And Aḇnĕr called to Yo’aḇ and said, “Should the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it is bitter in the latter end? And when are you going to say to the people to turn back from pursuing their brothers?”
Would the axe boast itself over him who chops with it, or the saw exalt itself over him who saws with it? As a rod waving those who lift it up! As a staff lifting up that which is not wood!
“The ravagers have come on all the bare heights in the wilderness, for the sword of יהוה is devouring from one end of the land to the other end of the land. There is no peace to any flesh.
How long shall the land mourn, and the plants of every field wither? The beasts and birds are consumed, for the evil of those who dwell there, because they said, “He does not see our latter ending.”
“And I shall appoint over them four kinds,” declares יהוה, “the sword to kill, the dogs to drag, the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.
“And you shall say to them, ‘Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “Drink, be drunk, and vomit! Fall and rise no more, because of the sword which I am sending among you.” ’
“O sword, awake against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion,” declares יהוה of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, and let the sheep be scattered. But I shall turn My hand upon the little ones.
And the three companies blew with the shopharot and broke the jars, and held the torches in their left hands and the shopharot in their right hands for blowing. And they cried, “A sword for יהוה and for Giḏ‛on!”