4 Even if their enemies drive them into exile,I will command the sword to kill them there.I am determined to bring disaster upon themand not to help them.”
5 The Lord, the lord of Heaven’s Armies,touches the land and it melts,and all its people mourn.The ground rises like the Nile River at floodtime,and then it sinks again.
6 The lord’s home reaches up to the heavens,while its foundation is on the earth.He draws up water from the oceansand pours it down as rain on the land.The lord is his name!
7 “Are you Israelites more important to methan the Ethiopians?” asks the lord.“I brought Israel out of Egypt,but I also brought the Philistines from Creteand led the Arameans out of Kir.
8 “I, the Sovereign lord,am watching this sinful nation of Israel.I will destroy itfrom the face of the earth.But I will never completely destroy the family of Israel,”says the lord.
9 “For I will give the commandand will shake Israel along with the other nationsas grain is shaken in a sieve,yet not one true kernel will be lost.
10 But all the sinners will die by the sword—all those who say, ‘Nothing bad will happen to us.’