<p class="poetry">The people I call my own<n id="1" /> have turned on mep> <p class="poetry">like a lion<n id="2" /> in the forest.p> <p class="poetry">They have roared defiantly<n id="3" /> at me.p> <p class="poetry">So I will treat them as though I hate them.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">But I will punish you as your deeds deserve,&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;I will set fire to your palace;p> <p class="poetry">it will burn up everything around it.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">For the religion<n id="1" /> of these people is worthless.p> <p class="poetry">They cut down a tree in the forest,p> <p class="poetry">and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">The population of Egypt is like a vast, impenetrable forest.p> <p class="poetry">But I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm<n id="1" /> that the enemy will cut them down.p> <p class="poetry">For those who chop them down will be more numerous than locusts.p> <p class="poetry">They will be too numerous to count.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them.p> <p class="poetry">Like a wolf from the desert they will destroy them.p> <p class="poetry">Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their citiesp> <p class="poetry">and totally destroy anyone who ventures out.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For they have rebelled so muchp> <p class="poetry">and done so many unfaithful things.<n id="2" />p>

&#8220;Micah from Moresheth<n id="1" /> prophesied during the time Hezekiah was king of Judah.<n id="2" /> He told all the people of Judah,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all<n id="3" /> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Zion<n id="4" /> will become a plowed field.p> <p class="poetry">Jerusalem<n id="5" /> will become a pile of rubble.p> <p class="poetry">The temple mount will become a mere wooded ridge.&#8221;&#8217;<n id="6" />p>