It will be as when one gathers the grain harvest, and his hand gleans the ear of grain. It will be like one gathering the ears of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.

Later the Lord explained, “In the same way that my servant Isaiah has walked around in undergarments and barefoot for the past three years, as an object lesson and omen pertaining to Egypt and Cush,

As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver and strains and cries out because of her labor pains, so were we because of you, O Lord.

Those who accumulate houses are as good as dead, ¹  those who also accumulate landed property ²  until there is no land left, ³  and you are the only landowners remaining within the land. ⁴ 

“The rebellious ¹  children are as good as dead,” ²  says the Lord, “those who make plans without consulting me, ³  who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, ⁴  and thereby compound their sin. ⁵ 

In the same way, the promise that I make does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. ¹  No, it is realized as I desire and is fulfilled as I intend.” ² 

Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen this? Can a country ¹  be brought forth in one day? Can a nation be born in a single moment? Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!

They will bring back all your countrymen ¹  from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them ²  on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels ³  to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord’s temple in ritually pure containers.

¹ As for all the kings of the nations, all of them ²  lie down in splendor, ³  each in his own tomb. ⁴ 

These people continually and blatantly offend me ¹  as they sacrifice in their sacred orchards ²  and burn incense on brick altars. ³ 

For just as the ground produces its crops and a garden yields its produce, so the sovereign Lord will cause deliverance ¹  to grow, and give his people reason to praise him in the sight of all the nations. ² 

“As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah’s time, ¹  when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood ²  would never again cover the earth. In the same way I have vowed that I will not be angry at you or shout at you.

“I will provoke civil strife in Egypt, ¹  brothers will fight with each other, as will neighbors, cities, and kingdoms. ² 

Yes, as your judgments unfold, ¹  O Lord, we wait for you. We desire your fame and reputation to grow. ² 

We grope along the wall like the blind, we grope like those who cannot see; ¹  we stumble at noontime as if it were evening. Though others are strong, we are like dead men. ² 

For the fields of Heshbon are dried up, as well as the vines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations trample all over its vines, which reach Jazer and spread to the desert; their shoots spread out and cross the sea.

“For just as the new heavens and the new earth I am about to make will remain standing before me,” says the Lord, “so your descendants and your name will remain.

Tie up the scroll as legal evidence, ¹  seal the official record of God’s instructions and give it to my followers. ² 

One thousand will scurry at the battle cry of one enemy soldier; ¹  at the battle cry of five enemy soldiers you will all run away, ²  until the remaining few are as isolated ³  as a flagpole on a mountaintop or a signal flag on a hill.”

They say, “Let’s attack Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it. ¹  Then we’ll set up the son of Tabeel as its king.” ²