The Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight with Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. ¹  Israel suffered greatly. ² 

The Lord sent you on a campaign ¹  saying, ‘Go and exterminate those sinful Amalekites! Fight against them until you ²  have destroyed them.’

¹ The Philistines gathered their troops ²  for battle. They assembled at Socoh in Judah. They camped in Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah.

The king ¹  heard that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was marching out to fight him. ²  He again sent messengers to Hezekiah, ordering them:

and the men of Judah gave ¹  the battle cry. As the men of Judah gave the battle cry, the Lord struck down Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

Zerah the Cushite marched against them with an army of 1,000,000 ¹  men and 300 chariots. He arrived at Mareshah,

Jehoram crossed over to Zair with his officers and all his chariots. The Edomites, who had surrounded him, attacked at night and defeated him and his chariot officers. ¹ 

You bring new witnesses ¹  against me, and increase your anger against me; relief troops ²  come against me.

Your very best valleys were full of chariots; ¹  horsemen confidently took their positions ²  at the gate.

They are saying, ¹  ‘Announce to the surrounding nations, ²  “The enemy is coming!” ³  Proclaim this message ⁴  to Jerusalem: “Those who besiege cities ⁵  are coming from a distant land. They are ready to raise the battle cry against ⁶  the towns in Judah.”’

May that man be like the cities ¹  that the Lord destroyed without showing any mercy. May he hear a cry of distress in the morning and a battle cry at noon.

There is no reason why you and your people should die in war ¹  or from starvation or disease! ²  That’s what the Lord says will happen to any nation ³  that will not be subject to the king of Babylon.

“You and your people ¹  are right in saying, ‘War, ²  starvation, and disease are sure to make this city fall into the hands of the king of Babylon.’ ³  But now I, the Lord God of Israel, have something further to say about this city: ⁴ 

I will certainly save you. You will not fall victim to violence. ¹  You will escape with your life ²  because you trust in me. I, the Lord, affirm it!”’” ³ 

So now be very sure of this: You will die from war, starvation, or disease in the place where you want to go and live.”

He will come and attack Egypt. Those who are destined to die of disease will die of disease. Those who are destined to be carried off into exile will be carried off into exile. Those who are destined to die in war will die in war. ¹ 

I will indeed ¹  see to it that disaster, not prosperity, happens to them. ²  All the people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will die in war or from starvation until not one of them is left.

Fathers will hear the hoofbeats of the enemies’ horses, the clatter of their chariots and the rumbling of their wheels. They will not turn back to save their children because they will be paralyzed with fear. ¹ 

“Destructive forces will come against the Babylonians,” ¹  says the Lord. ²  “They will come against the people who inhabit Babylonia, against her leaders and her men of wisdom.

Destructive forces will come against her horses and her ¹  chariots. Destructive forces will come against all the foreign troops within her; ²  they will be as frightened as women! ³  Destructive forces will come against her treasures; they will be taken away as plunder!