Each time it passes by it will take you. It will pass by morning after morning, during the day and during the night. Understanding this message brings only terror.
In Hoshea’s ninth year as king of Israel, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and took the Israelites to Assyria as captives. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
So this is what I, the Lord God of Israel, said: I’m going to bring such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears about it will ring.
The Lord sent raiding parties of Babylonians, Arameans, Moabites, and Ammonites against Jehoiakim to destroy Judah as the Lord had predicted through his servants the prophets.
because the arrows of the Almighty ⌞have found their target⌟ in me, and my spirit is drinking their poison. God’s terrors line up in battle against me.
Then Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace and was son of Hilkiah, Shebna the scribe, and Joah, who was the royal historian and the son of Asaph, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn in grief. They told him the message from the field commander.
They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day filled with misery, punishment, and disgrace. We are like a woman who is about to give birth but doesn’t have the strength to do it.
The Almighty Lord will teach me what to say, so I will know how to encourage weary people. Morning after morning he will wake me to listen like a student.
Say, “Listen to the Lord’s word, you kings of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I’m going to bring such a disaster on this place that the ears of everyone who hears about it will ring.
Report this message in Judah. Make it heard in Jerusalem. Say, “Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land.” Shout loudly and say, “Gather together! Let’s go into the fortified cities.”
“When that day comes,” declares the Lord, “the king and the leaders will lose their courage. The priests will be stunned. The prophets will be amazed and astonished.”
You have invited those who terrorize me on every side, as though they were invited to a festival. No one escaped or survived on the day of the Lord’s anger. My enemy has murdered the children I nursed and raised.”
I have heard, so there’s trembling within me. At the report my lips quivered. A rotten feeling has entered me. I tremble where I stand. I wait for the day of trouble to come to the people who will attack us.