When its branches get brittle, ¹  they break; women come and use them for kindling. ²  For these people lack understanding, ³  therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them; the one who formed them has no mercy on them.

I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way; ¹  I will guide them down paths they have never traveled. ²  I will turn the darkness in front of them into light, and level out the rough ground. ³  This is what I will do for them. I will not abandon them.

No one thinks to himself, nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves: ‘I burned half of it in the fire – yes, I baked bread over the coals; I roasted meat and ate it. With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol? Should I bow down to dry wood?’ ¹ 

You did not hear, you do not know, you were not told beforehand. ¹  For I know that you are very deceitful; ²  you were labeled ³  a rebel from birth.

Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame! Don’t be intimidated, ¹  for you will not be humiliated! You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth; you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment. ² 

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.”

Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted! Issue your orders, but they will not be executed! ¹  For God is with us! ² 

Then you must recall the Lord’s instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen. ¹  Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened. ² 

As I have done to Samaria and its idols, so I will do to Jerusalem and its idols.” ¹ 

Wild dogs will yip in her ruined fortresses, jackals will yelp in the once-splendid palaces. ¹  Her time is almost up, ²  her days will not be prolonged. ³ 

The evergreens also rejoice over your demise, ¹  as do the cedars of Lebanon, singing, ²  ‘Since you fell asleep, ³  no woodsman comes up to chop us down!’ ⁴ 

Is this the one who made the world like a desert, who ruined its ¹  cities, and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?”’ ² 

We have heard about Moab’s pride, their great arrogance, their boasting, pride, and excess. ¹  But their boastful claims are empty! ² 

Egypt will not be able to do a thing, head or tail, shoots and stalk. ¹ 

In the past he said to them, ¹  “This is where security can be found. Provide security for the one who is exhausted! This is where rest can be found.” ²  But they refused to listen.

In just a very short time ¹  Lebanon will turn into an orchard, and the orchard will be considered a forest. ² 

They travel down to Egypt without seeking my will, ¹  seeking Pharaoh’s protection, and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade. ² 

For these are rebellious people – they are lying children, children unwilling to obey the Lord’s law. ¹ 

Highways are empty, ¹  there are no travelers. ²  Treaties are broken, ³  witnesses are despised, ⁴  human life is treated with disrespect. ⁵ 

This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you!