For this reason the sovereign master himself will give you a confirming sign. ¹  Look, this ²  young woman ³  is about to conceive ⁴  and will give birth to a son. You, young woman, will name him ⁵  Immanuel. ⁶ 

Look, the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, is ready to cut off the branches with terrifying power. ¹  The tallest trees ²  will be cut down, the loftiest ones will be brought low.

Look, the Lord’s day of judgment ¹  is coming; it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger, ²  destroying ³  the earth ⁴  and annihilating its sinners.

Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them; ¹  they are not concerned about silver, nor are they interested in gold. ² 

Here is a message about Egypt: Look, the Lord rides on a swift-moving cloud and approaches Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him; the Egyptians lose their courage. ¹ 

My heart palpitates, ¹  I shake in fear; ²  the twilight I desired has brought me terror.

Arrange the table, lay out ¹  the carpet, eat and drink! ²  Get up, you officers, smear oil on the shields! ³ 

Then the guard ¹  cries out: “On the watchtower, O sovereign master, ²  I stand all day long; at my post I am stationed every night.

So I say: “Don’t look at me! ¹  I am weeping bitterly. Don’t try ²  to console me concerning the destruction of my defenseless people.” ³ 

For the fortress is neglected; the once-crowded ¹  city is abandoned. Hill ²  and watchtower are permanently uninhabited. ³  Wild donkeys love to go there, and flocks graze there. ⁴ 

He says, ¹  “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. ²  Look, it now descends on Edom, ³  on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”

Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales. He lifts ¹  the coastlands ²  as if they were dust.

“I, the Lord, officially commission you; ¹  I take hold of your hand. I protect you ²  and make you a covenant mediator for people, ³  and a light ⁴  to the nations, ⁵ 

The people who do this will be blessed, ¹  the people who commit themselves to obedience, ²  who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it, who refrain from doing anything that is wrong. ³ 

Honesty has disappeared; the one who tries to avoid evil is robbed. The Lord watches and is displeased, ¹  for there is no justice.

They sit among the tombs ¹  and keep watch all night long. ²  They eat pork, ³  and broth ⁴  from unclean sacrificial meat is in their pans.

From earliest times our worship of that shameful god, Baal, has taken away ¹  all that our ancestors ²  worked for. It has taken away our flocks and our herds, and even our sons and daughters.

So, this is what the Lord says: ‘I will assuredly ¹  make these people stumble to their doom. ²  Parents and children will stumble and fall to their destruction. ³  Friends and neighbors will die.’

Everyone must be on his guard around his friends. He must not even trust any of his relatives. ¹  For every one of them will find some way to cheat him. ²  And all of his friends will tell lies about him.

Therefore the Lord who rules over all says, ¹  “I will now purify them in the fires of affliction ²  and test them. The wickedness of my dear people ³  has left me no choice. What else can I do? ⁴