Lord, you are like a shield that keeps us safe. Don’t kill my enemies all at once. If you do, my people will forget about it. Use your power to pull my enemies up by the roots like weeds. Destroy them.
Give a strong warning to Egypt, that beast among the tall grass. It is like a herd of bulls among the calves. May that beast bow down before you with gifts of silver. Scatter the nations who like to make war.
They sound like the roar of rushing waters. But when the Lord speaks out against them, they run far away. The wind blows them away like straw on the hills. A strong wind drives them along like tumbleweeds.
A third of your people will die of the plague inside your walls. Or they will die of hunger there. Another third will be killed by swords outside your walls. And I will scatter the last third of your people to the winds. I will chase them with a sword that is ready to strike them down.
Some will be killed by the sword. Others will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be taken over by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles come to an end.
Then the Lord will scatter you among all the nations. He’ll spread you around from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship statues of gods made out of wood and stone. You and your people of long ago hadn’t known anything about those gods.
“Lord, may all your enemies be destroyed. But may all who love you be like the morning sun. May they be like the sun when it shines the brightest.” So the land was at peace for 40 years.