I will destroy the winter house with the summer house. The houses of ivory will be destroyed. Many houses will be destroyed.” This is what the Lord said.
In the same way, my words leave my mouth, and they don’t come back without results. My words make the things happen that I want to happen. They succeed in doing what I send them to do.
They will destroy you and all your people. Not one stone of your buildings will stay on top of another. All this will happen because you did not know the time when God came to save you.”
I will bring all the nations together to fight against Jerusalem. They will capture the city and destroy the houses. The women will be raped, and half of the people will be taken away as prisoners. But the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.
King of Assyria, the Lord gave this command about you: “You will not have any descendants to wear your name. I will destroy your carved idols and metal statues that are in the temple of your gods. I am preparing your grave, because your end is coming soon!”
I am giving the command to scatter the people of Israel among all nations. But it will be like someone sifting flour. A person shakes flour through a sifter. The good flour falls through, but the bad lumps are caught.
I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said, “Hit the top of the columns, and shake them to the ground. Push them and they will fall on everyone’s head. As for those who survive, I will kill them with a sword. None of them will run away. None of them will escape.
The Lord GOD used his own name and made an oath. The Lord God All-Powerful said, “I hate what Jacob is proud of. I hate his strong towers. So I will let an enemy take the city and everything in it.”
Samaria must be punished because she turned against her God. The Israelites will be killed with swords. Their children will be torn to pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open.”
“I have separated these men from the people, and I myself will command them. I have gathered these proud, happy soldiers of mine to show how angry I am.
You take unfair taxes from the poor. You take loads of wheat from them. You build fancy houses with cut stone, but you will not live in them. You plant beautiful vineyards, but you will not drink the wine from them.
The people of Edom might say, “We were destroyed, but we will go back and rebuild our cities.” But the Lord All-Powerful says, “If they rebuild their cities, I will destroy them again.” That is why people say Edom is an evil country—a nation the Lord hates forever.