So this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will bring so much trouble on Jerusalem and Judah that anyone who hears about it will be shocked.
Whenever punishment comes, it will take you away. It will come morning after morning; it will defeat you by day and by night. Those who understand this punishment will be terrified.”
So I will continue to amaze these people by doing more and more miracles. Their wise men will lose their wisdom; their wise men will not be able to understand.”
Say, ‘Kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem, listen to this message from the Lord. This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: I will soon bring a disaster on this place that will amaze and frighten everyone who hears about it.
“Look at the nations! Watch them and be amazed and shocked. I will do something in your lifetime that you won’t believe even when you are told about it.
‘Listen, you people who doubt! You can wonder, and then die. I will do something in your lifetime that you won’t believe even when you are told about it!’ ”
So the Philistines fought hard and defeated the Israelites, and every Israelite soldier ran away to his own home. It was a great defeat for Israel, because thirty thousand Israelite soldiers were killed.