2:1 I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.
2:2 Then the LORD replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.
2:3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.
2:4 “See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright–but the righteous will live by his faith–
2:5 indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples.
2:6 “Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, “‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?’
2:7 Will not your debtors suddenly arise? Will they not wake up and make you tremble? Then you will become their victim.
2:8 Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will plunder you. For you have shed man’s blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
2:9 “Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain to set his nest on high, to escape the clutches of ruin!
2:10 You have plotted the ruin of many peoples, shaming your own house and forfeiting your life.
2:11 The stones of the wall will cry out, and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.
2:12 “Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by crime!
2:13 Has not the LORD Almighty determined that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?
2:14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
2:15 “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies.
2:16 You will be filled with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink and be exposed! The cup from the LORD’S right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.
2:17 The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and your destruction of animals will terrify you. For you have shed man’s blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
2:18 “Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
2:19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’ Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it.
2:20 But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.”
2:1 I will stand at my watch / And station myself on the fortress, / And I will watch to see what He will speak to me / And what I will reply concerning my complaint.
2:2 Then Jehovah answered and said, Write the vision, and render it plainly upon tablets, / That even he who runs by may read it.
2:3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time, / And it hastens toward the end and will not lie. / Though it tarries, wait for it; / For it will surely come; it will not delay.
2:4 See, he who is puffed up, his soul is not upright within him, / But the righteous one will live by his faith. (Five Woes to the Chaldeans)
2:5 Furthermore his wine is treacherous: / A boasting man, he does not abide at home, / He who enlarges his appetite like Sheol, / And is like death and cannot be satisfied, / But gathers to himself all the nations / And collects for himself all the peoples.
2:6 Will not all of these take up a parable against him, / Indeed a mocking song and a riddle against him, and say, / Woe to him who increases what is not his (For how long?) / And who loads himself with the burden of pledges?
2:7 Will not those who bite you rise up suddenly, / And those who shake you awake, / And you will become booty to them?
2:8 Because you have plundered many nations; / All the remnant of the peoples will plunder you, / Because of the bloodshed of men and the violence done to the land, / To the city, and to all the inhabitants in it.
2:9 Woe to him who by violence takes evil gain for his house, / So as to place his nest on high / That he may be delivered from the hand of evil!
2:10 You have devised shame against your own house / By cutting off many peoples, / And have sinned against your own soul.
2:11 For the stone will cry out from the wall, / And the rafter will answer from the timber.
2:12 Woe to him who builds a city by bloodshed / And establishes a town by iniquity!
2:13 Indeed is it not of Jehovah of hosts / That the peoples toil for the fire / And the nations weary themselves for vanity?
2:14 For the earth will be filled / With the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah / As water covers the sea.
2:15 Woe to him who makes his neighbor drink, / Adding in his poison, / And also making him drunk / In order to look at their nakedness!
2:16 You are sated with shame, not glory. / You also, drink and be shown to be uncircumcised! / The cup of Jehovah’s right hand will come around to you, / And disgrace will be upon your glory.
2:17 For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you, / As well as the destruction of the beasts which frightened them, / Because of the bloodshed of men and the violence done to the land, / To the city, and to all the inhabitants in it.
2:18 What profit is the graven idol that its maker should engrave it, / Or the molten idol, even the teacher of lies, / That he who forms its form depends on it / To make dumb idols?
2:19 Woe to him who says to wood, Awake! / And, Arise! to silent stone. / Will it teach him? / Behold, it is set in gold and silver, / And there is no breath at all within it.
2:20 But Jehovah is in His holy temple: / Be silent before Him, all the earth!