms of the world. ₁₈The money she earns by commerce will be dedicated to the LORD. She will not store it away, but those who worship the LORD will use her money to buy the food and the clothing they need.

₁The LORD is going to devastate the earth and leave it desolate. He will twist the earth's surface and scatter its people. ₂Everyone will meet the same fate — the priests and the people, slaves and masters, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, rich and poor. ₃The earth will lie shattered and ruined. The LORD has spoken and it will be done.

₄The earth dries up and withers; the whole world grows weak; both earth and sky decay. ₅The people have defiled the earth by breaking God's laws and by violating the covenant he made to last for ever. ₆So God has pronounced a curse on the earth. Its people are paying for what they have done. Fewer and fewer remain alive. ₇The grapevines wither, and wine is becoming scarce. Everyone who was once happy is now sad, ₈and the joyful music of their harps and drums has ceased. ₉There is no more happy singing over wine; no one enjoys its taste any more. ₁₀In the city everything is in chaos, and people lock themselves in their houses for safety. ₁₁People shout in the streets because there is no more wine. Happiness is gone for ever; it has been banished from the land. ₁₂The city is in ruins, and its gates have been broken down. ₁₃This is what will happen in every nation all over the world. It will be like the end of harvest, when the olives have been beaten off every tree and the last grapes picked from the vines.

₁₄Those who survive will sing for joy. Those in the west will tell how great the LORD is, ₁₅and those in the east will praise him. The people who live along the sea will praise the LORD, the God of Israel. ₁₆From the most distant parts of the world we will hear songs in praise of Israel, the righteous nation.

But there is no hope for me! I am wasting away! Traitors continue to betray, and their treachery grows worse and worse. ₁₇Listen to me, everyone! There are terrors, pits, and traps waiting for you. ₁₈Anyone who tries to escape from the terror will fall into a pit, and anyone who escapes from the pit will be caught in a trap. Torrents of rain will pour from the sky, and earth's foundations will shake. ₁₉The earth will crack and shatter and split open. ₂₀The earth itself will stagger like a drunken man and sway like a hut in a storm. The world is weighed down by its sins; it will collapse and never rise again.

₂₁A time is coming when the LORD will punish the powers above and the rulers of the earth. ₂₂God will crowd kings together like prisoners in a pit. He will shut them in prison until the time of their punishment comes. ₂₃The moon will grow dark, and the sun will no longer shine, for the LORD Almighty will be king. He will rule in Jerusalem on Mount Zion, and the leaders of the people will see his glory.

₆Here on Mount Zion the LORD Almighty will prepare a banquet for all the nations of the world — a banquet of the richest food and the finest wine. ₇Here he will suddenly remove the cloud of sorrow that has been hanging over all the nations. ₈The Sovereign LORD will destroy death for ever! He will wipe away the tears from everyone's eyes and take away the disgrace his people have suffered throughout the world. The LORD himself has spoken!

₉When it happens, everyone will say, “He is our God! We have put our trust in him, and he has rescued us. He is the LORD! We have put our trust in him, and now we are happy and joyful because he has saved us.”

₁₀The LORD will protect Mount Zion, but the people of Moab will be trampled down, just as straw is trampled in manure. ₁₁They will stretch out their hands as if they were trying to swim, but God will humiliate them, and their hands will sink helplessly. ₁₂He will destroy the fortresses of Moab with their high walls and bring them tumbling down into the dust.