5. There will be so many foreigners that they will be like dust. Cruel people will be like the chaff blowing in the wind. Then suddenly,
6. the Lord All-Powerful will punish you with earthquakes, thunder, and loud noises. There will be storms, strong winds, and a burning, destructive fire.
7. Many nations will fight against Ariel. It will be a nightmare. Armies will surround Ariel and punish her.
8. But it will also be like a dream to those armies. They will not get what they want. It will be like a hungry man dreaming about food. When the man wakes up, he is still hungry. It will be like a thirsty man dreaming about water. When the man wakes up, he is still thirsty. The same thing is true about all the nations fighting against Zion. Those nations will not get what they want.
9. Be surprised and amazed! You will become drunk, but not from wine. Look and be amazed! You will stumble and fall, but not from beer.
10. The Lord will make you sleepy. He will close your eyes. (The prophets are your eyes.) He will cover your heads. (The prophets are your heads.)
11. To you my words are like the words in a book that is closed and sealed. You can give the book to someone who can read and tell that person to read it. But that person will say, “I cannot read the book. It is closed and I cannot open it.”
12. Or you can give the book to someone who cannot read and tell that person to read it. That person will say, “I cannot read the book because I don’t know how to read.”
13. The Lord says, “These people come to honor me with words, but I am not really important to them. The worship they give me is nothing but human rules they have memorized.
14. So I will continue to amaze them by doing powerful and amazing things. Their wise men will lose their wisdom. Even the most intelligent among them will not be able to understand.”
15. Look at them! They try to hide things from the Lord. They think he will not understand. They do their evil things in darkness. They tell themselves: “No one can see us. No one will know who we are.”
16. You turn things upside down. You think the clay is equal to the potter. You think that something that is made can tell the one who made it, “You did not make me!” This is like a pot telling its maker, “You know nothing.”
17. This is the truth: After a very short time, Lebanon will become rich farmland, and the farmland will be like thick forests.
18. The deaf will hear the words in the book. The blind will see through the darkness and fog.