<p class="poetry">He will become a sanctuary,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">but a stone that makes a person trip,p> <p class="poetry">and a rock that makes one stumble &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">to the two houses of Israel.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">He will become<n id="3" /> a trap and a snarep> <p class="poetry">to the residents of Jerusalem.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Wild animals will rest there,p> <p class="poetry">the ruined<n id="1" /> houses will be full of hyenas.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Ostriches will live there,p> <p class="poetry">wild goats will skip among the ruins.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> will certainly have compassion on Jacob;<n id="1" /> he will again choose Israel as his special people<n id="2" /> and restore<n id="3" /> them to their land. Resident foreigners will join them and unite with the family<n id="4" /> of Jacob.

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">They went up to the temple,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba,<n id="3" /> Moab wails.p> <p class="poetry">Every head is shaved bare,p> <p class="poetry">every beard is trimmed off.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">This is what the sovereign master, the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies, says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Go visit this administrator, Shebna, who supervises the palace,<n id="1" /> and tell him:<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">He will wind you up tightly into a ballp> <p class="poetry">and throw you into a wide, open land.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">There you will die,p> <p class="poetry">and there with you will be your impressive chariots,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">which bring disgrace to the house of your master.<n id="3" />p>

I will put your robe on him, tie your belt around him, and transfer your authority to him.<n id="1" /> He will become a protector of<n id="2" /> the residents of Jerusalem and of the people<n id="3" /> of Judah.

His father&#8217;s family will gain increasing prominence because of him,<n id="1" /> including the offspring and the offshoots.<n id="2" /> All the small containers, including the bowls and all the jars will hang from this peg.&#8217;<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Here is a message about Tyre:p> <p class="poetry">Wail, you large ships,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">for the port is too devastated to enter!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">From the land of Cyprus<n id="3" /> this news is announced to them.p>

<p class="poetry">Yet he too is wise<n id="1" /> and he will bring disaster;p> <p class="poetry">he does not retract his decree.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">He will attack the wicked nation,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and the nation that helps<n id="4" /> those who commit sin.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">Mourn<n id="1" /> over the land of my people,p> <p class="poetry">which is overgrown with thorns and briers,p> <p class="poetry">and over all the once-happy houses<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">in the city filled with revelry.<n id="3" />p>

Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet him.p>

<p class="bodytext">Hezekiah took the letter<n id="1" /> from the messengers and read it.<n id="2" /> Then Hezekiah went up to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and spread it out before the <sc>Lordsc>.

<p class="poetry">But these people are looted and plundered;p> <p class="poetry">all of them are trapped in pits<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and held captive<n id="2" /> in prisons.p> <p class="poetry">They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them;p> <p class="poetry">they were carried away as plunder, and no one says, &#8220;Bring that back!&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">A carpenter takes measurements;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">he marks out an outline of its form;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he scrapes<n id="3" /> it with chisels,p> <p class="poetry">and marks it with a compass.p> <p class="poetry">He patterns it after the human form,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">like a well-built human being,p> <p class="poetry">and puts it in a shrine.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">that will be better than sons and daughters.p> <p class="poetry">I will set up a permanent monument<n id="2" /> for them that will remain.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;Shout loudly! Don&#8217;t be quiet!p> <p class="poetry">Yell as loud as a trumpet!p> <p class="poetry">Confront my people with their rebellious deeds;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">confront Jacob&#8217;s family with their sin!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">I want you<n id="1" /> to share your food with the hungryp> <p class="poetry">and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">When you see someone naked, clothe him!p> <p class="poetry">Don&#8217;t turn your back on your own flesh and blood!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">All the sheep of Kedar will be gathered to you;p> <p class="poetry">the rams of Nebaioth will be available to you as sacrifices.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They will go up on my altar acceptably,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and I will bestow honor on my majestic temple.p>