the Arameans from the east and the Philistines from the west. They will devour Israel with open mouths. Even after all this, his anger will not disappear, and he is still ready to use his power.
The Philistines had raided the foothills and the Negev in Judah. They captured and began living in Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco and its villages, Timnah and its villages, and Gimzo and its villages.
Nothing’s left but to crouch among prisoners and to fall with those who are killed. Even after all this, his anger will not disappear, and he is still ready to use his power.
They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia in the west. Together they will loot the people of the east. They will conquer Edom and Moab. The people of Ammon will be subject to them.
How horrible it will be for those who go to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who depend on many chariots, who depend on very strong war horses. They don’t look to the Holy One of Israel. They don’t seek the Lord.
That’s why the anger of the Lord burns hot against his people, and he is ready to use his power to strike them down. The hills tremble, and dead bodies lie like garbage in the streets. Even after all this, his anger has not disappeared, and he is still ready to use his power.
That is why the Lord isn’t happy with their young men, nor will he show compassion for their orphans and widows. Every one of them is a godless evildoer, and every mouth speaks foolishness. Even after all this, his anger will not disappear, and he is still ready to use his power.
Manasseh is against Ephraim. Ephraim is against Manasseh. Together they attack Judah. Even after all this, his anger will not disappear, and he is still ready to use his power.
Pour out your fury on the nations who don’t know you and on people who don’t worship you. They have devoured the descendants of Jacob. They have devoured them completely. They have destroyed their homes.
“I will separate them with a winnowing shovel at the city gates. I will make them childless. I will destroy my people because they will not change their ways.
But when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded this land, we said, ‘Let’s go to Jerusalem ⌞to escape⌟ the Babylonian and Aramean armies.’ That’s why we are living in Jerusalem.”
“ ‘So I used my power against you. I took away some of your land, and I handed you over to your greedy enemies, the Philistines, who were ashamed of what you had done.
I sent plagues on you as I did to Egypt. With swords I killed your best young men along with your captured horses. I made the stench from your camps fill your noses. And you still didn’t return to me, declares the Lord.
I destroyed some of you as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning log snatched from a fire. And you still didn’t return to me, declares the Lord.
I left you with nothing to eat in any of your cities. I left you with no food in your entire land. And you still didn’t return to me, declares the Lord.
So people from two or three cities staggered as they walked to another city in order to get a drink of water. But they couldn’t get enough. And you still didn’t return to me, declares the Lord.
I struck your ⌞crops⌟ with blight and mildew. Locusts repeatedly devoured your gardens, vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees. And you still didn’t return to me, declares the Lord.
On that day I will become angry with them. I will abandon them and turn away from them. They will be destroyed, and many terrible disasters will happen to them. On that day they will ask, ‘Haven’t these disasters happened to us because our God isn’t with us?’