&#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel has a message for you.<n id="1" /> &#8216;I made a covenant with your ancestors<n id="2" /> when I brought them out of Egypt where they had been slaves.<n id="3" /> It stipulated,<n id="4" />

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" />)

But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Babylonians<n id="1" /> and they will burn it down. You yourself will not escape from them.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />

<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">&#8220;Moab, you trust in the things you do and in your riches.p> <p class="poetry">So you too will be conquered.p> <p class="poetry">Your god Chemosh<n id="1" /> will go into exile<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">along with his priests and his officials.p>

<p class="poetry">In the shadows of the walls of Heshbonp> <p class="poetry">those trying to escape will stand helpless.p> <p class="poetry">For a fire will burst forth from Heshbon.p> <p class="poetry">Flames will shoot out from the former territory of Sihon.p> <p class="poetry">They will burn the foreheads of the people of Moab,p> <p class="poetry">the skulls of those war-loving people.<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">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">I will punish the god Bel in Babylon.p> <p class="poetry">I will make him spit out what he has swallowed.p> <p class="poetry">The nations will not come streaming to him any longer.p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, the walls of Babylon will fall.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="lamhebrew">&#1493; (<i>Vavi>)p> <p class="poetry">All of Daughter Zion&#8217;s<n id="1" /> splendor<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">has departed.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Her leaders became like deer;p> <p class="poetry">they found no pasture,p> <p class="poetry">so they were too exhausted to escape<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">from the hunter.<n id="5" />p>

In the middle<n id="1" /> of the living beings was something like<n id="2" /> burning coals of fire<n id="3" /> or like torches. It moved back and forth among the living beings. It was bright, and lightning was flashing out of the fire.

<t /><p class="bodytext">The hand<n id="1" /> of the <sc>Lordsc> rested on me there, and he said to me, &#8220;Get up, go out to the valley,<n id="2" /> and I will speak with you there.&#8221;

So I got up and went out to the valley, and the glory of the <sc>Lordsc> was standing there, just like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River,<n id="1" /> and I threw myself face down.p>

Again, take more of them and throw them into the fire,<n id="1" /> and burn them up. From there a fire will spread to all the house of Israel.p>

Therefore, this is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says: &#8216;The corpses you have dumped<n id="1" /> in the midst of the city<n id="2" /> are the meat, and this city<n id="3" /> is the cooking pot, but I will take you out of it.<n id="4" />

While they are watching, raise your baggage onto your shoulder and carry it out in the dark.<n id="1" /> You must cover your face so that you cannot see the ground<n id="2" /> because I have made you an object lesson<n id="3" /> to the house of Israel.&#8221;p>

I will set<n id="1" /> my face against them &#8211; although they have escaped from the fire,<n id="2" /> the fire will still consume them! Then you will know that I am the <sc>Lord,sc> when I set my face against them.

Your fame<n id="1" /> spread among the nations because of your beauty; your beauty was perfect because of the splendor which I bestowed on you, declares the sovereign <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">A fire has gone out from its branch; it has consumed its shoot and its fruit.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">No strong branch was left in it, nor a scepter to rule.&#8217;p> <p class="bodytext">This is a lament song, and has become a lament song.&#8221;p>

I acted for the sake of my reputation,<n id="1" /> so that I would not be profaned before the nations among whom they lived,<n id="2" /> before whom I revealed myself by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.<n id="3" />p>