Israel will soon be destroyed

1Yahweh gave me another message. He said

2“You human, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say to the people [MTY] of Israel: All of Israel will soon be destroyed.

3Youpeople of Israel, the end has come. I will punish you severely. I will judge you for all the wicked things that you have done, and pay you back for your disgusting behavior.

4I will not pity you or act mercifully toward you. I will surely punish you for your wicked behavior [DOU]. Then you will know that it has happened because I, Yahweh, have done it.”

5This is also what Yahweh the Lord says: “You will soon experience many terrible disasters!

6This will be the endof Israel; your country will be finished! And your lives will be ended [PRS]!

7It will be the end of you people who live in the landof Israel. The time has come; the daywhen you will be destroyed is near. At that time the people who worship idols on the mountains will not be happy; they will panic.

8I am very angry with you and am about to pour out my punishment [MTY] on you. I will judge you for all the wicked things that you have done and pay you back for your disgusting behavior.

9I will not pity you or act mercifully toward you. I will surely punish you for your wicked behavior [DOU]. Then you will know that it is I, Yahweh, who have punished you.

10The dayof your punishment is here! It has arrived! Disasters have come.

11People are acting violently and doing more wicked things. And nothing that belongs to those people will be left, none of their money, nothing that is valuable.

12Now is the time; that day has arrived.

13People who buy things should not rejoicebecause of buying things very cheaply, and those who sell things should not be sadbecause they had to sell things cheaply, becauseYahweh will be punishing [MTY] everyone. During the rest of their lives, people who sell some of their property will never be able to buy it back, because I, Yahweh, will never change my mind about what I have declared; because of your sins, I will destroy all of you people.

14Even though yoursoldiers blow trumpetsto prepare for a battle, no soldier will go into a battle, because I will have killed all of them.

15When those things happen, your enemies will be outsidethe city with their swords, and there will be plagues and famines insidethe city. Thosewho flee from the city into the countryside will be killed bytheir enemies’ swords, and those who stay in the city will die from famines and plagues.

16Those who survive and escape will flee to the mountains, and they all will moan like doves because of their sins.

17Because everyone will be very afraid, all the people’s hands will become limp and their knees will become very weak.

18They will put on clothes made from rough cloth, and they will be terrified. Their faces will show that they are ashamed, and they will shave their headsto show that they are very sad.

19They will throw their silver into the streets, and consider that their gold is only like [SIM] garbage, because they will realize that their silver and gold will not be able to rescue them when I, Yahweh, punish them. They will not be able to use their gold and silver to buy things to fill their stomachs, because having a lot of gold and silver has led them to sin.

20They were proud of their beautiful jewelry, and they used it to make their detestable idols and disgusting statuesof their gods. So I will cause them to be disgusted with those things.

21I will give their silver and gold to foreigners who invade your country and take away your valuable treasures. I will give those things to wicked people, and they will do disgraceful things to those treasures that I give them.

22I will not ◄interfere with/stop► [IDM] robbers when they enter my sacred temple and desecrate it.

23Prepare chains to be fastened on you. People are being murdered [MTY] throughout the country, and people are acting violently throughout the city.

24So I will bring armies of the nations whose people are extremely wicked to occupy the houses of the Israeli people. I will cause Israeli peoplewho think that they are [IRO] strong/mighty to no longer be proud. Your enemies will cause your places of worship to no longer be acceptable to be used.

25When your enemies cause you to be terrified, you will plead for them to make peace, but there will be no peace.

26You will experience many disasters, and you will continually hear rumorsabout disasters that are happening in other places. People will plead with prophets to tell them what visions they have received, but the prophets will not have received any visions. Priests will no longer teach people the lawsthat I gave to Moses.

27Your king will mourn, and his son will no longer expectthat good things will happen. The hands of people throughout the country will tremble. And I will do to them what they deserve for their wicked behavior. I will judgeand condemn them the same way they have judgedand condemned others. Then they will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.”