<p class="poetry">They continually say<n id="1" /> to those who reject what the <sc>Lordsc> has said,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Things will go well for you!&#8217;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Nothing bad will happen to you!&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all<n id="1" /> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Disaster will soon come on one nation after another.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">A mighty storm of military destruction<n id="3" /> is rising upp> <p class="poetry">from the distant parts of the earth.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">People will not praise Moab any more.p> <p class="poetry">The enemy will capture Heshbon<n id="1" /> and plot<n id="2" /> how to destroy Moab,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">saying, &#8216;Come, let&#8217;s put an end to that nation!&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">City of Madmen, you will also be destroyed.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">A destructive army will march against you.<n id="5" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> spoke<n id="1" /> about Damascus.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;The people of Hamath and Arpad<n id="3" /> will be dismayedp> <p class="poetry">because they have heard bad news.p> <p class="poetry">Their courage will melt away because of worry.p> <p class="poetry">Their hearts will not be able to rest.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will send people to winnow Babylonia like a wind blowing away chaff.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They will winnow her and strip her land bare.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">This will happen when<n id="3" /> they come against her from every direction,p> <p class="poetry">when it is time to destroy her.<n id="4" />p>

I will send famine and wild beasts against you and they will take your children from you.<n id="1" /> Plague and bloodshed will overwhelm you,<n id="2" /> and I will bring a sword against you. I, the <sc>Lord,sc> have spoken!&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">I will set one shepherd over them, and he will feed them &#8211; namely, my servant David.<n id="1" /> He will feed them and will be their shepherd.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;I will make a covenant of peace with them and will rid the land of wild beasts, so that they can live securely<n id="1" /> in the wilderness and even sleep in the woods.<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind,<n id="1" /> and you will devise an evil plan.

<p class="poetry">Ephraim continually feeds on the wind;p> <p class="poetry">he chases the east wind all day;p> <p class="poetry">he multiplies lies and violence.p> <p class="poetry">They make treaties<n id="1" /> with Assyria,p> <p class="poetry">and send olive oil as tribute<n id="2" /> to Egypt.p>

<p class="poetry">If an alarm sounds<n id="1" /> in a city, do people not fear?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">If disaster overtakes a<n id="3" /> city, is the <sc>Lordsc> not responsible?<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Shepherd your people with your shepherd&#8217;s rod,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the flock that belongs to you,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the one that lives alone in a thicket,p> <p class="poetry">in the midst of a pastureland.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Allow them to graze in Bashan and Gilead,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">as they did in the old days.<n id="5" />p>

They had not gone very far from the city<n id="1" /> when Joseph said<n id="2" /> to the servant who was over his household, &#8220;Pursue the men at once!<n id="3" /> When you overtake<n id="4" /> them, say to them, &#8216;Why have you repaid good with evil?

Tell him, &#8216;Your servants have taken care of cattle<n id="1" /> from our youth until now, both we and our fathers,&#8217; so that you may live in the land of Goshen,<n id="2" /> for everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting<n id="3" /> to the Egyptians.&#8221;p>

&#8216;Tell Joseph this: Please forgive the sin of your brothers and the wrong they did when they treated you so badly.&#8217; Now please forgive the sin of the servants of the God of your father.&#8221; When this message was reported to him, Joseph wept.<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">Now Moses<n id="1" /> was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert<n id="2" /> and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.<n id="3" />

and whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or fortified cities,

&#8216;If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond<n id="1" /> the commandment<n id="2" /> of the <sc>Lordsc> to do either good or evil of my own will,<n id="3" /> but whatever the <sc>Lordsc> tells me I must speak&#8217;?

who will go out before them, and who will come in before them,<n id="1" /> and who will lead them out, and who will bring them in, so that<n id="2" /> the community of the <sc>Lordsc> may not be like sheep that have no shepherd.&#8221;p>

I have not done you wrong,<n id="1" /> but you are doing wrong<n id="2" /> by attacking me. May the <sc>Lordsc>, the Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites!&#8217;&#8221;