and say to them, ¹  ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, ²  I am against you. ³  I will draw my sword ⁴  from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. ⁵ 

But if you warn the wicked man to change his behavior, ¹  and he refuses to change, ²  he will die for his iniquity, but you have saved your own life.

You will trample on the wicked, for they will be like ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord who rules over all.

I broke the fangs ¹  of the wicked, and made him drop ²  his prey from his teeth.

No enemy will be able to exact tribute ¹  from him; ²  a violent oppressor will not be able to humiliate him. ³ 

See if there is any idolatrous tendency ¹  in me, and lead me in the reliable ancient path! ² 

Like a coating of glaze ¹  over earthenware are fervent ²  lips with an evil heart. ³ 

He said to me, “Go in and see the evil abominations they are practicing here.”

From you, O Nineveh, ¹  one has marched forth who plots evil against the Lord, a wicked military strategist. ² 

But God will judge those outside. Remove the evil person from among you. ¹ 

And he said to the community, “Move away from the tents of these wicked ¹  men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because ²  of all their sins.” ³ 

Your hands ¹  were not bound, and your feet were not put into irons. You fell the way one falls before criminals.” All the people ²  wept over him again.

Surely when wicked men have killed an innocent man as he slept ¹  in his own house, should I not now require his blood from your hands and remove ²  you from the earth?”

I thought to myself, “God will judge both the righteous and the wicked; for there is an appropriate time for every activity, and there is a time of judgment ¹  for every deed.

During the days of my fleeting life ¹  I have seen both ²  of these things: Sometimes ³  a righteous person dies prematurely ⁴  in spite of ⁵  his righteousness, and sometimes ⁶  a wicked person lives long ⁷  in spite of his evil deeds.

The sounds of battle ¹  will resound to the ends of the earth. For the Lord will bring charges against the nations. ²  He will pass judgment on all humankind and will hand the wicked over to be killed in war.’ ³  The Lord so affirms it! ⁴ 

while seeing false visions for you and reading lying omens for you ¹  – to place that sword ²  on the necks of the profane wicked, ³  whose day has come, the time of final punishment.

You are too just ¹  to tolerate ²  evil; you are unable to condone ³  wrongdoing. So why do you put up with such treacherous people? ⁴  Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour ⁵  those more righteous than they are? ⁶ 

Keep your distance ¹  from a false charge ²  – do not kill the innocent and the righteous, ³  for I will not justify the wicked. ⁴ 

It’s like the old proverb says: ‘From evil people evil proceeds.’ But my hand will not be against you.