you who practice ritual sex ¹  under the oaks and every green tree, who slaughter children near the streams under the rocky overhangs. ² 

Indeed, a man will grab his brother right in his father’s house ¹  and say, ²  ‘You own a coat – you be our leader! This heap of ruins will be under your control.’ ³ 

so they themselves can go into the crevices of the rocky cliffs and the openings under the rocky overhangs, ¹  trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord ²  and his royal splendor, when he rises up to terrify the earth. ³ 

The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards will be trampled underfoot.

For this reason ¹  the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated. ²  His majestic glory will go up in smoke. ³ 

Owls ¹  will make nests and lay eggs ²  there; they will hatch them and protect them. ³  Yes, hawks ⁴  will gather there, each with its mate.

The earth is defiled by ¹  its inhabitants, ²  for they have violated laws, disregarded the regulation, ³  and broken the permanent treaty. ⁴ 

For the Lord’s power will make this mountain secure. ¹  Moab will be trampled down where it stands, ²  as a heap of straw is trampled down in ³  a manure pile.

Your splendor ¹  has been brought down to Sheol, as well as the sound of your stringed instruments. ²  You lie on a bed of maggots, with a blanket of worms over you. ³ 

I will break Assyria ¹  in my land, I will trample them ²  underfoot on my hills. Their yoke will be removed from my people, the burden will be lifted from their shoulders. ³ 

You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners, or to fall among those who have been killed. ¹  Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. ² 

Look, a king will promote fairness; ¹  officials will promote justice. ² 

Daughter Zion ¹  is left isolated, like a hut in a vineyard, or a shelter in a cucumber field; she is a besieged city. ² 

Is this really the kind of fasting I want? ¹  Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, ²  bowing their heads like a reed and stretching out ³  on sackcloth and ashes? Is this really what you call a fast, a day that is pleasing to the Lord?

But you have been thrown out of your grave like a shoot that is thrown away. ¹  You lie among ²  the slain, among those who have been slashed by the sword, among those headed for ³  the stones of the pit, ⁴  as if you were a mangled corpse. ⁵ 

I hate your new moon festivals and assemblies; they are a burden that I am tired of carrying.

This is the plan I have devised for the whole earth; my hand is ready to strike all the nations.” ¹ 

It is trampled underfoot by the feet of the oppressed, by the soles of the poor.”

unless they became my subjects ¹  and made peace with me; let them make peace with me. ² 

The one who suffers ¹  will soon be released; he will not die in prison, ²  he will not go hungry. ³