Thus says the Lord:
a“For three transgressions of bMoab,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because che burned to lime
the bones of the king of Edom.
2 So I will send a fire upon Moab,
and it shall devour the strongholds of aKerioth,
and Moab shall die amid uproar,
amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;
3 aI will cut off the ruler from its midst,
and will kill aall its princes with him,”
says the Lord.
Judgment on Judah
4 Thus says the Lord:
a“For three transgressions of Judah,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because bthey have rejected the law of the Lord,
and have not kept his statutes,
but ctheir lies have led them astray,
those after which their fathers walked.
5 So aI will send a fire upon Judah,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.”
Judgment on Israel
6 Thus says the Lord:
a“For three transgressions of Israel,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because bthey sell the righteous for csilver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals—
7 those who trample the head of the poor ainto the dust of the earth
and bturn aside the way of the afflicted;
ca man and his father go in to the same girl,
so that my holy name is profaned;
8 they lay themselves down beside every altar
on garments ataken in pledge,
and in the house of their God they drink
the wine of those who have been fined.
9 “Yet ait was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,
bwhose height was like the height of the cedars
and who was as strong as the oaks;
cI destroyed his fruit above
and his roots beneath.
10 aAlso it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt
band led you forty years in the wilderness,
cto possess the land of the Amorite.
11 And I raised up some of your sons for prophets,
and some of your young men for aNazirites.
Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?”
declares the Lord.
12 “But you made the Nazirites adrink wine,
and commanded the prophets,
saying, b‘You shall not prophesy.’
13 “Behold, I will press you down in your place,
as a cart full of sheaves presses down.
14 aFlight shall perish from the swift,
aand the strong shall not retain his strength,
bnor shall the mighty save his life;
15 he who handles the bow shall not stand,
and he who is aswift of foot shall not save himself,
bnor shall he who rides the horse save his life;
16 and he who is stout of heart among the mighty
shall flee away naked in that day,”
declares the Lord.