before the sun and the light ¹  of the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds disappear ²  after the rain;

I will make human beings more scarce than pure gold, and people more scarce ¹  than gold from Ophir.

For the waters of Nimrim are gone; ¹  the grass is dried up, the vegetation has disappeared, and there are no plants.

Here is a message about Damascus: “Look, Damascus is no longer a city, it is a heap of ruins!

They howl in the streets because of what happened to the wine; ¹  all joy turns to sorrow; ²  celebrations disappear from the earth. ³ 

Even if the forest is destroyed ¹  and the city is annihilated, ² 

Your plunder ¹  disappears as if locusts were eating it; ²  they swarm over it like locusts! ³ 

Her nobles will have nothing left to call a kingdom and all her officials will disappear. ¹ 

Samaria and its king will be carried off ¹  like a twig ²  on the surface of the waters.

Our food has been cut off right before our eyes! ¹  There is no longer any joy or gladness in the temple of our God! ² 

But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter ¹  in the law to become void. ² 

But the rich person’s pride should be in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a wildflower in the meadow. ¹ 

And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains ¹  forever.

The sky ¹  was split apart ²  like a scroll being rolled up, ³  and every mountain and island was moved from its place.

The withering flower, its beautiful splendor, situated at the head of a rich valley, will be like an early fig before harvest – as soon as someone notices it, he grabs it and swallows it. ¹ 

Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return; they will enter Zion with a happy shout. Unending joy will crown them, ¹  happiness and joy will overwhelm ²  them; grief and suffering will disappear. ³ 

The godly ¹  perish, but no one cares. ²  Honest people disappear, ³  when no one ⁴  minds ⁵  that the godly ⁶  disappear ⁷  because of ⁸  evil. ⁹ 

Look up at the sky! Look at the earth below! For the sky will dissipate ¹  like smoke, and the earth will wear out like clothes; its residents will die like gnats. But the deliverance I give ²  is permanent; the vindication I provide ³  will not disappear. ⁴ 

But God remembered ¹  Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over ²  the earth and the waters receded.

Hasn’t he treated us like foreigners? He not only sold us, but completely wasted ¹  the money paid for us! ²