The Lord says, "I helped people who had not come to me for advice. Those who found me were not looking for me. I spoke to a nation that does not use my name. I said, 'Here I am! Here I am!'
"Look, here is a letter that lists all your sins. It is a bill that must be paid. I will not be quiet until I pay this bill, and I will pay it by punishing you.
I am doing this because of your sins and the sins of your ancestors. They did these sins when they burned incense in the mountains. They shamed me on those hills, and I punished them first."
The Lord says, "When there is new wine in the grapes, people squeeze out the wine. But they don't completely destroy the grapes because the grapes can still be used. I will do the same thing to my servants. I will not destroy them completely.
I will keep some of the people of Jacob. Some of the people of Judah will get my mountains. I will choose the people who will get the land. My servants will live there.
Then Sharon Valley will be a field for sheep. The Valley of Achor will be a place for cattle to rest. All this will be for my people—for the people who come to me for help.
"But you people left the Lord, so you will be punished. You forgot about my holy mountain. You began to worship Luck. You held feasts for the false god, Fate.
But I decided what would happen to you: you will be killed with a sword. You will all be killed because I called to you, but you refused to answer me. I spoke to you, but you would not listen. You did what I said is evil and chose to do what I did not like."
So this is what the Lord God says: "My servants will eat, but you evil people will be hungry. My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. My servants will be happy, but you will suffer shame.
The Lord says, "People now ask blessings from the earth. But in the future, they will ask blessings from the faithful God. People now trust in the power of the earth when they make a promise. But in the future they will trust in the God who is faithful. That's because the troubles in the past will all be forgotten. They will be hidden from my sight."
My people will be happy and rejoice forever and ever because of what I will make. I will make a Jerusalem that is full of joy, and I will make her people happy.
In that city there will never be a baby who lives only a few days, and every older person will live for a long, long time. A person who lives 100 years will be called young. And whoever doesn't live that long will be considered cursed.
Never again will one person build a house and someone else live in it. Never again will one person plant a garden and another eat the fruit from it. My people will live as long as the trees. My chosen people will get full use of whatever they make.
Wolves and little lambs will eat together. Lions will eat hay like cattle, and snakes will eat only dust. They will not hurt or destroy each other on my holy mountain." This is what the Lord said.