<p class="bodytext">Now Saul was sitting under a pomegranate tree in Migron, on the outskirts of Gibeah. The army that was with him numbered about six hundred men.

Then an evil spirit from the <sc>Lordsc> came upon<n id="1" /> Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing the lyre.<n id="2" />

The king said to Nathan the prophet, &#8220;Look! I am living in a palace made from cedar, while the ark of God sits in the middle of a tent.&#8221;

and Bela son of Azaz, son of Shema, son of Joel.p> <p class="bodytext">They lived in Aroer as far as Nebo and Baal Meon.

Micaiah<n id="1" /> said, &#8220;That being the case, hear the word of the <sc>Lordsc>: I saw the <sc>Lordsc> sitting on his throne, with all the heavenly assembly standing on his right and on his left.

Yet all of this fails to satisfy me so long as I have to see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king&#8217;s gate.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies told me this:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Many houses will certainly become desolate,p> <p class="poetry">large, impressive houses will have no one living in them.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">I replied, &#8220;How long, sovereign master?&#8221; He said,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated,p> <p class="poetry">and houses are uninhabited,p> <p class="poetry">and the land is ruined and devastated,p>

<p class="poetry">Like a lion that has come up from its lair<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the one who destroys nations has set out from his home base.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">He is coming out to lay your land waste.p> <p class="poetry">Your cities will become ruins and lie uninhabited.p>

<p class="poetry">At the sound of the approaching horsemen and archersp> <p class="poetry">the people of every town will flee.p> <p class="poetry">Some of them will hide in the thickets.p> <p class="poetry">Others will climb up among the rocks.p> <p class="poetry">All the cities will be deserted.p> <p class="poetry">No one will remain in them.p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will make Jerusalem<n id="2" /> a heap of ruins.p> <p class="poetry">Jackals will make their home there.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I will destroy the towns of Judahp> <p class="poetry">so that no one will be able to live in them.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">Pack your bags for exile,p> <p class="poetry">you inhabitants of poor dear Egypt.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For Memphis will be laid waste.p> <p class="poetry">It will lie in ruins<n id="2" /> and be uninhabited.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">The earth will tremble and writhe in agony.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> will carry out his plan.p> <p class="poetry">He plans to make the land of Babylonia<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">a wasteland where no one lives.<n id="3" />p>

Doom is coming upon you who live in the land! The time is coming, the day<n id="1" /> is near. There are sounds of tumult, not shouts of joy, on the mountains.<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">Therefore the land will mourn,p> <p class="poetry">and all its inhabitants will perish.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">The wild animals,<n id="2" /> the birds of the sky,p> <p class="poetry">and even the fish in the sea will perish.p>

<p class="poetry">I will break the bar<n id="1" /> on the gate of Damascus.p> <p class="poetry">I will remove<n id="2" /> the ruler<n id="3" /> from Wicked Valley,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">the one who holds the royal scepter from Beth Eden.<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">The people of Aram will be deported to Kir.&#8221;<n id="6" />p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> has spoken!p>

<p class="poetry">I will remove<n id="1" /> the ruler<n id="2" /> from Ashdod,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">the one who holds the royal scepter from Ashkelon.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">I will strike Ekron<n id="5" /> with my hand;<n id="6" />p> <p class="poetry">the rest of the Philistines will also die.&#8221;<n id="7" />p> <p class="poetry">The sovereign <sc>Lordsc> has spoken!p>

<p class="poetry">Because of this the earth<n id="1" /> will quake,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and all who live in it will mourn.p> <p class="poetry">The whole earth<n id="3" /> will rise like the River Nile,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">it will surge upward<n id="5" /> and then grow calm,<n id="6" /> like the Nile in Egypt.<n id="7" />p>

<p class="poetry">Those who live by the sea, the people who came from Crete,<n id="1" /> are as good as dead.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> has decreed your downfall,<n id="3" /> Canaan, land of the Philistines:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will destroy everyone who lives there!&#8221;<n id="4" />p>