For the fields of Heshbon are dried up, as well as the vines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations trample all over its vines, which reach Jazer and spread to the desert; their shoots spread out and cross the sea.

“Indeed, ¹  long ago you threw off my authority and refused to be subject to me. ²  You said, ‘I will not serve you.’ ³  Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hill and under every green tree, like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers. ⁴ 

Tell them the Lord who rules over all says, ¹  ‘I will do just as Jeremiah has done. ²  I will smash this nation and this city as though it were a potter’s vessel which is broken beyond repair. ³  The dead will be buried here in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.’ ⁴ 

ב (Bet) The Lord ¹  destroyed ²  mercilessly ³  all the homes of Jacob’s descendants. ⁴  In his anger he tore down the fortified cities ⁵  of Daughter Judah. He knocked to the ground and humiliated the kingdom and its rulers. ⁶ 

ו (Vav) He destroyed his temple ¹  as if it were a vineyard; ²  he destroyed his appointed meeting place. The Lord has made those in Zion forget both the festivals and the Sabbaths. ³  In his fierce anger ⁴  he has spurned ⁵  both king and priest.

Yet you ask, “Why?” The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, ¹  to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law. ² 

The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.

Rather you must destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles. ¹ 

I grabbed the two tablets, threw them down, ¹  and shattered them before your very eyes.

Israel humiliated Moab that day, and the land had rest for eighty years.

He also threatened ¹  the men of Penuel, warning, ²  “When I return victoriously, ³  I will tear down this tower.”

Indeed, ¹ with your help ²  I can charge ³  against an army; ⁴  by my God’s power ⁵  I can jump over a wall. ⁶ 

He trains ¹  my hands for battle; ²  my arms can bend even the strongest bow. ³ 

Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?” ¹ 

Jehoram turned his chariot around and took off. ¹  He said to Ahaziah, “It’s a trap, ²  Ahaziah!”

They demolished ¹  the sacred pillar of Baal and ²  the temple of Baal; it is used as ³  a latrine ⁴  to this very day.

The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem.

But now the same thing ¹  comes to you, and you are discouraged; ²  it strikes you, and you are terrified. ³ 

he lived in ruined towns ¹  and in houses where ²  no one lives, where they are ready to crumble into heaps. ³ 

He breaks through against me, time and time again; ¹  he rushes ²  against me like a warrior.