Here is a message about Damascus: “Look, Damascus is no longer a city, it is a heap of ruins!

Indeed ¹  Israel ²  is the vineyard of the Lord who commands armies, the people ³  of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight. He waited for justice, but look what he got – disobedience! ⁴  He waited for fairness, but look what he got – cries for help! ⁵ 

When you will look for your opponents, ¹  you will not find them; your enemies ²  will be reduced to absolutely nothing.

“I thought, ‘I will no longer see the Lord ¹  in the land of the living, I will no longer look on humankind with the inhabitants of the world. ² 

Look at Abraham, your father, and Sarah, who gave you birth. ¹  When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, ²  but I blessed him ³  and gave him numerous descendants. ⁴ 

Look all around you! ¹  They all gather and come to you – your sons come from far away and your daughters are escorted by guardians.

Look up at the sky! Look at the earth below! For the sky will dissipate ¹  like smoke, and the earth will wear out like clothes; its residents will die like gnats. But the deliverance I give ²  is permanent; the vindication I provide ³  will not disappear. ⁴ 

Look, the Lord will throw you far away, ¹  you mere man! ²  He will wrap you up tightly. ³ 

Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent; the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting. ¹ 

Look, all of them are nothing, ¹  their accomplishments are nonexistent; their metal images lack any real substance. ² 

Look, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have purified you ¹  in the furnace of misery.

Why are your clothes red? Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat? ¹ 

They will pass through the land ¹  destitute and starving. Their hunger will make them angry, ²  and they will curse their king and their God ³  as they look upward.

The dogs have big appetites; they are never full. ¹  They are shepherds who have no understanding; they all go their own way, each one looking for monetary gain. ² 

Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp, I coo ¹  like a dove; my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky. ²  O sovereign master, ³  I am oppressed; help me! ⁴ 

I looked, but there was no one to help; I was shocked because there was no one offering support. ¹  So my right arm accomplished deliverance; my raging anger drove me on. ² 

He said, “Go and tell these people: ‘Listen continually, but don’t understand! Look continually, but don’t perceive!’

Those who see you stare at you, they look at you carefully, thinking: ¹  “Is this the man who shook the earth, the one who made kingdoms tremble?

They travel down to Egypt without seeking my will, ¹  seeking Pharaoh’s protection, and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade. ² 

Look, the Lord is ready to devastate the earth and leave it in ruins; he will mar its surface and scatter its inhabitants.