<p class="poetry">Look, the name<n id="1" /> of the <sc>Lordsc> comes from a distant placep> <p class="poetry">in raging anger and awesome splendor.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">He speaks angrilyp> <p class="poetry">and his word is like destructive fire.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Tell those who panic,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Be strong! Do not fear!p> <p class="poetry">Look, your God comes to avenge!p> <p class="poetry">With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Look, the grief I experienced was for my benefit.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">You delivered me<n id="2" /> from the pit of oblivion.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For you removed all my sins from your sight.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Look, I am making you like<n id="1" /> a sharp threshing sledge,p> <p class="poetry">new and double-edged.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">You will thresh the mountains and crush them;p> <p class="poetry">you will make the hills like straw.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!p> <p class="poetry">Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">so we may examine them<n id="2" /> and see how they were fulfilled.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Or decree for us some future events!p>

<p class="poetry">Look, they are like straw,p> <p class="poetry">which the fire burns up;p> <p class="poetry">they cannot rescue themselvesp> <p class="poetry">from the heat<n id="1" /> of the flames.p> <p class="poetry">There are no coals to warm them,p> <p class="poetry">no firelight to enjoy.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Look, I create the craftsman,p> <p class="poetry">who fans the coals into a firep> <p class="poetry">and forges a weapon.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I create the destroyer so he might devastate.p>

<p class="poetry">For, look, darkness covers the earthp> <p class="poetry">and deep darkness covers<n id="1" /> the nations,p> <p class="poetry">but the <sc>Lordsc> shines on you;p> <p class="poetry">his splendor<n id="2" /> appears over you.p>

<p class="poetry">For look, the <sc>Lordsc> comes with fire,p> <p class="poetry">his chariots come like a windstorm,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">to reveal his raging anger,p> <p class="poetry">his battle cry, and his flaming arrows.<n id="2" />p>

Then the <sc>Lordsc> reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, &#8220;I will most assuredly give you the words you are to speak for me.<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry">They are saying,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Announce to the surrounding nations,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;The enemy is coming!&#8221;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Proclaim this message<n id="4" /> to Jerusalem:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Those who besiege cities<n id="5" /> are coming from a distant land.p> <p class="poetry">They are ready to raise the battle cry against<n id="6" /> the towns in Judah.&#8221;&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Beware! An army<n id="1" /> is coming from a land in the north.p> <p class="poetry">A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth.p>

Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own<n id="1" /> is to be a hideout for robbers?<n id="2" /> You had better take note!<n id="3" /> I have seen for myself what you have done! says the <sc>Lordsc>.

<p class="poetry">How can you say, &#8220;We are wise!p> <p class="poetry">We have the law of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8221;?p> <p class="poetry">The truth is,<n id="1" /> those who teach it<n id="2" /> have used their writingsp> <p class="poetry">to make it say what it does not really mean.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Listen! News is coming even now.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">The rumble of a great army is heard approaching<n id="2" /> from a land in the north.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">It is coming to turn the towns of Judah into rubble,p> <p class="poetry">places where only jackals live.p>

<p class="bodytext">Yet<n id="1" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, say:<n id="2" /> &#8220;A new time will certainly come.<n id="3" /> People now affirm their oaths with &#8216;I swear as surely as the <sc>Lordsc> lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.&#8217;

<p class="poetry">&#8220;I, the <sc>Lordsc>, promise<n id="1" /> that a new time will certainly come<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">when I will raise up for them a righteous branch,<n id="3" /> a descendant of David.p> <p class="poetry">He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and will do what is just and right in the land.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;So I, the <sc>Lordsc>, say:<n id="1" /> &#8216;A new time will certainly come.<n id="2" /> People now affirm their oaths with &#8220;I swear as surely as the <sc>Lordsc> lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.&#8221;

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all<n id="1" /> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Disaster will soon come on one nation after another.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">A mighty storm of military destruction<n id="3" /> is rising upp> <p class="poetry">from the distant parts of the earth.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">Then I will reply,<n id="1" /> &#8216;I will bring them back from the land of the north.p> <p class="poetry">I will gather them in from the distant parts of the earth.p> <p class="poetry">Blind and lame people will come with them,p> <p class="poetry">so will pregnant women and women about to give birth.p> <p class="poetry">A vast throng of people will come back here.p>