“But My words and My laws, which I commanded My servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers?” “Then they turned back and said, ‘As יהוה of hosts planned to do to us, according to our ways and according to our deeds, so He has done with us.’ ” ’ ”
“I have cut off nations, their corner towers are in ruins. I have made their streets deserted, with no one passing by. Their cities are destroyed, without man, without inhabitant.
“And the first-born of the poor shall feed, and the needy lie down in safety. And I shall kill your roots with scarcity of food, and it shall slay your remnant.
“Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia, that the rod that smote you is broken; for out of the serpent’s roots comes forth an adder, and its offspring is a fiery flying serpent.
