I will atake my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and blook out to see cwhat he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith
2 And the Lord answered me:
a“Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
3 For still athe vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, bwait for it;
cit will surely come; it will not delay.
4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but athe righteous shall live by his faith.
5 “Moreover, wine is aa traitor,
an arrogant man who is never at rest.
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death bhe has never enough.
cHe gathers for himself all nations
and collects as his own all peoples.”
Woe to the Chaldeans
6 Shall not all these atake up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,
b“Woe to him cwho heaps up what is not his own—
for dhow long?—
and eloads himself with pledges!”
7 aWill not your debtors suddenly arise,
and those awake who will make you tremble?
Then you will be spoil for them.
8 aBecause you have plundered many nations,
all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
bfor the blood of man and aviolence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
9 a“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
bto cset his nest on high,
to be safe from the reach of harm!
10 You have devised shame for your house
aby cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
11 For athe stone will cry out from the wall,
and the beam from the woodwork respond.
12 a“Woe to him bwho builds a town with blood
and founds a city on iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
that apeoples labor merely for fire,
and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14 aFor the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of bthe glory of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
15 a“Woe to him bwho makes his neighbors drink—
you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,
in order to gaze cat their nakedness!
16 You will have your fill aof shame instead of glory.
bDrink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!
bThe cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and cutter shame will come upon your glory!
17 aThe violence bdone to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,
afor the blood of man and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
18 a“What profit is an idol
when its maker has shaped it,
a metal image, ba teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
when he makes cspeechless idols!
19 aWoe to him bwho says to a wooden thing, Awake;
to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
and cthere is no breath at all in it.
20 But athe Lord is in his holy temple;
blet all the earth keep silence before him.”