They crouch and lie down like a lion, and as a lioness, ¹  who can stir him? Blessed is the one who blesses you, and cursed is the one who curses you!’”

Ahab also made an Asherah pole; he ¹  did more to anger the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

Yet he is compassionate. He forgives sin and does not destroy. He often holds back his anger, and does not stir up his fury. ¹ 

The Lord who commands armies is about to beat them ¹  with a whip, similar to the way he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb. ²  He will use his staff against the sea, lifting it up as he did in Egypt. ³ 

The Lord emerges like a hero, like a warrior he inspires himself for battle; ¹  he shouts, yes, he yells, he shows his enemies his power. ² 

Wake up! Wake up! Get up, O Jerusalem! You drank from the cup the Lord passed to you, which was full of his anger! ¹  You drained dry the goblet full of intoxicating wine. ² 

“Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, ¹  I am about to stir up against you the lovers with whom you were disgusted; I will bring them against you from every side:

I will bend Judah as my bow; I will load the bow with Ephraim, my arrow! ¹  I will stir up your sons, Zion, against yours, Greece, and I will make you, Zion, ²  like a warrior’s sword.

I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall, ¹  did they? Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel ²  jealous.

After you have produced children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, ¹  if you become corrupt and make an image of any kind ²  and do other evil things before the Lord your God that enrage him, ³ 

His servants advised ¹  him, “A young virgin must be found for our master, the king, ²  to take care of the king’s needs ³  and serve as his nurse. She can also sleep with you ⁴  and keep our master, the king, warm.” ⁵ 

That is what will result from your making me angry by what you are doing. ¹  You are making me angry by sacrificing to other gods here in the land of Egypt where you live. You will be destroyed for doing that! You will become an example used in curses ²  and an object of ridicule among all the nations of the earth. ³ 

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 

“Sharpen ¹  your arrows! Fill your quivers! ²  The Lord will arouse a spirit of hostility in ³  the kings of Media. ⁴  For he intends to destroy Babylonia. For that is how the Lord will get his revenge – how he will get his revenge for the Babylonians’ destruction of his temple. ⁵ 

Now I will tell you the truth.“Three ¹  more kings will arise for Persia. Then a fourth ²  king will be unusually rich, ³  more so than all who preceded him. When he has amassed power through his riches, he will stir up everyone against ⁴  the kingdom of Greece.