We have suffered more than our share of ridicule from those who are carefree. We have suffered more than our share of contempt from those who are arrogant.
Let those who live in the desert and its cities raise their voices. Let those who live in the settlements of Kedar praise him. Let those who live in Sela sing for joy. Let them shout from the tops of the mountains.
Now then, listen to this, you lover of pleasure. You live securely and say to yourself, “I’m the only one, and there’s no one else. I won’t live as a widow. I won’t suffer the loss of children.”
“Moab has lived securely ever since it was young. Its people are like wine left to settle in a jar. They aren’t poured from one jar to another. They haven’t gone into captivity. That is why its flavor has remained the same, and its aroma hasn’t changed.
On that day I will send messengers in ships to terrify those who live in safety in Sudan. The people of Sudan will be in anguish when Egypt is in trouble. That day is coming!
You will say, “I’ll attack a land with unwalled villages. I will attack peaceful people who live safely. All of them live without walls, locks, or gates.
With your shepherd’s staff, take care of your people, the sheep that belong to you. They live alone in the woods, in fertile pastures. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead like before.
This is what the Lord says: Though the people of Nineveh are physically fit and many in number, they will be cut down and die. Though I have humbled you, Judah, I will not humble you again.
Is this the arrogant city? Is this the city that used to live securely, the city that used to think to itself, “I’m the only one, and no one else exists but me”? What a wasteland it is now, a resting place for wild animals! All who pass by it will hiss and make an obscene gesture.
I see them from the top of rocky cliffs, I look at them from the hills. I see a nation that lives by itself, people who do not consider themselves to be like other nations.