1. Doom to you, Destroyer,not yet destroyed;And doom to you, Betrayer,not yet betrayed.When you finish destroying,your turn will come—destroyed!When you quit betraying,your turn will come—betrayed!
10-12. “Now I’m stepping in,” God says.“From now on, I’m taking over.The gloves come off. Now see how mighty I am.There’s nothing to you.Pregnant with chaff, you produce straw babies;full of hot air, you self-destruct.You’re good for nothing but fertilizer and fuel.Earth to earth—and the sooner the better.
13-14. “If you’re far away,get the reports on what I’ve done,And if you’re in the neighborhood,pay attention to my record.The sinners in Zion are rightly terrified;the godless are at their wit’s end:‘Who among us can survive this firestorm?Who of us can get out of this purge with our lives?’”
15-16. The answer’s simple:Live right,speak the truth,despise exploitation,refuse bribes,reject violence,avoid evil amusements.This is how you raise your standard of living!A safe and stable way to live.A nourishing, satisfying way to live.
17-19. Oh, you’ll see the king—a beautiful sight!And you’ll take in the wide vistas of land.In your mind you’ll go over the old terrors:“What happened to that Assyrian inspector who condemned and confiscated?And the one who gouged us of taxes?And that cheating moneychanger?”Gone! Out of sight forever! Their insolencenothing now but a fading stain on the carpet!No more putting up with a language you can’t understand,no more sounds of gibberish in your ears.