<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel who rules over all<n id="1" /> spoke about Moab.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Sure to be judged is Nebo! Indeed,<n id="3" /> it will be destroyed!p> <p class="poetry">Kiriathaim<n id="4" /> will suffer disgrace. It will be captured!p> <p class="poetry">Its fortress<n id="5" /> will suffer disgrace. It will be torn down!<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">The destroyer will come against every town.p> <p class="poetry">Not one town will escape.p> <p class="poetry">The towns in the valley will be destroyed.p> <p class="poetry">The cities on the high plain will be laid waste.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, have spoken!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">But the time is coming when I will sendp> <p class="poetry">men against Moab who will empty it out.p> <p class="poetry">They will empty the towns of their people,p> <p class="poetry">then will lay those towns in ruins.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Moab will be destroyed. Its towns will be invaded.p> <p class="poetry">Its finest young men will be slaughtered.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I, the King, the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all,<n id="2" /> affirm it!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">On all the housetops in Moabp> <p class="poetry">and in all its public squaresp> <p class="poetry">there will be nothing but mourning.p> <p class="poetry">For I will break Moab like an unwanted jar.p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="1" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all<n id="1" /> spoke about Edom.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Is wisdom no longer to be found in Teman?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Can Edom&#8217;s counselors not give her any good advice?<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Has all of their wisdom turned bad?<n id="5" />p>

For I solemnly swear,&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>, &#8220;that Bozrah<n id="2" /> will become a pile of ruins. It will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example to be used in curses.<n id="3" /> All the towns around it will lie in ruins forever.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">Edom will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrahp> <p class="poetry">and the towns that were around them.p> <p class="poetry">No one will live there.p> <p class="poetry">No human being will settle in it,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="poetry">For her young men will fall in her city squares.p> <p class="poetry">All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Army of Babylon,<n id="2" /> go and attackp> <p class="poetry">a nation that lives in peace and security.p> <p class="poetry">They have no gates or walls to protect them.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">They live all alone.p>

<p class="poetry">Their camels will be taken as plunder.p> <p class="poetry">Their vast herds will be taken as spoil.p> <p class="poetry">I will scatter to the four windsp> <p class="poetry">those desert peoples who cut their hair short at the temples.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will bring disaster against themp> <p class="poetry">from every direction,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Early in the reign<n id="1" /> of King Zedekiah of Judah, the <sc>Lordsc> spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">They will ask the way to Zion;p> <p class="poetry">they will turn their faces toward it.p> <p class="poetry">They will come<n id="1" /> and bind themselves to the <sc>Lordsc>p> <p class="poetry">in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">After I vent my wrath on it Babylon will be uninhabited.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">It will be totally desolate.p> <p class="poetry">All who pass by will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scornp> <p class="poetry">because of all the disasters that have happened to it.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Take up your battle positions all around Babylon,p> <p class="poetry">all you soldiers who are armed with bows.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Shoot<n id="2" /> all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For she has sinned against the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Attack<n id="2" /> the land of Merathaimp> <p class="poetry">and the people who live in Pekod!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them!<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Do just as I have commanded you!<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">I set a trap for you, Babylon;p> <p class="poetry">you were caught before you knew it.p> <p class="poetry">You fought against me.p> <p class="poetry">So you were found and captured.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">I have opened up the place where my weapons are stored.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I have brought out the weapons for carrying out my wrath.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For I, the Lord <sc>Godsc> who rules over all,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">have work to carry out in the land of Babylonia.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Listen! Fugitives and refugees are coming from the land of Babylon.p> <p class="poetry">They are coming to Zion to declare therep> <p class="poetry">how the <sc>Lordsc> our God is getting revenge,p> <p class="poetry">getting revenge for what they have done to his temple.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all<n id="1" /> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;The people of Israel are oppressed.p> <p class="poetry">So too are the people of Judah.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">All those who took them captive are holding them prisoners.p> <p class="poetry">They refuse to set them free.p>