God

"As I live," says the king, whose name is ADONAI-Tzva'ot, "when he comes, he will be [as mighty] as Tavor among the mountains, as Karmel next to the sea.

They cut down her forest," says ADONAI, "for they cannot be numbered; yes, there are more of them than locusts, far too many to count.

ADONAI-Tzva'ot, the God of Isra'el, says: "I will punish Amon from No, Pharaoh, and Egypt with her gods and kings - that is, Pharaoh and those who trust in him;

I will hand them over to those who seek their lives, to N'vukhadretzar king of Bavel and to his servants. But afterwards, Egypt will be inhabited, as in the past," says ADONAI.

"Yet don't be afraid, Ya'akov my servant; don't be distressed, Isra'el. For I will save you from faraway places, and your offspring from the lands where they are held captive. Ya'akov will return and be at peace, quiet, with no one to make him afraid.

Don't be afraid, Ya'akov my servant," says ADONAI, "for I am with you. I will finish off all the nations where I have scattered you. However, you I will not finish off, I will discipline you as you deserve, but not completely destroy you."

This word of ADONAI came to Yirmeyahu the prophet concerning the P'lishtim before Pharaoh attacked 'Azah:

"Here is what ADONAI says: 'Water is rising out of the north; it will become a flooding stream, flooding the land and all that is in it, the city and its inhabitants. The people are crying out in alarm, everyone in the land is weeping

because the day has come for destroying all the P'lishtim, for cutting off from Tzor and Tzidon the last of their allies; for ADONAI is destroying the P'lishtim, the remnant from the island of Kaftor.

Oh, sword of ADONAI, how long till you can be quiet? Put yourself back in your scabbard! Stop! Be still!

But how can you be still? For ADONAI has given it orders against Ashkelon, against the seacoast; he has assigned it its task there.

Concerning Mo'av, this is what ADONAI-Tzva'ot, the God of Isra'el, says: "Woe to N'vo, for it is ravaged; Kiryatayim disgraced and captured. Misgav is put to shame, distressed.

A destroyer will descend on every city, no city will escape. The valley too will perish, the plain will be laid waste, as ADONAI as said.

A curse on him who does the work of ADONAI carelessly! A curse on him who withholds his sword from blood!

"So the days are coming," says ADONAI, "when I will send people to tilt him; they will tilt his jars, emptying them and shattering the wine-flasks to pieces.

They are ravaging Mo'av, attacking its cities; its best young men go down to be slaughtered," says the king, whose name is ADONAI-Tzva'ot.

"Mo'av's strength is cut down, his arm is broken," says ADONAI.

Because Mo'av boasted against ADONAI, make him so drunk that he wallows in his own vomit and becomes a laughingstock.

"I know what meager ground he has for his arrogance," says ADONAI. "His boasting has nothing behind it, and it hasn't accomplished a thing."

Therefore I wail for Mo'av; for all Mo'av I cry; for the people of Kir-Heres I lament.

I will weep for you, vineyard of Sivmah, more than I wept for Ya'zer. Your branches spread to the sea, reaching as far as the sea of Ya'zer. On your summer fruits and on your vintage the destroyer has fallen.

Gladness and joy have been removed from productive fields and the land of Mo'av. "I have stopped the flow of wine from the vats and the shouts of those who tread the grapes - those shouts of joy are stilled."

"Moreover," says ADONAI, "in Mo'av I will put an end to anyone sacrificing on a high place or offering incense to his gods."

This is why my heart is moaning for Mo'av like funeral flutes, why my heart moans for the men of Kir-Heres like funeral flutes; for the wealth they produced has vanished.

On all the housetops of Mo'av and in its open places - lamentation everywhere! "For I have broken Mo'av like a pot that nobody wants," says ADONAI.