8. and sweep into Judah, flooding, overflowing, and reaching up to the neck. But God is with us; the span of his wings will cover the width of the land.
9. Unite yourselves, peoples, and be shattered!Listen, all distant places of the earth!Prepare to be shattered!Prepare to be shattered!
10. Create a plan, but be frustrated!Speak a word, but it won’t stand, for God is with us.
11. The Lord spoke to me, taking hold of me and warning me not to walk in the way of this people:
12. Don’t call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy. Don’t fear what they fear, and don’t be terrified.
13. It is the Lord of heavenly forces whom you should hold sacred, whom you should fear, and whom you should hold in awe.
14. God will become a sanctuary—but he will be a stone to trip over and a rock to stumble on for the two houses of Israel;a trap and a snare for those living in Jerusalem.
15. Many of them will stumble and fall,and be broken, snared, and captured.
16. Bind up the testimony; seal up the teaching among my disciples.
17. I will wait for the Lord, who has hidden his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in God.
18. Look! I and the children the Lord gave me are signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of heavenly forces, who lives on Mount Zion.
19. If they say to you: "Consult the ghosts and the spirits that chirp and mutter. (Shouldn’t a people consult its gods?) Consult the dead on behalf of the living