<p class="poetry">Tell the innocent<n id="1" /> it will go well with them,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">for they will be rewarded for what they have done.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Yes, your land lies in ruins;p> <p class="poetry">it is desolate and devastated.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">But now you will be too small to hold your residents,p> <p class="poetry">and those who devoured you will be far away.p>

<p class="poetry">You will be reestablished when I vindicate you.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">You will not experience oppression;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">indeed, you will not be afraid.p> <p class="poetry">You will not be terrified,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">for nothing frightening<n id="4" /> will come near you.p>

<p class="poetry">For you are aware of our many rebellious deeds,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and our sins testify against us;p> <p class="poetry">indeed, we are aware of our rebellious deeds;p> <p class="poetry">we know our sins all too well.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Indeed,<n id="1" /> he says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Are not my officials all kings?p>

<p class="poetry">Wail, you large ships,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">for your fortress is destroyed!p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Indeed, O <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="1" /> you have abandoned your people,p> <p class="poetry">the descendants of Jacob.p> <p class="poetry">For diviners from the east are everywhere;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">they consult omen readers like the Philistines do.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Plenty of foreigners are around.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Jerusalem certainly stumbles,p> <p class="poetry">Judah falls,p> <p class="poetry">for their words and their actions offend the <sc>Lordsc>;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">they rebel against his royal authority.<n id="2" />p>

For he says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;By my strong hand I have accomplished this,p> <p class="poetry">by my strategy that I devised.p> <p class="poetry">I invaded the territory of nations,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and looted their storehouses.p> <p class="poetry">Like a mighty conqueror,<n id="2" /> I brought down rulers.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Don&#8217;t be so happy, all you Philistines,p> <p class="poetry">just because the club that beat you has been broken!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For a viper will grow out of the serpent&#8217;s root,p> <p class="poetry">and its fruit will be a darting adder.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Here is a message about Moab:p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, in a night it is devastated,p> <p class="poetry">Ar of Moab is destroyed!p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, in a night it is devastated,p> <p class="poetry">Kir of Moab is destroyed!p>

<p class="poetry">For the waters of Nimrim are gone;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the grass is dried up,p> <p class="poetry">the vegetation has disappeared,p> <p class="poetry">and there are no plants.p>

<p class="poetry">Indeed, the waters of Dimon<n id="1" /> are full of blood!p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, I will heap even more trouble on Dimon.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">A lion will attack<n id="3" /> the Moabite fugitivesp> <p class="poetry">and the people left in the land.p>

<p class="poetry">When the Moabites plead with all their might at their high places,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and enter their temples to pray, their prayers will be ineffective!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">For you are a protector for the poor,p> <p class="poetry">a protector for the needy in their distress,p> <p class="poetry">a shelter from the rainstorm,p> <p class="poetry">a shade from the heat.p> <p class="poetry">Though the breath of tyrants<n id="1" /> is like a winter rainstorm,<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Certainly<n id="1" /> caraway seed is not threshed with a sledge,p> <p class="poetry">nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin seed.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Certainly caraway seed is beaten with a stick,p> <p class="poetry">and cumin seed with a flail.p>

<p class="poetry">You<n id="1" /> will hear a word spoken behind you, saying,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;This is the correct<n id="2" /> way, walk in it,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">whether you are heading to the right or the left.p>

<p class="bodytext">When the chief adviser heard the king of Assyria had departed from Lachish, he left and went to Libnah, where the king was campaigning.<n id="1" />

They have burned the gods of the nations,<n id="1" /> for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them.<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">Don&#8217;t be afraid, for I am with you!p> <p class="poetry">Don&#8217;t be frightened, for I am your God!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I strengthen you &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">yes, I help you &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand!<n id="2" />p>