<p class="poetry">Disaster is within it;p> <p class="poetry">violence<n id="1" /> and deceit do not depart from its public square.p>

<p class="lamhebrew">&#1502; (<i>Memi>)p> <p class="poetry">But it happened<n id="1" /> due to the sins of her prophets<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and the iniquities of her priests,p> <p class="poetry">who poured out in her midstp> <p class="poetry">the blood of the righteous.p>

So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking,<n id="1" /> &#8220;After I am worn out will I have pleasure,<n id="2" /> especially when my husband is old too?&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">God lives within it,<n id="1" /> it cannot be moved.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">God rescues it<n id="3" /> at the break of dawn.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Day and night they walk around on its walls,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">while wickedness and destruction<n id="2" /> are within it.p>

Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey &#8211; shedding blood and destroying lives &#8211; so they can get dishonest profit.

<p class="poetry">Her princes<n id="1" /> are as fierce as roaring lions;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">her rulers<n id="3" /> are as hungry as wolves in the desert,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">who completely devour their prey by morning.<n id="5" />p>

What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare<n id="1" /> the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it?

But the children struggled<n id="1" /> inside her, and she said, &#8220;If it is going to be like this, I&#8217;m not so sure I want to be pregnant!&#8221;<n id="2" /> So she asked the <sc>Lord,sc><n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> has made them undiscerning;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">they lead Egypt astray in all she does,p> <p class="poetry">so that she is like a drunk sliding around in his own vomit.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">All of this is because<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all<n id="2" /> has said:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Cut down the trees around Jerusalemp> <p class="poetry">and build up a siege ramp against its walls.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">This is the city which is to be punished.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Nothing but oppression happens in it.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">The just <sc>Lordsc> resides<n id="1" /> within her;p> <p class="poetry">he commits no unjust acts.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Every morning he reveals<n id="3" /> his justice.p> <p class="poetry">At dawn he appears without fail.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Yet the unjust know no shame.p>

<p class="bodytext">So the five men journeyed on<n id="1" /> and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there<n id="2" /> were living securely, like the Sidonians do,<n id="3" /> undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way.<n id="4" /> They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.<n id="5" />

<p class="poetry">Even her mercenaries<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">will prove to be like pampered,<n id="2" /> well-fed calves.p> <p class="poetry">For they too will turn and run away.p> <p class="poetry">They will not stand their groundp> <p class="poetry">when<n id="3" /> the time for them to be destroyed comes,p> <p class="poetry">the time for them to be punished.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Make this announcement in<n id="1" /> the fortresses of Ashdodp> <p class="poetry">and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt.p> <p class="poetry">Say this:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Gather on the hills around Samaria!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Observe the many acts of violence<n id="3" /> taking place within the city,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">the oppressive deeds<n id="5" /> occurring in it.&#8221;<n id="6" />p>