“Go up against the land of Merathayim, against it, and against the inhabitants of Peqoḏ. Slay and put them under the ban,” declares יהוה, “and do according to all that I have commanded you.
And Dawiḏ said to Aḇishai and all his servants, “See how my son who came from my own body seeks my life, and how much more now this Binyamite? Leave him alone, and let him curse, for יהוה has spoken to him.
“Thus said Koresh sovereign of Persia, ‘יהוה Elohim of the heavens has given me all the reigns of the earth. And He has commanded me to build Him a house in Yerushalayim, which is in Yehuḏah. Whoever is among you of all His people, יהוה his Elohim be with him, and let him go up!’ ”
“Against a defiled nation I send him, and against the people of My wrath I command him to seize the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mud of the streets.
who is saying of Koresh, ‘He is My shepherd, and he completes all My pleasure, even saying to Yerushalayim, “Let her be built,” and to the Hĕḵal, “Let her foundation be laid.” ’
“All of you, gather yourselves, and hear! Who among them has declared these? יהוה has loved him. Let him do His pleasure on Baḇel, and His arm be on the Kasdim.
See, I am commanding,’ declares יהוה, ‘and shall bring them back to this city, and they shall fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. And I shall make the cities of Yehuḏah a ruin without inhabitant.’ ”
“Shout against her all around. She has given her hand, her foundations have fallen, her walls are thrown down, for it is the vengeance of יהוה. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, so do to her.
For a nation shall come up against her from the north, which shall make her land waste, and none shall dwell in it. They shall flee, they shall go, both man and beast.
“For look, I am stirring up and bringing up against Baḇel an assembly of great nations from a land of the north, and they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be captured – their arrows are like those of a mighty skilled man, not returning empty-handed.
the children of Baḇel, and all the Kasdim, Peqoḏ, and Showa, and Qowa, all the sons of Ashshur with them, all of them desirable young men, governors and rulers, officers and men of name, all of them riding on horses.
Now go, and you shall strike Amalĕq and put under the ban all that he has, and you shall not spare them, and put to death from man to woman, from infant to nursing child, from ox to sheep, from camel to donkey.’ ”