The Beloved to Her Lover: “I have already taken off my robe – must I put it on again? I have already washed my feet – must I soil them again?”

Babylon hammered the whole world to pieces. But see how that ‘hammer’ has been broken and shattered! See what an object of horror Babylon has become among the nations!

“See how Babylon has been captured! See how the pride of the whole earth has been taken! See what an object of horror Babylon has become among the nations!

But how can I alone bear up under the burden of your hardship and strife?

How the warriors have fallen! The weapons of war are destroyed!

So how can you console me with your futile words? Nothing is left of your answers but deception!”

How the people of Esau will be thoroughly plundered! Their hidden valuables will be ransacked!

For how can I watch the calamity that will befall my people, and how can I watch the destruction of my relatives?”

The Beloved to Her Lover: Tell me, O you whom my heart loves, where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you rest your sheep during the midday heat? Tell me lest I wander around beside the flocks of your companions!

The Lord answered, “If you have raced on foot against men and they have worn you out, how will you be able to compete with horses? And if you feel secure only in safe and open country, how will you manage in the thick undergrowth along the Jordan River?

Oh, how shattered Moab will be! Oh, how her people will wail! Oh, how she will turn away in shame! Moab will become an object of ridicule, a terrifying sight to all the nations that surround her.”

How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? I have had a change of heart! All my tender compassions are aroused!

The beauty of Israel lies slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen!

They say, “How does God know what we do? Is the sovereign one aware of what goes on?”

How desolate they become in a mere moment! Terrifying judgments make their demise complete!

How can we sing a song to the Lord in a foreign land?

And you will say, “How I hated discipline! My heart spurned reproof!

How can you men of Moab say, ‘We are heroes, men who are mighty in battle?’

How deserted will that once-famous city be, that city that was once filled with joy!

But Moses said before the Lord, “Since I speak with difficulty, why should Pharaoh listen to me?”