"Mortal man," he said, "now that those Israelite rebels are asking you what you're doing,

Tell them that what you have done is a sign of what will happen to them---they will be refugees and captives.

But I protested, "Sovereign LORD, don't make me do it! Everyone is already complaining that I always speak in riddles."

The people asked me, "Why are you acting like this?"

One disaster will follow another, and a steady stream of bad news will pour in. You will beg the prophets to reveal what they foresee. The priests will have nothing to teach the people, and the elders will have no advice to give.

So I, the LORD God of Israel, will bring such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about it will be stunned.

When word reached the king of Judah that the armies of Syria were already in the territory of Israel, he and all his people were so terrified that they trembled like trees shaking in the wind.

It will strike you again and again, morning after morning. You will have to bear it day and night. Each new message from God will bring new terror!

The LORD says, "People are coming from a country in the north; a mighty nation far away is preparing for war.

"We have heard the news," say the people of Jerusalem, "and our hands hang limp; we are seized by anguish and pain like a woman in labor.

This is what the LORD said about Damascus: "The people in the cities of Hamath and Arpad are worried and troubled because they have heard bad news. Anxiety rolls over them like a sea, and they cannot rest.

The leaders of Edom are terrified; Moab's mighty men are trembling; the people of Canaan lose their courage.

"The officers will also say to the men, 'Is there any man here who has lost his nerve and is afraid? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, he will destroy the morale of the others.'

and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given you this land. Everyone in the country is terrified of you.

We were afraid as soon as we heard about it; we have all lost our courage because of you. The LORD your God is God in heaven above and here on earth.

All the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the Mediterranean Sea heard that the LORD had dried up the Jordan until the people of Israel had crossed it. They became afraid and lost their courage because of the Israelites.

Then even the bravest men, as fearless as lions, will be afraid because everyone in Israel knows that your father is a great soldier and that his men are hard fighters.

Nineveh is destroyed, deserted, desolate! Hearts melt with fear; knees tremble, strength is gone; faces grow pale.

You have taught many people and given strength to feeble hands.

When someone stumbled, weak and tired, your words encouraged him to stand.

Give strength to hands that are tired and to knees that tremble with weakness.

The king of Babylonia hears the news, and his hands hang limp. He is seized by anguish, by pain like a woman in labor.

People will faint from fear as they wait for what is coming over the whole earth, for the powers in space will be driven from their courses.

Lift up your tired hands, then, and strengthen your trembling knees!

"I will make those of you who are in exile so terrified that the sound of a leaf blowing in the wind will make you run. You will run as if you were being pursued in battle, and you will fall when there is no enemy near you.

Everyone's hands will hang limp, and everyone's courage will fail.

My sorrow cannot be healed; I am sick at heart.

We are sick at our very hearts and can hardly see through our tears,

Everyone's hands will be weak, and their knees will shake.

"Mortal man," he said, "this is what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to the land of Israel: This is the end for the whole land!

I will not spare you or show you any mercy. I am going to punish you for the disgusting things you have done, so that you will know that I am the LORD."

It's all over. This is the end. You are finished.

"Very soon now you will feel all the force of my anger. I am judging you for what you have done, and I will pay you back for all your disgusting conduct.

The day of disaster is coming. Violence is flourishing. Pride is at its height.

The time is coming. The day is near when buying and selling will have no more meaning, because God's punishment will fall on everyone alike.

"Mortal man," he said, "why do the people of Israel repeat this proverb: 'Time goes by, and predictions come to nothing'?

"Among the people of Israel there will be no more false visions or misleading prophecies.

The LORD said to me,

So tell them that I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying: There will be no more delay. What I have said will be done. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!"

The end of all things is near. You must be self-controlled and alert, to be able to pray.