&#8220;They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die,<n id="1" /> and the fire that consumes them will not die out.<n id="2" /> All people will find the sight abhorrent.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Of what importance to me are your many sacrifices?&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I am stuffed with<n id="2" /> burnt sacrificesp> <p class="poetry">of rams and the fat from steers.p> <p class="poetry">The blood of bulls, lambs, and goatsp> <p class="poetry">I do not want.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Therefore, as flaming fire<n id="1" /> devours straw,p> <p class="poetry">and dry grass disintegrates in the flames,p> <p class="poetry">so their root will rot,p> <p class="poetry">and their flower will blow away like dust.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For they have rejected the law of the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies,p> <p class="poetry">they have spurned the commands<n id="3" /> of the Holy One of Israel.<n id="4" />p>

<v id="(8:23)" /><n id="1" /> The gloom will be dispelled for those who were anxious.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">In earlier times he<n id="3" /> humiliatedp> <p class="poetry">the land of Zebulun,p> <p class="poetry">and the land of Naphtali;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">but now he brings honor<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">to the way of the sea,p> <p class="poetry">the region beyond the Jordan,p> <p class="poetry">and Galilee of the nations.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">So the sovereign master was not pleased<n id="1" /> with their young men,p> <p class="poetry">he took no pity<n id="2" /> on their orphans and widows;p> <p class="poetry">for the whole nation was godless<n id="3" /> and did wicked things,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">every mouth was speaking disgraceful words.<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">Despite all this, his anger does not subside,p> <p class="poetry">and his hand is ready to strike again.<n id="6" />p>

Nations will take them and bring them back to their own place. Then the family of Jacob will make foreigners their servants as they settle in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s land.<n id="1" /> They will make their captors captives and rule over the ones who oppressed them.

<p class="poetry">For the fields of Heshbon are dried up,p> <p class="poetry">as well as the vines of Sibmah.p> <p class="poetry">The rulers of the nations trample all over its vines,p> <p class="poetry">which reach Jazer and spread to the desert;p> <p class="poetry">their shoots spread out and cross the sea.p>

<p class="poetry">Everyone will suffer &#8211; the priest as well as the people,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the master as well as the servant,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the elegant lady as well as the female attendant,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">the seller as well as the buyer,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">the borrower as well as the lender,<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">the creditor as well as the debtor.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">Your thinking is perverse!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Should the potter be regarded as clay?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Should the thing made say<n id="3" /> about its maker, &#8220;He didn&#8217;t make me&#8221;?p> <p class="poetry">Or should the pottery say about the potter, &#8220;He doesn&#8217;t understand&#8221;?p>

Perhaps the <sc>Lordsc> your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God.<n id="1" /> When the <sc>Lordsc> your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said.<n id="2" /> So pray for this remnant that remains.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Who stirs up this one from the east?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Who<n id="2" /> officially commissions him for service?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">He hands nations over to him,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and enables him to subdue<n id="5" /> kings.p> <p class="poetry">He makes them like dust with his sword,p> <p class="poetry">like windblown straw with his bow.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know?p> <p class="poetry">Who announced it<n id="1" /> ahead of time, so we could say, &#8216;He&#8217;s correct&#8217;?p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, none of them decreed it!p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, none of them announced it!p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, no one heard you say anything!p>

<p class="poetry">All nations gather together,p> <p class="poetry">the peoples assemble.p> <p class="poetry">Who among them announced this?p> <p class="poetry">Who predicted earlier events for us?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right;p> <p class="poetry">let them listen and affirm, &#8216;It is true.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;p> <p class="poetry">they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Then all humankind<n id="2" /> will recognize thatp> <p class="poetry">I am the <sc>Lordsc>, your deliverer,p> <p class="poetry">your protector,<n id="3" /> the powerful ruler of Jacob.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will put it into the hand of your tormentors<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">who said to you, &#8216;Lie down, so we can walk over you.&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">You made your back like the ground,p> <p class="poetry">and like the street for those who walked over you.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">They lament,<n id="1" /> &#8216;Why don&#8217;t you notice when we fast?p> <p class="poetry">Why don&#8217;t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">you oppress your workers.<n id="3" />p>