Their shoots had spread out over the sea.

9 I will cry for the grapevines of Sibmah as Jazer cries for them.

I will drench you with my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh.

The shouts of joy for your ripened fruits and your harvest will be silenced.

10 Joy and delight have vanished from the orchards.

No songs are sung.

No shouts are raised.

No one stomps on grapes in the winepresses, because I have put an end to the shouts of joy.

11 That is why my heart mourns for Moab like a harp.

My soul mourns for Kir Hareseth.

12 When the people of Moab appear at the worship site, they will only wear themselves out.

They will come into the holy place to pray, but they won't be able to.

13 This is the message that Yahweh spoke about Moab in the past. 14 But now Yahweh says, "Moab's honor will be despised within three years. I will count them like workers count the years left of their contracts.b In spite of their great number, the survivors will be very few and powerless."

Damascus and Israel Will Be Punished 17 1 This is the divine revelation about Damascus.

"Damascus will no longer be a city.

It will become a pile of rubble.

2 The cities of Aroer will be deserted.

These cities will be used for sheep, which will lie down in them.

There will be no one to disturb those sheep.

3 Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom will disappear from Damascus.

The remaining few from Aram will share Israel's honor,"

declares Yahweh Tsebaoth .

4 "When that day comes, the honor of Jacob's people will fade away, and they will become skin and bones.

5 That time will be like harvesting bundles of grain by the armful.

It will be like gathering grain in the Rephaim Valley.

6 Only a few people will survive.

They will be like an olive tree that has been beaten.

Only two or three olives are left at the top of the highest branch, four or five olives on the rest of the branches,"

declares Yahweh Elohim of Israel.

7 When that day comes, they will look to their maker, and their eyes will look to Qedosh Yisrael .

8 They won't look to the altars made by their hands or to the Asherah poles or incense altars which their fingers molded.

9 When that day comes, the fortified cities which other people abandoned because of the Israelites will be like abandoned woods and undergrowth.

So it will become a wasteland.

10 You have forgotten the Elohim of your salvation.

You haven't remembered the rock, your stronghold.

Instead, you have planted the best plants and have set out the imported grapevines.

11 On the day you plant, you will make it grow.a On the morning you set out the seedling, you will make it sprout.

But the harvest will become a [rotting] pileb on a day of grief and incurable pain.

12 How horrible it will be for many people!

They will roar like the roaring sea.

The noise that the people make will be like the noise from rushing water.

13 The people will make noise like raging water.

But Elohim will yell at them, and they will run far away.

They will be chased away like husks on the mountains being blown by the wind, like whirling dust being blown by a storm.

14 In the evening there will be sudden terror.

Before morning they will be gone.

This will be the fate of those who looted us, the destiny of those who robbed us.

Sudan Will Be Punished 18 1 How horrible it will be for the land of whirring wings which lies beyond the rivers of Sudan.

2 It sends messengers by sea in boats made of reeds skimming over the surface of the water.

Go, swift messengers, to a tall and smooth-skinned people, a people who are feared far and near, a strong and aggressive nation, whose land is divided by rivers.

3 Look when someone raises a flag on the mountains.

Listen when someone blows a ram's horn, all you inhabitants of the world who live on the earth.

4 This is what Yahweh says to me: I will keep quiet and watch from my dwelling place.

My presence will be like scorching heat in the sunshine, like heavy dew in the heat of the harvest.

5 Before the harvest, when blossoms are gone and grapes are ripening from blossoms, he will cut off the shoots with pruning shears and chop off the spreading branches.

6 They will be left for the birds of prey on the mountains and the wild animals.

The birds of prey will feed on them in the summer, and all the wild animals on earth will feed on them in the winter.

7 At that time gifts will be brought to Yahweh Tsebaoth from a tall and smooth-skinned people, a people who are feared far and near, a strong and aggressive nation, whose land is divided by rivers.

They will be brought to Mount Zion, the place where the name of Yahweh Tsebaoth is.

Egypt Will Be Punished 19 1 This is the divine revelation about Egypt.

Yahweh is riding on a fast-moving cloud and is coming to Egypt.

Egypt's idols will tremble in his presence.

Egypt's courage will fail.

2 "I will turn one Egyptian against another.

They will fight- brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

3 The Egyptians will lose courage.

I will unravel their plans.

They will turn to idols, ghosts, mediums, and fortunetellers.

4 I will hand over the Egyptians to a harsh master.

A strong king will rule them,"

declares Adonay Yahweh Tsebaoth .

5 The water in the Nile River will be dried up,a and the river will be dry and empty.

6 The canals will stink.

Egypt's streams will be emptied and dried up.

The reeds and cattails will wither.

7 The rushes by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile, and all the fields planted beside the Nile will dry up, be blown away, and disappear.

8 Fishermen will cry.

All who cast their lines into the Nile will mourn.

Those who spread their nets on the water will sigh.

9 Linenworkers and weavers will be ashamed.

10 Egypt's weavers will be crushed.

Those who work for money will be distressed.

11 The leaders of Zoan are nothing but fools.

The wisest of Pharaoh's counselors gives stupid advice.

How can you tell Pharaoh, "I'm a descendant of wise men, a descendant of ancient kings"?

12 Where are your wise men now?

Let them tell you.

Let them explain what Yahweh Tsebaoth is planning against Egypt.

13 The leaders of Zoan are acting foolishly.

The leaders of Memphis are led astray.

The leaders who are the cornerstones of its tribes mislead the Egyptians.

14 Yahweh mixes up their minds.

So they lead the Egyptians astray like a drunk who staggers in his vomit.

15 No one-leaders or followers, important or unimportant- can do anything for Egypt.

16 At that time Egyptians will act like women. They will tremble and be terrified because Yahweh Tsebaoth will shake his fist at them. 17 The land of Judah will terrify the Egyptians. Whenever they are reminded of Judah, they will be terrified of it because of what Yahweh Tsebaoth is planning against it.

18 When that day comes, five cities in Egypt will have people that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to Yahweh Tsebaoth . One of the cities will be called Heliopolis.b 19 When that day comes, an altar for Yahweh will be in the middle of Egypt, and a stone marker for Yahweh will be near its border. 20 These objects will be a sign and a witness that Yahweh Tsebaoth is in Egypt. When the people cry to Yahweh because of those who oppress them, he will send a savior and defender to rescue them. 21 So Yahweh will make himself known to the Egyptians. The Egyptians will know Yahweh when that day comes. They will worship with sacrifices and food offerings. They will make vows to Yahweh and carry them out. 22 Yahweh will strike Egypt with a plague. When he strikes them, he will also heal them. Then they will come back to Yahweh . And he will respond to their prayers and heal them.

23 When that day comes, a highway will run from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will come to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. 24 When that day comes, Israel will be one-third of God's people, along with Egypt and Assyria. They will be a blessing on the earth. 25 Yahweh Tsebaoth will bless them, saying, "My people Egypt, the work of my hands Assyria, and my possession Israel are blessed."

Those Who Were Allied with Egypt Will Be Ashamed 20 1 In the year when King Sargon of Assyria sent his commander-in-chief to fight against Ashdod, he captured it. 2 At that time Yahweh told Isaiah, son of Amoz, "Take off the sackcloth that you are wearing, and take off your sandals!" Isaiah did this and walked around barefoot and naked.

3 Then Yahweh said, "My servant Isaiah has gone barefoot and naked for three years as a sign and as an omen to Egypt and Sudan. 4 The king of Assyria will lead away both the young and the old-captives from Egypt and exiles from Sudan. They will be barefoot and naked. Their buttocks will be exposed in order to disgrace Egypt. 5 Then the people will be shattered and ashamed because Sudan was their hope and Egypt was their beauty. 6 When that day comes, those who live on this coastland will say, 'Look at what has happened to our hope. We ran to Egypt for help to be rescued from the king of Assyria. How can we escape?'"

Babylon Has Fallen 21 1 This is the divine revelation about the desert by the sea.