Pul, king of Assyria, came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul one thousand talents of silver so that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom in his hand.
¶Your land is desolate; Your cities are burned with fire; Your fields—strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
“Indeed, you have not heard; indeed, you have not known. Indeed, even from long ago your ear has not been open Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously; And you have been called a transgressor from the womb.
The righteous man perishes, and no man puts it upon his heart; And men of lovingkindness are gathered away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is gathered away from evil,
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from ministering as My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I Myself also will forget your children.
For they sow the wind, And they reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no growth; It makes no flour. Should it make anything, strangers would swallow it up.