Don’t be so happy, all you Philistines, just because the club that beat you has been broken! ¹  For a viper will grow out of the serpent’s root, and its fruit will be a darting adder. ² 

For people will live in Zion; in Jerusalem ¹  you will weep no more. ²  When he hears your cry of despair, he will indeed show you mercy; when he hears it, he will respond to you. ³ 

Sing to the Lord a brand new song! Praise him ¹  from the horizon of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and everything that lives in it, ²  you coastlands ³  and those who live there!

Let the desert and its cities shout out, the towns where the nomads of Kedar live! Let the residents of Sela shout joyfully; let them shout loudly from the mountaintops.

Even if only a tenth of the people remain in the land, it will again be destroyed, ¹  like one of the large sacred trees ²  or an Asherah pole, when a sacred pillar on a high place is thrown down. ³  That sacred pillar symbolizes the special chosen family.” ⁴ 

I will put it into the hand of your tormentors ¹  who said to you, ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you.’ You made your back like the ground, and like the street for those who walked over you.”

So Moab wails over its demise ¹  – they all wail! Completely devastated, they moan about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth. ² 

At that time ¹  the sovereign master will use a razor hired from the banks of the Euphrates River, ²  the king of Assyria, to shave the head and the pubic hair; ³  it will also shave off the beard.

The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards is doomed, ¹  the withering flower, its beautiful splendor, ²  situated ³  at the head of a rich valley, the crown of those overcome with wine. ⁴ 

There will be some left behind, like when an olive tree is beaten – two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top, four or five on its fruitful branches,” says the Lord God of Israel.

At that time ¹  you will say: “Praise the Lord! Ask him for help! ²  Publicize his mighty acts among the nations! Make it known that he is unique! ³ 

They come from a distant land, from the horizon. ¹  It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment, ²  coming to destroy the whole earth. ³ 

“Take the harp, go through the city, forgotten prostitute! Play it well, play lots of songs, so you’ll be noticed!” ¹ 

All nations gather together, the peoples assemble. Who among them announced this? Who predicted earlier events for us? ¹  Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right; let them listen and affirm, ‘It is true.’

The Lord comes to pronounce judgment on the leaders of his people and their officials. He says, ¹  “It is you ²  who have ruined ³  the vineyard! ⁴  You have stashed in your houses what you have stolen from the poor. ⁵ 

This is what your sovereign master, ¹  the Lord your God, says: “Look, I have removed from your hand the cup of intoxicating wine, ²  the goblet full of my anger. ³  You will no longer have to drink it.

The splendor of Lebanon will come to you, its evergreens, firs, and cypresses together, to beautify my palace; ¹  I will bestow honor on my throne room. ² 

So this sin will become your downfall. You will be like a high wall that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse; it crumbles suddenly, in a flash. ¹ 

No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, ¹  or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, ²  for my people will live as long as trees, ³  and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced. ⁴ 

During ¹  the reign of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel marched up to Jerusalem ²  to do battle, but they were unable to prevail against it. ³