¹ The sovereign master ²  decreed judgment ³  on Jacob, and it fell on Israel. ⁴ 

Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, ¹  ‘With my many chariots I climbed up the high mountains, the slopes of Lebanon. I cut down its tall cedars and its best evergreens. I invaded its most remote regions, ²  its thickest woods.

No lions will be there, no ferocious wild animals will be on it ¹  – they will not be found there. Those delivered from bondage will travel on it,

For this is what the Lord says, the one who created the sky – he is the true God, ¹  the one who formed the earth and made it; he established it, he did not create it without order, ²  he formed it to be inhabited – “I am the Lord, I have no peer.

The Lord wanted to exhibit his justice by magnifying his law and displaying it. ¹ 

Indeed, ¹  the Lord knocks down those who live in a high place, he brings down an elevated town; he brings it down to the ground, ²  he throws it down to the dust.

Just as birds hover over a nest, ¹  so the Lord who commands armies will protect Jerusalem. ²  He will protect and deliver it; as he passes over ³  he will rescue it.

As I have done to Samaria and its idols, so I will do to Jerusalem and its idols.” ¹ 

It ¹  furiously struck down nations with unceasing blows. ²  It angrily ruled over nations, oppressing them without restraint. ³ 

Disaster will overtake you; you will not know how to charm it away. ¹  Destruction will fall on you; you will not be able to appease it. Calamity will strike you suddenly, before you recognize it. ² 

What more can I do for my vineyard beyond what I have already done? When I waited for it to produce edible grapes, why did it produce sour ones instead?

Leave Babylon! Flee from the Babylonians! Announce it with a shout of joy! Make this known! Proclaim it throughout the earth! ¹  Say, ‘The Lord protects ²  his servant Jacob.

It is trampled underfoot by the feet of the oppressed, by the soles of the poor.”

They no longer sing and drink wine; ¹  the beer tastes bitter to those who drink it.

¹ The Lord who commands armies makes this solemn vow: “Be sure of this: Just as I have intended, so it will be; just as I have planned, it will happen.

who summons an eagle ¹  from the east, from a distant land, one who carries out my plan. Yes, I have decreed, ²  yes, I will bring it to pass; I have formulated a plan, yes, I will carry it out.

A blacksmith works with his tool ¹  and forges metal over the coals. He forms it ²  with hammers; he makes it with his strong arm. He gets hungry and loses his energy; ³  he drinks no water and gets tired.

Those who empty out gold from a purse and weigh out silver on the scale ¹  hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god. They then bow down and worship it.

So look, the sovereign master ¹  is bringing up against them the turbulent and mighty waters of the Euphrates River ²  – the king of Assyria and all his majestic power. It will reach flood stage and overflow its banks. ³ 

Does an ax exalt itself over the one who wields it, or a saw magnify itself over the one who cuts with it? ¹  As if a scepter should brandish the one who raises it, or a staff should lift up what is not made of wood!