3. The pride of those drunken leaders will be trampled underfoot.
4. The fading glory of those proud leaders will disappear like the first figs of the season, picked and eaten as soon as they are ripe.
5. A day is coming when the Lord Almighty will be like a glorious crown of flowers for his people who survive.
6. He will give a sense of justice to those who serve as judges, and courage to those who defend the city gates from attack.
7. Even the prophets and the priests are so drunk that they stagger. They have drunk so much wine and liquor that they stumble in confusion. The prophets are too drunk to understand the visions that God sends, and the priests are too drunk to decide the cases that are brought to them.
8. The tables where they sit are all covered with vomit, and not a clean spot is left.
9. They complain about me. They say, “Who does that man think he's teaching? Who needs his message? It's only good for babies that have just been weaned!
10. He is trying to teach us letter by letter, line by line, lesson by lesson.”
11. If you won't listen to me, then God will use foreigners speaking some strange-sounding language to teach you a lesson.
12. He offered rest and comfort to all of you, but you refused to listen to him.
13. That is why the Lord is going to teach you letter by letter, line by line, lesson by lesson. Then you will stumble with every step you take. You will be wounded, trapped, and taken prisoner.
14. Now you arrogant ones who rule here in Jerusalem over this people, listen to what the Lord is saying.
15. You boast that you have made a treaty with death and reached an agreement with the world of the dead. You are certain that disaster will spare you when it comes, because you depend on lies and deceit to keep you safe.
16. This, now, is what the Sovereign Lord says: “I am placing in Zion a foundation that is firm and strong. In it I am putting a solid cornerstone on which are written the words, ‘Faith that is firm is also patient.’