Indeed, the residents of Maroth ¹  hope for something good to happen, ²  though the Lord has sent disaster against the city of Jerusalem. ³ 

For Samaria’s ¹  disease ²  is incurable. It has infected ³  Judah; it has spread to ⁴  the leadership ⁵  of my people and has even contaminated Jerusalem! ⁶ 

He will give us peace. ¹  Should the Assyrians try to invade our land and attempt to set foot in our fortresses, ²  we will send ³  against them seven ⁴  shepherd-rulers, ⁵  make that eight commanders. ⁶ 

My enemies, ¹  do not gloat ²  over me! Though I have fallen, I will get up. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. ³ 

Look, ¹  the Lord is coming out of his dwelling place! He will descend and march on the earth’s mountaintops! ² 

Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love; ¹  shave your foreheads as bald ²  as an eagle, ³  for they are taken from you into exile.

But you are the ones who will be forced to leave! ¹  For this land is not secure! ²  Sin will thoroughly destroy it! ³ 

The prophets ¹  will be ashamed; the omen readers will be humiliated. All of them will cover their mouths, ²  for they will receive no divine oracles.” ³ 

But they do not know what the Lord is planning; they do not understand his strategy. He has gathered them like stalks of grain to be threshed ¹  at the threshing floor.

They will rule ¹  the land of Assyria with the sword, the land of Nimrod ²  with a drawn sword. ³  Our king ⁴  will rescue us from the Assyrians should they attempt to invade our land and try to set foot in our territory.

Residents of Lachish, ¹  hitch the horses to the chariots! You ²  influenced Daughter Zion ³  to sin, ⁴  for Israel’s rebellious deeds can be traced back ⁵  to you!

Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ¹  those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ²  As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ³  because they have the power to do so.

Each will sit under his own grapevine or under his own fig tree without any fear. ¹  The Lord who commands armies has decreed it. ² 

Though all the nations follow their respective gods, ¹  we will follow ²  the Lord our God forever.

Jerusalem, why are you ¹  now shouting so loudly? ²  Has your king disappeared? ³  Has your wise leader ⁴  been destroyed? Is this why ⁵  pain grips ⁶  you as if you were a woman in labor?

He will assume his post ¹  and shepherd the people ²  by the Lord’s strength, by the sovereign authority of the Lord his God. ³  They will live securely, ⁴  for at that time he will be honored ⁵  even in the distant regions of ⁶  the earth.

Hear the Lord’s accusation, you mountains, you enduring foundations of the earth! For the Lord has a case against his people; he has a dispute with Israel! ¹ 

In fact, I brought you up from the land of Egypt, I delivered you from that place of slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you. ¹ 

I am depressed! ¹  Indeed, ²  it is as if the summer fruit has been gathered, and the grapes have been harvested. ³  There is no grape cluster to eat, no fresh figs that I crave so much. ⁴ 

For a son thinks his father is a fool, a daughter challenges ¹  her mother, and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are his own servants. ²