Therefore, listen to the word of YAHWEH,
you scornful jesters—rulers of Jerusalem.
For you have said,
“We have made a covenant with death
and a pact with the underworld,
so when the overwhelming scourge sweeps over us,
it will not harm us.
For we have made lies our refuge
and found our shelter in falsehood.”
Here’s what the Lord God says:
“Behold, I set in place in Zion a Foundation Stone,
fully tested and proven to be faithful and secure.
And written upon this precious cornerstone is this:
‘Those who trust in him will not act in haste.’
I will set justice as the true measurement
and integrity as its plumb line.
My hailstorm will sweep away your refuge of lies,
and my floodwaters will overwhelm your hiding place.
Then your covenant with death will be annulled
and your pact with the underworld will not stand.
And when the overwhelming scourge sweeps over you,
it will sweep you away!
As often as disaster passes by, it will carry you away;
morning by morning, day after day, it will sweep you away!”
When you fully understand this message,
it will bring nothing but terror to you!
Your bed is too short to stretch yourself out on,
and your covering is too narrow to wrap yourself in.
The Lord YAHWEH will suddenly arise
as on Mount Perazim and in the valley of Gibeon.
He arises to accomplish his strange work—peculiar as it is—
his strange work of judgment.
So do not mock, or your bonds will grow tighter.
For I have heard the decree from my Lord YAHWEH,
Commander of Angel Armies.
He spoke a decree of destruction against the whole land.
Hear my voice, listen to my words,
and pay close attention to my parable.
Does a farmer plow continually at planting time
and never plant a crop?
Does he continually break open the clods of the ground
and never sow his seed?
Once he has leveled its surface, does he not sow dill and cumin,
planting his wheat in rows, his barley in its proper place,
and his rye in a patch?
Yes, his God has instructed him
and taught him the right way of farming the land.
Dill, a small seed, is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
nor is a wagon wheel rolled over cumin.
Dill is beaten with a rod and cumin with a stick.
Grain is crushed and milled for bread,
but it is not threshed endlessly.
One drives the wagon’s wheels over it,
but his horses’ hooves do not pulverize it.
This counsel also comes from Lord YAHWEH,
Commander of Angel Armies.
For his guidance is unfathomable,
and the heavenly wisdom he imparts is magnificent.
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