The words of a gossip are like delicious morsels; they go down into a person’s innermost being. ¹ 

Then I will make their waters calm, ¹  and will make their streams flow like olive oil, declares the sovereign Lord.

On that day they will say ¹  to Jerusalem, “Don’t be afraid, Zion! Your hands must not be paralyzed from panic! ² 

Now ¹  a great windstorm ²  developed and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was nearly swamped.

The foreigners ¹  who reside among you will become higher and higher over you and you will become lower and lower.

My countrymen ¹  who accompanied ²  me frightened the people, ³  but I remained loyal to the Lord my God. ⁴ 

Far from where people live ¹  he sinks a shaft, in places travelers have long forgotten, ²  far from other people he dangles and sways. ³ 

“What ¹  profit is there in taking my life, ²  in my descending into the Pit? ³  Can the dust of the grave ⁴  praise you? Can it declare your loyalty? ⁵ 

Even when my strength leaves me, ¹  you watch my footsteps. ²  In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.

you will be blessed, you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams, ¹  you who let your ox and donkey graze. ² 

When you finish reading this scroll aloud, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River. ¹ 

And he said to me, “Son of man, take all my words that I speak to you to heart and listen carefully.

The mountains will disintegrate ¹  beneath him, and the valleys will be split in two. ²  The mountains will melt ³  like wax in a fire, the rocks will slide down like water cascading down a steep slope. ⁴ 

You will once again ¹  have mercy on us; you will conquer ²  our evil deeds; you will hurl our ³  sins into the depths of the sea. ⁴ 

Destruction, devastation, and desolation! ¹  Their hearts faint, ²  their knees tremble, ³  each stomach churns, ⁴  each face ⁵  turns ⁶  pale! ⁷ 

Let each one examine ¹  his own work. Then he can take pride ²  in himself and not compare himself with ³  someone else.

The prophet ¹  asked, “Where did it drop in?” When he showed him the spot, Elisha ²  cut off a branch, threw it in at that spot, and made the ax head float.

Moab ¹  will spread out its hands in the middle of it, ²  just as a swimmer spreads his hands to swim; the Lord ³  will bring down Moab’s ⁴  pride as it spreads its hands. ⁵ 

For this reason deliverance ¹  is far from us ²  and salvation does not reach us. We wait for light, ³  but see only darkness; ⁴  we wait for ⁵  a bright light, ⁶  but live ⁷  in deep darkness. ⁸ 

“For this is what the sovereign Lord says: When I make you desolate like the uninhabited cities, when I bring up the deep over you and the surging ¹  waters overwhelm you,