I will bring distress on the people ¹  and they will stumble ²  like blind men, for they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dirt; their flesh ³  will be scattered ⁴  like manure.

Bunch yourselves together like straw, ¹  you undesirable ²  nation,

Therefore, as surely as I live,” says the Lord who commands armies, the God of Israel, “be certain that Moab will become like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah. They will be overrun by weeds, ¹  filled with salt pits, ²  and permanently desolate. Those of my people who are left ³  will plunder their belongings; ⁴  those who are left in Judah ⁵  will take possession of their land.”

before God’s decree becomes reality ¹  and the day of opportunity disappears like windblown chaff, ²  before the Lord’s raging anger ³  overtakes ⁴  you – before the day of the Lord’s angry judgment overtakes you!

The Israelites who remain ¹  will not act deceitfully. They will not lie, and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth. Indeed, they will graze peacefully like sheep ²  and lie down; no one will terrify them.”

The Lord ¹  will attack the north ²  and destroy Assyria. He will make Nineveh a heap of ruins; it will be as barren ³  as the desert.

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 

At that time I will search through Jerusalem with lamps. I will punish the people who are entrenched in their sin, ¹  those who think to themselves, ²  ‘The Lord neither rewards nor punishes.’ ³ 

Wail, you who live in the market district, ¹  for all the merchants ²  will disappear ³  and those who count money ⁴  will be removed. ⁵