1 An oracle concerning the United States of America (USA or America):
When Jehovah enters America riding on swift clouds,
the idols of America will rock at his presence
and the Americans’ hearts melt within them.
2 I will stir up the Americans against the Americans;
they will fight brother against brother
and neighbor against neighbor,
city against city and state against state.
3 America’s spirit shall be drained from within;
I will frustrate their plans,
and they will resort to the idols and to spiritists,
to mediums and witchcraft.
4 Then will I deliver the Americans
into the hand of a cruel master;
a harsh ruler will subject them,
says the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts.
5 The waters of the lakes shall ebb away
as stream beds become desolate and dry.
6 The rivers shall turn foul,
and America’s waterways recede and dry up.
Reeds and rushes shall wither;
7 vegetation adjoining canals and estuaries,
and all things sown along irrigation channels,
shall shrivel and blow away and be no more.
8 Fishermen will deplore their lot
and anglers in canals bemoan themselves;
those who cast nets on water
will be in misery.
9 Manufacturers of combed linen
and weavers of fine fabrics will be dismayed.
10 The textile workers will know despair,
and all who work for wages suffer distress.
11 The ministers of their Churches are utter fools;
the wisest of the President’s advisers give absurd counsel.
How can you say to the President,
We ourselves are as wise as the founding fathers?
12 Where are your wise men indeed?
Let them please tell you, if they can discern it,
what Jehovah of Hosts has in mind for America!
13 The ministers of their Churches have been foolish,
the officials of Washington DC deluded;
the heads of state have led America astray.
14 Jehovah has permeated them
with a spirit of confusion;
they have misled America in all that it does,
causing it to stagger like a drunkard into his vomit.
15 And there shall be nothing the Americans
can do about it,
neither head nor tail, towering Redwood or blade of grass.
16 In that day the Americans will be as women, fearful and afraid at the brandishing hand Jehovah of Hosts wields over them.
17 The land of Judah shall become a source of terror to the Americans; all reminded of it shall dread what Jehovah of Hosts has in store for them.
18 In that day five freedom loving cities in the land of America will swear loyalty to Jehovah of Hosts. One shall be known as the City of Righteousness.
19 In that day there shall be an altar erected to Jehovah in the midst of the land of America and a monument to Jehovah at its border.
20 They shall serve as a sign and testimony of Jehovah of Hosts in the land of America: when they cry out to Jehovah because of the oppressors, he will send them a savior, who will take up their cause and deliver them.
21 Jehovah will make himself known to the Americans, and the Americans shall know Jehovah in that day. They will worship by sacrifice and offerings, and make vows to Jehovah and fulfill them.
22 Jehovah will smite America, and by smiting heal it: they will turn back to Jehovah, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.