For it is a day of trouble and of treading down and of perplexity by the Lord God of Hosts in the Valley of Vision, a breaking down of the walls and a crying to the mountains.
They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of distress, chastisement, and disgrace, for children have come to the mouth of the womb, but there is no strength to birth them.
The couriers went out, being hastened by the king’s command. At the citadel of Susa, when the decree was issued, the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in uproar.
I will send him against an ungodly nation, and against the people of My wrath I will give him a command, to seize the plunder, to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
For in this mountain the hand of the Lord shall rest, and Moab shall be trodden down in his place as straw is trodden down in the water for the manure pile.
They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy, for children have come to birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth.
So now I will tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be consumed; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trodden down.
“I have trodden the winepress alone; and from the peoples there was no one with Me. For I will tread them in My anger, and trample them in My fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon My garments, and I will stain all My raiment.
Her adversaries have become her masters, her enemies prosper; for the Lord has afflicted her because of the multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy.
The Lord has swallowed up without mercy all the habitations of Jacob; in His wrath He has thrown down the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He has brought them down to the ground; He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.
The Lord has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out a line; He has not withdrawn His hand from destroying; therefore He caused the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.
The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. Thorn and thistle will grow on their altars. They will say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall on us.
The best among them is like a brier, the most upright among them a bramble; the day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand.