Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told to you since the very beginning? Have you not understood from the time the earth’s foundations were made?

I do this so people will recognize from east to west that there is no God but me; I am the Lord, I have no peer.

You said, ‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’ You did not think about these things; you did not consider how it would turn out.

You take olive oil as tribute to your king, along with many perfumes. You send your messengers to a distant place; you go all the way to Sheol.

“Before I formed you in your mother’s womb I chose you. Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known anything about. I will send people chasing after them with swords until I have destroyed them.’”

“Babylon must fall because of the Israelites she has killed, just as the earth’s mortally wounded fell because of Babylon.

Your fame spread among the nations because of your beauty; your beauty was perfect because of the splendor which I bestowed on you, declares the sovereign Lord.

“‘What you plan will never happen. You say, “We will be like the nations, like the clans of the lands, who serve gods of wood and stone.”

Then everyone will know that I am the Lord, who drew my sword from its sheath – it will not be sheathed again!’

I will exalt and magnify myself; I will reveal myself before many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’

He changes times and seasons, deposing some kings and establishing others. He gives wisdom to the wise; he imparts knowledge to those with understanding;

Now after you another kingdom will arise, one inferior to yours. Then a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule in all the earth.

The tree that you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached to the sky, and which could be seen in all the land,

and said, “I called out to the Lord from my distress, and he answered me; from the belly of Sheol I cried out for help, and you heard my prayer.

Listen, all you nations! Pay attention, all inhabitants of earth! The sovereign Lord will testify against you; the Lord will accuse you from his majestic palace.

Nations will see this and be disappointed by all their strength, they will put their hands over their mouths, and act as if they were deaf.

So I asked the angelic messenger who spoke with me, “What are these?” He replied, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

The messenger replied, “These are the four spirits of heaven that have been presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth.

But if any of the nations anywhere on earth refuse to go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord who rules over all, they will get no rain.