This temple will become a heap of ruins; ¹  everyone who passes by it will be shocked and will hiss out their scorn, ²  saying, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’

He went to Samaria and exterminated all the members of Ahab’s family who were still alive in Samaria, ¹  just as the Lord had announced to Elijah. ² 

As for this temple, which was once majestic, ¹  everyone who passes by it will be shocked and say, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’

A psalm of Asaph. O God, foreigners ²  have invaded your chosen land; ³  they have polluted your holy temple and turned Jerusalem ⁴  into a heap of ruins.

From the soles of your feet to your head, there is no spot that is unharmed. ¹  There are only bruises, cuts, and open wounds. They have not been cleansed ²  or bandaged, nor have they been treated ³  with olive oil. ⁴ 

¹ There is a loud noise on the mountains – it sounds like a large army! ²  There is great commotion among the kingdoms ³  – nations are being assembled! The Lord who commands armies is mustering forces for battle.

The many nations massing together are as good as dead, ¹  those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves. ²  The people making such an uproar are as good as dead, ³  those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves. ⁴ 

Indeed, ¹  you have made the city ²  into a heap of rubble, the fortified town into a heap of ruins; the fortress of foreigners ³  is no longer a city, it will never be rebuilt.

The Lord said, ¹  “I will make Jerusalem ²  a heap of ruins. Jackals will make their home there. ³  I will destroy the towns of Judah so that no one will be able to live in them.”

Come from far away and attack Babylonia! ¹  Open up the places where she stores her grain! Pile her up in ruins! ²  Destroy her completely! ³  Do not leave anyone alive! ⁴ 

ב (Bet) The precious sons of Zion were worth their weight in gold – Alas! – but now they are treated like ¹  broken clay pots, made by a potter. ² 

A sword will come against Egypt and panic will overtake Ethiopia when the slain fall in Egypt and they carry away her wealth and dismantle her foundations.

You will advance; ¹  you will come like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the earth, you, all your troops, and the many other peoples with you.

Is there idolatry ¹  in Gilead? ²  Certainly its inhabitants ³  will come to nothing! ⁴  Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Surely their altars will be like stones heaped up on a plowed field!

Therefore, because of you, ¹  Zion will be plowed up like ²  a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the Temple Mount ³  will become a hill overgrown with brush! ⁴ 

Those survivors from ¹  Jacob will live ²  in the midst of many nations. ³  They will be like the dew the Lord sends, like the rain on the grass, that does not hope for men to come or wait around for humans to arrive. ⁴ 

On that day there will be great confusion from the Lord among them; they will seize each other and attack one another violently.

Moreover, Judah will fight at ¹  Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered up ²  – gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance.

When ¹  he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain. ²  After he sat down his disciples came to him.

Now when Jesus saw a large crowd ¹  around him, he gave orders to go to the other side of the lake. ²