“Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do wickedness, from the Almighty to do evil.

So my heart rejoices and I am happy; My life is safe.

When the Lord heard this, he was furious. A fire broke out against Jacob, and his anger flared up against Israel,

Therefore, the sovereign Lord who commands armies, the powerful ruler of Israel, says this: “Ah, I will seek vengeance against my adversaries, I will take revenge against my enemies.

Therefore my people will be deported because of their lack of understanding. Their leaders will have nothing to eat, their masses will have nothing to drink.

So Moab wails over its demise – they all wail! Completely devastated, they moan about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.

Therefore, listen to the Lord’s word, you who mock, you rulers of these people who reside in Jerusalem!

Egypt is totally incapable of helping. For this reason I call her ‘Proud one who is silenced.’”

“So, once more I will state my case against you,” says the Lord. “I will also state it against your children and grandchildren.

“My, how good you have become at chasing after your lovers! Why, you could even teach prostitutes a thing or two!

So I, the Lord, affirm that I am opposed to those prophets who steal messages from one another that they claim are from me.

“Therefore, the Lord who rules over all says, ‘You have not listened to what I said.

So her young men will fall in her city squares. All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,” says the Lord.

Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians for whom she lusted.

“‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the city of bloodshed! I will also make the pile high.

“‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you think you are godlike,

However, in the future I will allure her; I will lead her back into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.

Therefore they will disappear like the morning mist, like early morning dew that evaporates, like chaff that is blown away from a threshing floor, like smoke that disappears through an open window.

For this reason whoever is smart keeps quiet in such a time, for it is an evil time.

Therefore you will have to say farewell to Moresheth Gath. The residents of Achzib will be as disappointing as a dried up well to the kings of Israel.