<p class="poetry">What do I see?&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;The soldiers<n id="3" /> are terrified.p> <p class="poetry">They are retreating.p> <p class="poetry">They have been defeated.p> <p class="poetry">They are overcome with terror;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">they desert quicklyp> <p class="poetry">without looking back.p>

<p class="poetry">I the King, whose name is the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all,<n id="1" /> swear this:p> <p class="poetry">I swear as surely as I live that<n id="2" /> a conqueror is coming.p> <p class="poetry">He will be as imposing as Mount Tabor is among the mountains,p> <p class="poetry">as Mount Carmel is against the backdrop of the sea.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">The population of Egypt is like a vast, impenetrable forest.p> <p class="poetry">But I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm<n id="1" /> that the enemy will cut them down.p> <p class="poetry">For those who chop them down will be more numerous than locusts.p> <p class="poetry">They will be too numerous to count.<n id="2" />p>

I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar and his troops, who want to kill them. But later on, people will live in Egypt again as they did in former times. I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">But the time is coming when I will sendp> <p class="poetry">men against Moab who will empty it out.p> <p class="poetry">They will empty the towns of their people,p> <p class="poetry">then will lay those towns in ruins.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Moab will be destroyed. Its towns will be invaded.p> <p class="poetry">Its finest young men will be slaughtered.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I, the King, the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all,<n id="2" /> affirm it!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">On all the housetops in Moabp> <p class="poetry">and in all its public squaresp> <p class="poetry">there will be nothing but mourning.p> <p class="poetry">For I will break Moab like an unwanted jar.p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will bring terror on you from every side,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">says the Lord <sc>Godsc> who rules over all.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;You will be scattered in every direction.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">No one will gather the fugitives back together.p>

For I solemnly swear,&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>, &#8220;that Bozrah<n id="2" /> will become a pile of ruins. It will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example to be used in curses.<n id="3" /> All the towns around it will lie in ruins forever.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">For her young men will fall in her city squares.p> <p class="poetry">All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Army of Babylon,<n id="2" /> go and attackp> <p class="poetry">a nation that lives in peace and security.p> <p class="poetry">They have no gates or walls to protect them.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">They live all alone.p>

<p class="poetry">Their camels will be taken as plunder.p> <p class="poetry">Their vast herds will be taken as spoil.p> <p class="poetry">I will scatter to the four windsp> <p class="poetry">those desert peoples who cut their hair short at the temples.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will bring disaster against themp> <p class="poetry">from every direction,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Attack<n id="2" /> the land of Merathaimp> <p class="poetry">and the people who live in Pekod!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them!<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Do just as I have commanded you!<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;But I will repay Babylonp> <p class="poetry">and all who live in Babyloniap> <p class="poetry">for all the wicked things they did in Zionp> <p class="poetry">right before the eyes of you Judeans,&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">No one will use any of your stones as a cornerstone.p> <p class="poetry">No one will use any of them in the foundation of his house.p> <p class="poetry">For you will lie desolate forever,&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">When their appetites are all stirred up,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will set out a banquet for them.p> <p class="poetry">I will make them drunkp> <p class="poetry">so that they will pass out,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">they will fall asleep forever,p> <p class="poetry">they will never wake up,&#8221;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Then heaven and earth and all that is in themp> <p class="poetry">will sing for joy over Babylon.p> <p class="poetry">For destroyers from the north will attack it,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Yes, but the time will certainly come,&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;when I will punish her idols.p> <p class="poetry">Throughout her land the mortally wounded will groan.p>

<p class="poetry">Even if Babylon climbs high into the sky<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and fortifies her elevated stronghold,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I will send destroyers against her,&#8221;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;I will make her officials and wise men drunk,p> <p class="poetry">along with her governors, leaders,<n id="1" /> and warriors.p> <p class="poetry">They will fall asleep forever and never wake up,&#8221;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">says the King whose name is the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all.<n id="3" />p>