When the people saw him, ¹  they praised their god, saying, “Our god has handed our enemy over to us, the one who ruined our land and killed so many of us!” ² 

Moab will be destroyed. Its towns will be invaded. Its finest young men will be slaughtered. ¹  I, the King, the Lord who rules over all, ²  affirm it! ³ 

I will make up for the years ¹  that the ‘arbeh-locust ²  consumed your crops ³  – the yeleq-locust, the hasil-locust, and the gazam-locust – my great army ⁴  that I sent against you.

How awful that day will be! ¹  For the day of the Lord is near; it will come as destruction from the Divine Destroyer. ² 

I give ¹  them eternal life, and they will never perish; ²  no one will snatch ³  them from my hand.

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, ¹  and no one can snatch ²  them from my Father’s hand.

The Lord says, ¹  “Beware! I am opposed to you, Babylon! ²  You are like a destructive mountain that destroys all the earth. I will unleash my power against you; ³  I will roll you off the cliffs and make you like a burned-out mountain. ⁴ 

Wail, O city gate! Cry out, O city! Melt with fear, ¹  all you Philistines! For out of the north comes a cloud of smoke, and there are no stragglers in its ranks. ² 

But you will become drunk ¹  with shame, not majesty. ²  Now it is your turn to drink and expose your uncircumcised foreskin! ³  The cup of wine in the Lord’s right hand ⁴  is coming to you, and disgrace will replace your majestic glory!

For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon a host of mighty nations ¹  from the land of the north. They will set up their battle lines against her. They will come from the north and capture her. ²  Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier ³  who does not return from the battle empty-handed. ⁴ 

I will remove the one from the north ¹  far from you. I will drive him out to a dry and desolate place. Those in front will be driven eastward into the Dead Sea, ²  and those in back westward into the Mediterranean Sea. ³  His stench will rise up as a foul smell.” ⁴  Indeed, the Lord ⁵  has accomplished great things.