Is this really your boisterous city ¹  whose origins are in the distant past, ²  and whose feet led her to a distant land to reside?

Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you; indeed, ¹  every morning it will sweep by, it will come through during the day and the night.” ²  When this announcement is understood, it will cause nothing but terror.

Look, the sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior; ¹  his military power establishes his rule. ²  Look, his reward is with him; his prize goes before him. ³ 

For a moth will eat away at them like clothes; a clothes moth will devour them like wool. But the vindication I provide ¹  will be permanent; the deliverance I give will last.”

Yet do not depart quickly or leave in a panic. ¹  For the Lord goes before you; the God of Israel is your rear guard.

For I will not be hostile ¹  forever or perpetually angry, for then man’s spirit would grow faint before me, ²  the life-giving breath I created.

They say, ‘Keep to yourself! Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’ These people are like smoke in my nostrils, like a fire that keeps burning all day long.

Look! The enemy is approaching like gathering clouds. ¹  The roar of his chariots is like that of a whirlwind. ²  His horses move more swiftly than eagles.” I cry out, ³  “We are doomed, ⁴  for we will be destroyed!”

They will say, ¹  ‘Prepare to do battle ²  against it! Come on! Let’s attack it at noon!’ But later they will say, ³  ‘Oh, oh! Too bad! ⁴  The day is almost over and the shadows of evening are getting long.

The Lord told me, “Go and stand in the People’s Gate ²  through which the kings of Judah enter and leave the city. Then go and stand in all the other gates of the city of Jerusalem. ³ 

So their land will become an object of horror. ¹  People will forever hiss out their scorn over it. All who pass that way will be filled with horror and will shake their heads in derision. ² 

I will make this city an object of horror, a thing to be hissed at. All who pass by it will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn ¹  because of all the disasters that have happened to it. ² 

I will punish any prophet, priest, or other person who says “The Lord’s message is burdensome.” ¹  I will punish both that person and his whole family.’” ² 

Just watch! The wrath of the Lord will come like a storm. Like a raging storm it will rage down on the heads of those who are wicked.

The king of Babylon will become paralyzed with fear ¹  when he hears news of their coming. ²  Anguish will grip him, agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby. ³ 

One runner after another will come to the king of Babylon. One messenger after another will come bringing news. ¹  They will bring news to the king of Babylon that his whole city has been captured. ² 

The towns of Babylonia have become heaps of ruins. She has become a dry and barren desert. No one lives in those towns any more. No one even passes through them. ¹ 

So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure ¹  of creeping thing and beast – detestable images ²  – and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around. ³ 

“Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel, ‘The days pass slowly, and every vision fails’?

You were different from other prostitutes ¹  because no one solicited you. When you gave payment and no payment was given to you, you became the opposite!