1   Proclaim to my people the words of prophecy which I give you to speak, says the Lord; 2   and have them written down, because they are trustworthy and true. 3   Have no fear of plots against you, and do not be troubled by the unbelief of those who oppose you. 4   For everyone who does not believe will die because of his unbelief. ^note

5   Beware, says the Lord, I am letting loose terrible evils on the world, 6   sword and famine, death and destruction, because wickedness has spread over the whole earth and there is no room for further deeds of violence. 7    8   Therefore the Lord says, I will not keep silence about their godless sins; I will not tolerate their wicked deeds. See how the blood of innocent victims cries to me for vengeance, and the souls of the just never cease to plead with me! 9   I will most surely avenge them, says the Lord, and will hear the plea of all the innocent blood that has been shed. 10   My people are being led to the slaughter like sheep. 11   I will no longer allow them to remain in Egypt, but will use all my power to rescue them; I will strike the Egyptians with plagues, as I did before, and destroy their whole land. 12   How Egypt will mourn, shaken to its very foundations, when it is scourged and chastised by the Lord! 13   How the tillers of the soil will mourn, when the seed fails to grow, and when their trees are devastated by blight and hail and terrible storm! ^note 14   Alas for the world and its inhabitants! 15   The sword that will destroy them is not far away. Nation will draw sword against nation and go to war. 16   Stable government will be at an end; one faction will prevail over another, caring nothing in their

Prophecies of doom day of power for king or leading man of rank. 17   A man may want to visit a city, but will not be able to do so; 18   for ambition and rivalry will have reduced cities to chaos, destroyed houses, and filled men with panic. 19   A man will violently assault his neighbour's house and plunder his goods; no pity will restrain him, when he is in the grip of famine and grinding misery.

20   See how I summon before me all the kings of the earth, says God, from sunrise and south wind, from east and south, ^note to turn back and repay what they have been given. 21   I will do to them as they are doing to my chosen people even to this day; I will pay them back in their own coin.

22   These are the words of the Lord God: I will show sinners no pity; the sword will not spare those murderers who stain the ground with innocent blood. 23   The Lord's anger has overflowed in fire to scorch the earth to its foundations and consume sinners like burning straw. 24    25   Alas for sinners who flout my commands! says the Lord; I will show them no mercy. Away from me, you rebels! Do not bring your pollution near my holiness. 26   The Lord well knows all who sin against him, and has consigned them to death and destruction. 27   Already disaster has fallen upon the world, and you will never escape it; God will refuse to rescue you, because you have sinned against him.

28    29   How terrible the sight of what is coming from the east! Hordes of dragons from Arabia will sally forth with countless chariots, and from the first day of their advance their hissing will spread across the land, to fill all who hear them with fear and consternation. 30   The Carmanians, mad with rage, will rush like wild boars out of the forest, advancing in full force to join battle with them, and will devastate whole tracts of Assyria with their tusks. 31   But then the dragons will summon up their native fury, and will prove the stronger. They will rally and join forces, and fall on them with overwhelming might until they are routed, 32   until their power is silenced, and every one of them turns to flight. 33   Then their way will be blocked by a lurking enemy from Assyria, who will destroy one of them. Fear and panic will spread in their army, and wavering among their kings.

34   See the clouds stretching from east and north to south! Their appearance is hideous, full of fury and tempest. 35   They will clash together, they will pour over the land a vast storm; ^note blood, shed by the sword, 36   will reach as high as a horse's belly, a man's thigh, or a

Prophecies of doom camel's hock. 37   Terror and trembling will cover the earth; all who see the raging fury will shudder and be stricken with panic. 38   Then vast storm-clouds will approach from north and south, and others from the west. 39   But the winds from the east will be stronger still, and will hold in check the raging cloud and its leader; and the storm ^note which was bent on destruction will be fiercely driven back to the south and west by the winds from the east. 40   Huge mighty clouds, full of fury, will mount up and ravage the whole land and its inhabitants; a terrible storm ^note will sweep over the great and the powerful, 41   with fire and hail and flying swords; and a deluge of water will flood all the fields and rivers. 42   They will flatten to the ground cities and walls, mountains and hills, trees in the woods and crops in the fields. 43   They will advance all the way to Babylon, and blot it out. 44   When they reach it, they will surround it, and let loose a storm ^note in all its fury. The dust and smoke will reach the sky, and all her neighbours will mourn for Babylon. 45   Any of her survivors will be enslaved by her destroyers.

46   And you, Asia, who have shared the beauty and the splendour of Babylon, alas for you, poor wretch! 47   Like her you have dressed up your daughters as whores, to attract and catch your lovers who have always lusted for you. 48   You have copied all the schemes and practices of that vile harlot. 49   Therefore God says, I will bring upon you terrible evils: widowhood and poverty, famine, sword, and plague, bringing ruin to your homes, bringing violence and death. 50   Your strength and splendour will wither like a flower, when that scorching heat bears down upon you. 51   Then you will be a poor weak woman, bruised, beaten, and wounded, unable to receive your wealthy lovers any more. 52    53   Should I be so fierce with you, says the Lord, if you had not killed my chosen ones continually, gloating over the blows you struck them, and hurling your drunken taunts at their corpses?

54    55   Paint your face; make yourself beautiful! The harlot's pay shall be yours; you will get what you have earned. 56   What you do to my chosen people, God will do to you, says the Lord; he will consign you to a terrible fate. 57   Your children will die of hunger; you will fall by the sword, your cities will be blotted out, and all your people will fall on the field of battle. 58   Those who are up on the mountains will be dying of hunger, and their hunger and thirst will force them to gnaw their own flesh and drink their own blood. 59   You will be foremost in misery, and still there will be more to come. 60   As the victors go past on their

Prophecies of doom way home from the sack of Babylon, they will smash your peaceful city, destroy a great part of your territory, and bring much of your splendour to an end. 61   They will destroy you—you will be stubble, and they the fire. 62   They will completely devour you and your cities, your land and your mountains, and will burn all your forests and your fruit-trees. 63   They will make your children prisoners and plunder your property; and not a trace will be left of your splendid beauty.

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