Disaster is within it; violence ¹  and deceit do not depart from its public square.

מ (Mem) But it happened ¹  due to the sins of her prophets ²  and the iniquities of her priests, who poured out in her midst the blood of the righteous.

So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, ¹  “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, ²  especially when my husband is old too?” ³ 

God lives within it, ¹  it cannot be moved. ²  God rescues it ³  at the break of dawn. ⁴ 

Day and night they walk around on its walls, ¹  while wickedness and destruction ²  are within it.

Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey – shedding blood and destroying lives – so they can get dishonest profit.

Her princes ¹  are as fierce as roaring lions; ²  her rulers ³  are as hungry as wolves in the desert, ⁴  who completely devour their prey by morning. ⁵ 

What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare ¹  the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it?

But the children struggled ¹  inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!” ²  So she asked the Lord, ³ 

The Lord has made them undiscerning; ¹  they lead Egypt astray in all she does, so that she is like a drunk sliding around in his own vomit. ² 

All of this is because ¹  the Lord who rules over all ²  has said: ‘Cut down the trees around Jerusalem and build up a siege ramp against its walls. ³  This is the city which is to be punished. ⁴  Nothing but oppression happens in it. ⁵ 

The just Lord resides ¹  within her; he commits no unjust acts. ²  Every morning he reveals ³  his justice. At dawn he appears without fail. ⁴  Yet the unjust know no shame.

So the five men journeyed on ¹  and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there ²  were living securely, like the Sidonians do, ³  undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way. ⁴  They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. ⁵ 

Even her mercenaries ¹  will prove to be like pampered, ²  well-fed calves. For they too will turn and run away. They will not stand their ground when ³  the time for them to be destroyed comes, the time for them to be punished.

Make this announcement in ¹  the fortresses of Ashdod and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt. Say this: “Gather on the hills around Samaria! ²  Observe the many acts of violence ³  taking place within the city, ⁴  the oppressive deeds ⁵  occurring in it.” ⁶