At that time the Babylonian forces<n id="1" /> had temporarily given up their siege against Jerusalem.<n id="2" /> They had had it under siege, but withdrew when they heard that the army of Pharaoh had set out from Egypt.<n id="3" />)

<p class="poetry">Go ahead and<n id="1" /> charge into battle, you horsemen!p> <p class="poetry">Drive furiously, you charioteers!p> <p class="poetry">Let the soldiers march out into battle,p> <p class="poetry">those from Ethiopia and Libya who carry shields,p> <p class="poetry">and those from Lydia<n id="2" /> who are armed with the bow.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Go up to Gilead and get medicinal ointment,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">you dear poor people of Egypt.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">But it will prove useless no matter how much medicine you use;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">there will be no healing for you.p>

<p class="poetry">Indeed they will climb the slopes of Luhith,p> <p class="poetry">weeping continually as they go.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For on the road down to Horonaimp> <p class="poetry">they will hear the cries of distress over the destruction.<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">Come down from your place of honor;p> <p class="poetry">sit on the dry ground,<n id="1" /> you who live in Dibon.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For the one who will destroy Moab will attack you;p> <p class="poetry">he will destroy your fortifications.p>

<p class="poetry">Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings,p> <p class="poetry">a nation will soar up and swoop down on Bozrah.p> <p class="poetry">At that time the soldiers of Edom will be as fearfulp> <p class="poetry">as a woman in labor.&#8221;<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">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">Do not give her archers time to string their bowsp> <p class="poetry">or to put on their coats of armor.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Do not spare any of her young men.p> <p class="poetry">Completely destroy<n id="2" /> her whole army.p>

<p class="poetry">When his voice thunders, the waters in the heavens roar.p> <p class="poetry">He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons.p> <p class="poetry">He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain.p> <p class="poetry">He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it.p>

<p class="poetry">You who have escaped the sword,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">go, do not delay.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Remember the <sc>Lordsc> in a faraway land.p> <p class="poetry">Think about Jerusalem.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Even if Babylon climbs high into the sky<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and fortifies her elevated stronghold,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I will send destroyers against her,&#8221;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="4" />p>

They captured him and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah<n id="1" /> in the territory of Hamath and he passed sentence on him there.

<p class="lamhebrew">&#1504; (<i>Nuni>)p> <p class="poetry">My sins are bound around my neck like a yoke;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">they are fastened together by his hand.p> <p class="poetry">He has placed his yoke<n id="2" /> on my neck;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">he has sapped my strength.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">The Lord<n id="5" /> has handed me over<n id="6" />p> <p class="poetry">to those whom I cannot resist.p>

<p class="lamhebrew">&#1497; (<i>Yodi>)p> <p class="poetry">The elders of Daughter Zionp> <p class="poetry">sit<n id="1" /> on the ground in silence.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They have thrown dirt on their heads;p> <p class="poetry">They have dressed in sackcloth.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Jerusalem&#8217;s young women<n id="4" /> stare down at the ground.<n id="5" />p>

Then a wind<n id="1" /> lifted me up and carried me to the exiles in Babylonia,<n id="2" /> in the vision given to me by the Spirit of God.p> <p class="bodytext">Then the vision I had seen went up from me.

&#8220;Son of man, these men have erected their idols in their hearts and placed the obstacle leading to their iniquity<n id="1" /> right before their faces. Should I really allow them to seek<n id="2" /> me?

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;What you plan<n id="1" /> will never happen. You say, &#8220;We will be<n id="2" /> like the nations, like the clans of the lands, who serve gods of wood and stone.&#8221;<n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">I will put hooks in your jawsp> <p class="poetry">and stick the fish of your waterways to your scales.p> <p class="poetry">I will haul you up from the midst of your waterways,p> <p class="poetry">and all the fish of your waterways will stick to your scales.p>