“Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. ¹  Far be it from ²  God to do wickedness, from the Almighty to do evil.

So my heart rejoices and I am happy; ¹  My life is safe. ² 

When ¹  the Lord heard this, he was furious. A fire broke out against Jacob, and his anger flared up ²  against Israel,

Therefore, the sovereign Lord who commands armies, ¹  the powerful ruler of Israel, ²  says this: “Ah, I will seek vengeance ³  against my adversaries, I will take revenge against my enemies. ⁴ 

Therefore my ¹  people will be deported ²  because of their lack of understanding. Their ³  leaders will have nothing to eat, ⁴  their ⁵  masses will have nothing to drink. ⁶ 

So Moab wails over its demise ¹  – they all wail! Completely devastated, they moan about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth. ² 

Therefore, listen to the Lord’s word, you who mock, you rulers of these people who reside in Jerusalem! ¹ 

Egypt is totally incapable of helping. ¹  For this reason I call her ‘Proud one ²  who is silenced.’” ³ 

“So, once more I will state my case ¹  against you,” says the Lord. “I will also state it against your children and grandchildren. ² 

“My, how good you have become at chasing after your lovers! ¹  Why, you could even teach prostitutes a thing or two! ² 

So I, the Lord, affirm ¹  that I am opposed to those prophets who steal messages from one another that they claim are from me. ² 

“Therefore, the Lord who rules over all ¹  says, ‘You have not listened to what I said. ² 

So her young men will fall in her city squares. All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,” says the Lord. ¹ 

Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians ¹  for whom she lusted.

“‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the city of bloodshed! I will also make the pile high.

“‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you think you are godlike, ¹ 

However, in the future I will allure her; ¹  I will lead ²  her back into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.

Therefore they will disappear like ¹  the morning mist, ²  like early morning dew that evaporates, ³  like chaff that is blown away ⁴  from a threshing floor, like smoke that disappears through an open window.

For this reason whoever is smart ¹  keeps quiet ²  in such a time, for it is an evil ³  time.

Therefore you ¹  will have to say farewell ²  to Moresheth Gath. The residents ³  of Achzib ⁴  will be as disappointing as a dried up well ⁵  to the kings of Israel. ⁶