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⁸ I have heard the taunts of Moab
   and the revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
   and made boasts against their territory.
⁹ Therefore, as I live, says the Lord of hosts,
   the God of Israel,
Moab shall become like Sodom
   and the Ammonites like Gomorrah,
a land possessed by nettles and salt-pits,
   and a waste for ever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
   and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.
¹⁰ This shall be their lot in return for their pride,
   because they scoffed and boasted
   against the people of the Lord of hosts.
¹¹ The Lord will be terrible against them;
   he will shrivel all the gods of the earth,
and to him shall bow down,
   each in its place,
   all the coasts and islands of the nations.

¹² You also, O Ethiopians,^*
   shall be killed by my sword.

¹³ And he will stretch out his hand against the north,
   and destroy Assyria;
and he will make Nineveh a desolation,
   a dry waste like the desert.
¹⁴ Herds shall lie down in it,
   every wild animal;^*
the desert-owl^* and the screech-owl^*
   shall lodge on its capitals;
the owl^* shall hoot at the window,
   the raven^* croak on the threshold;
   for its cedar-work will be laid bare.
¹⁵ Is this the exultant city
   that lived secure,
that said to itself,
   ‘I am, and there is no one else’?
What a desolation it has become,
   a lair for wild animals!
Everyone who passes by it
   hisses and shakes the fist.

The Wickedness of Jerusalem

3Ah, soiled, defiled,
   oppressing city!
² It has listened to no voice;
   it has accepted no correction.
It has not trusted in the Lord;
   it has not drawn near to its God.

³ The officials within it
   are roaring lions;
its judges are evening wolves
   that leave nothing until the morning.
⁴ Its prophets are reckless,
   faithless persons;
its priests have profaned what is sacred,
   they have done violence to the law.
⁵ The Lord within it is righteous;
   he does no wrong.
Every morning he renders his judgement,
   each dawn without fail;
   but the unjust knows no shame.

⁶ I have cut off nations;
   their battlements are in ruins;
I have laid waste their streets
   so that no one walks in them;
their cities have been made desolate,
   without people, without inhabitants.
⁷ I said, ‘Surely the city^* will fear me,
   it will accept correction;
it will not lose sight^*
   of all that I have brought upon it.’
But they were the more eager
   to make all their deeds corrupt.

Punishment and Conversion of the Nations

⁸ Therefore wait for me, says the Lord,
   for the day when I arise as a witness.
For my decision is to gather nations,
   to assemble kingdoms,
to pour out upon them my indignation,
   all the heat of my anger;
for in the fire of my passion
   all the earth shall be consumed.

⁹ At that time I will change the speech of the peoples
   to a pure speech,
that all of them may call on the name of the Lord
   and serve him with one accord.
¹⁰ From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia^*
   my suppliants, my scattered ones,
   shall bring my offering.

¹¹ On that day you shall not be put to shame
   because of all the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;
for then I will remove from your midst
   your proudly exultant ones,
and you shall no longer be haughty
   in my holy mountain.
¹² For I will leave in the midst of you
   a people humble and lowly.
They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord—
¹³   the remnant of Israel;
they shall do no wrong
   and utter no lies,
nor shall a deceitful tongue
   be found in their mouths.
Then they will pasture and lie down,
   and no one shall make them afraid.

A Song of Joy

¹⁴ Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
   shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
   O daughter Jerusalem!
¹⁵ The Lord has taken away the judgements against you,
   he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
   you shall fear disaster no more.
¹⁶ On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion;
   do not let your hands grow weak.
¹⁷ The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
   a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
   he will renew you^* in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing
¹⁸   as on a day of festival.^*
I will remove disaster from you,^*
   so that you will not bear reproach for it.