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I saw the Lordstandingbeside the altar, and He said, "Smite the capitals so that the thresholds will shake, And break them on the heads of them all! Then I will slay the rest of them with the sword; They will not have a fugitive who will flee, Or a refugee who will escape.
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"Though they hide on the summit of Carmel, I will search them out and take them from there; And though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea, From there I will command the serpent and it will bite them.
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"And though they go into captivitybefore their enemies, From there I will command the sword that it slay them, And I will set My eyesagainst them for evil and not for good."
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The LordGOD of hosts, The One who touches the land so that it melts, And all those who dwell in it mourn, And all of it rises up like the Nile And subsides like the Nile of Egypt;
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The One who builds His upperchambers in the heavens And has founded His vaulteddomeover the earth, He who calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth, The LORD is His name.
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"Are you not as the sons of Ethiopia to Me, O sons of Israel?" declares the LORD. "Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt, And the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?
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"Behold, the eyes of the LordGOD are on the sinfulkingdom, And I will destroy it from the face of the earth; Nevertheless*, I will not totallydestroy the house of Jacob," Declares the LORD.
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"For behold, I am commanding, And I will shake the house of Israel among allnations As grain is shaken in a sieve, But not a kernel will fall to the ground.
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"In that day I will raise up the fallenbooth of David, And wall up its breaches; I will also raise up its ruins And rebuild it as in the days of old;
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"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "When the plowman will overtake the reaper And the treader of grapes him who sowsseed; When the mountains will dripsweetwine And all the hills will be dissolved.
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"Also I will restore the captivity of My peopleIsrael, And they will rebuild the ruinedcities and live in them; They will also plantvineyards and drink their wine, And makegardens and eat their fruit.