Yes, my hand founded the earth; my right hand spread out the sky. I summon them; they stand together.

I predestine you to die by the sword, ¹  all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, ²  because I called to you, and you did not respond, I spoke and you did not listen. You did evil before me; ³  you chose to do what displeases me.”

The Lord revealed the following message during the year in which King Sargon of Assyria sent his commanding general to Ashdod, and he fought against it and captured it. ¹ 

They will pass through the land ¹  destitute and starving. Their hunger will make them angry, ²  and they will curse their king and their God ³  as they look upward.

The Egyptians are mere humans, not God; their horses are made of flesh, not spirit. The Lord will strike with ¹  his hand; the one who helps will stumble and the one being helped will fall. Together they will perish. ² 

He will eat sour milk ¹  and honey, which will help him know how ²  to reject evil and choose what is right.

Indeed, the Lord’s shout will shatter Assyria; ¹  he will beat them with a club.

¹ They will say to you, “Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations. ²  Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?” ³ 

The Lord who commands armies is about to beat them ¹  with a whip, similar to the way he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb. ²  He will use his staff against the sea, lifting it up as he did in Egypt. ³ 

Once he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter the seed of the caraway plant, sow the seed of the cumin plant, and plant the wheat, barley, and grain in their designated places? ¹ 

Listen, ¹  your watchmen shout; in unison they shout for joy, for they see with their very own eyes ²  the Lord’s return to Zion.

So in this way Jacob’s sin will be forgiven, ¹  and this is how they will show they are finished sinning: ²  They will make all the stones of the altars ³  like crushed limestone, and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand. ⁴ 

Indeed, they are barely planted; yes, they are barely sown; yes, they barely take root in the earth, and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up, and the wind carries them away like straw.

Even if the forest is destroyed ¹  and the city is annihilated, ² 

Indeed, a man will grab his brother right in his father’s house ¹  and say, ²  ‘You own a coat – you be our leader! This heap of ruins will be under your control.’ ³ 

At that time ¹  the sovereign master ²  will wash the excrement ³  from Zion’s women, he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem’s midst, ⁴  as he comes to judge and to bring devastation. ⁵ 

The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched from thirst. I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers; ¹  I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.

Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill, once restitution is made, ¹  he will see descendants and enjoy long life, ²  and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him.

Certainly you will not refuse one of my master’s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen. ¹ 

Please let the Moabite fugitives live ¹  among you. Hide them ²  from the destroyer!” Certainly ³  the one who applies pressure will cease, ⁴  the destroyer will come to an end, those who trample will disappear ⁵  from the earth.