The Cup of the Lord's Wrath
15 Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me:
1"Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.
16
They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of
2the sword that I am sending among them."
17
So I took the cup from the LORD's hand,
3and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it:
18
4Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials,
5to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day;
19
6Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people,
20
and
7all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of
8the land of Uz and all the kings of
9the land of the Philistines (
10Ashkelon,
11Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of
12Ashdod);
21
13Edom,
14Moab, and the sons of
15Ammon;
22
all the kings of
16Tyre, all the kings of
17Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across
18the sea;
23
19Dedan,
20Tema,
21Buz, and all who cut
22the corners of their hair;
24
all the
23kings of Arabia and all the kings of
24the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert;
25
all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of
25Elam, and all the kings of
26Media;
26
all the kings of
27the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of
28Babylon shall drink.
27
"Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
29Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of
30the sword that I am sending among you.'
28
"And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts:
31You must drink!
29
For behold,
32I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished,
33for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts.'
30
"You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:
34"'The LORD will roar from on high, and from his holy habitation utter his voice; he will roar mightily against his fold,
35and shout, like those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31
The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth, for
36the LORD has an indictment against the nations;
37he is entering into judgment with all flesh, and the wicked he will put to the sword, declares the LORD.'
32
"Thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, disaster is going forth from nation to nation,
38and a great tempest is stirring
39from the farthest parts of the earth!
33
40"And those pierced by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other.
41They shall not be lamented,
42or gathered, or buried;
43they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.
34
44"Wail,
45you shepherds, and cry out,
46and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock, for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come, and you shall fall like a choice vessel.
35
No refuge will remain
47for the shepherds, nor escape for the lords of the flock.
36
A voice--the cry
48of the shepherds,
49and the wail of the lords of the flock! For the LORD is laying waste their pasture,
37
50and the peaceful folds are devastated
51because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
38
Like a lion
52he has left his lair, for their land has become a waste because of
53the sword of the oppressor,
54and because of his fierce anger."