I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim, for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.
But Amasa did not notice the sword in Joab’s hand; Joab struck him in the belly so that his entrails poured out on the ground, and he died. He did not strike a second blow. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and who rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord!
You shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them. Then you shall rejoice in the Lord; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will become rotten, and their blossom go up like dust, for they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of hosts and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
It may be that they will listen and will turn from their evil way, that I may change my mind about the disaster that I intend to bring on them because of their evil doings.
For I am with you, says the Lord, to save you; I will make an end of all the nations among which I scattered you, but of you I will not make an end. I will chastise you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.
Ephraim herds the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; they multiply falsehood and violence; they make a treaty with Assyria, and oil is carried to Egypt.
God is not a human being, that he should lie, or a mortal, that he should change his mind. Has he promised, and will he not do it? Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Do not let anything devoted to destruction stick to your hand, so that the Lord may turn from his fierce anger and show you compassion, and in his compassion multiply you, as he swore to your ancestors,
Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand today; now, therefore, let me pin him to the ground with one stroke of the spear; I will not strike him twice.”