Pay attention to me, my people! Listen to me, my people! For ¹  I will issue a decree, ²  I will make my justice a light to the nations. ³ 

The Lord reveals ¹  his royal power ²  in the sight of all the nations; the entire ³  earth sees our God deliver. ⁴ 

you who practice ritual sex ¹  under the oaks and every green tree, who slaughter children near the streams under the rocky overhangs. ² 

They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake and spin a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, a poisonous snake is hatched. ¹ 

He repays them for what they have done, dispensing angry judgment to his adversaries and punishing his enemies. ¹  He repays the coastlands. ² 

They will be called, “The Holy People, the Ones Protected ¹  by the Lord.” You will be called, “Sought After, City Not Abandoned.”

They will not work in vain, or give birth to children that will experience disaster. ¹  For the Lord will bless their children and their descendants. ² 

so they themselves can go into the crevices of the rocky cliffs and the openings under the rocky overhangs, ¹  trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord ²  and his royal splendor, when he rises up to terrify the earth. ³ 

Seven women will grab hold of one man at that time. ¹  They will say, “We will provide ²  our own food, we will provide ³  our own clothes; but let us belong to you ⁴  – take away our shame!” ⁵ 

The poor will graze in my pastures; ¹  the needy will rest securely. But I will kill your root by famine; it will put to death all your survivors. ² 

They went up to the temple, ¹  the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. ²  Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, ³  Moab wails. Every head is shaved bare, every beard is trimmed off. ⁴ 

So I weep along with Jazer ¹  over the vines of Sibmah. I will saturate you ²  with my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh, for the conquering invaders shout triumphantly over your fruit and crops. ³ 

For this reason my stomach churns; ¹  cramps overwhelm me like the contractions of a woman in labor. I am disturbed ²  by what I hear, horrified by what I see.

From the ends of the earth we ¹  hear songs – the Just One is majestic. ²  But I ³  say, “I’m wasting away! I’m wasting away! I’m doomed! Deceivers deceive, deceivers thoroughly deceive!” ⁴ 

Even these men ¹  stagger because of wine, they stumble around because of beer – priests and prophets stagger because of beer, they are confused ²  because of wine, they stumble around because of beer; they stagger while seeing prophetic visions, ³  they totter while making legal decisions. ⁴ 

So now, do not mock, or your chains will become heavier! For I have heard a message about decreed destruction, from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land. ¹ 

To you this entire prophetic revelation ¹  is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read ²  and say, “Read this,” he responds, “I can’t, because it is sealed.”

Look, the name ¹  of the Lord comes from a distant place in raging anger and awesome splendor. ²  He speaks angrily and his word is like destructive fire. ³ 

Assyria will fall by a sword, but not one human-made; ¹  a sword not made by humankind will destroy them. ²  They will run away from this sword ³  and their young men will be forced to do hard labor.

Look at Zion, the city where we hold religious festivals! You ¹  will see Jerusalem, ²  a peaceful settlement, a tent that stays put; ³  its stakes will never be pulled up; none of its ropes will snap in two.