“Or suppose I were to bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through the land,’ and I were to kill both people and animals.

He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his weapons. ¹ 

And they will be like warriors trampling the mud of the streets in battle. They will fight, for the Lord will be with them, and will defeat the enemy cavalry. ¹ 

For nation will rise up in arms ¹  against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines. ²  These are but the beginning of birth pains.

But Jesus, ¹  realizing their thoughts, said to them, ²  “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, ³  and a divided household falls. ⁴ 

Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, ¹  dressing him in elegant clothes, ²  Herod ³  sent him back to Pilate.

Who ever serves in the army at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not consume its milk?

Now ¹  the locusts looked like horses equipped for battle. On ²  their heads were something like crowns similar to gold, ³  and their faces looked like men’s ⁴  faces.

Indeed, for forty years the Israelites traveled through the desert until all the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt, the ones who had disobeyed the Lord, died off. ¹  For the Lord had sworn a solemn oath to them that he would not let them see the land he had sworn on oath to give them, ²  a land rich in ³  milk and honey.

He launched a military campaign ¹  against the king of the Ammonites and defeated them. That year the Ammonites paid him 100 talents ²  of silver, 10,000 kors ³  of wheat, and 10,000 kors ⁴  of barley. The Ammonites also paid this same amount of annual tribute the next two years. ⁵ 

It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating, only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty. ¹  It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking, only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched. ²  So it will be for the horde from all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.

Indeed, this is what the Lord says to me: “The Lord will be like a growling lion, like a young lion growling over its prey. ¹  Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it, it is not afraid of their shouts or intimidated by their yelling. ²  In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill. ³ 

The people to whom they are prophesying will die through war and famine. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem ¹  and there will be no one to bury them. This will happen to the men and their wives, their sons, and their daughters. ²  For I will pour out on them the destruction they deserve.” ³ 

But suppose a nation or a kingdom will not be subject to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Suppose it will not submit to the yoke of servitude to ¹  him. I, the Lord, affirm that ²  I will punish that nation. I will use the king of Babylon to punish it ³  with war, ⁴  starvation, and disease until I have destroyed it. ⁵ 

So I, the Lord, say: “You have not really obeyed me and granted freedom to your neighbor and fellow countryman. ¹  Therefore, I will grant you freedom, the freedom ²  to die in war, or by starvation or disease. I, the Lord, affirm it! ³  I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to you. ⁴ 

Are you looking for great things for yourself? Do not look for such things. For I, the Lord, affirm ¹  that I am about to bring disaster on all humanity. ²  But I will allow you to escape with your life ³  wherever you go.”’”

At that time ¹  Amraphel king of Shinar, ²  Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations ³ 

Then he prepared ¹  his chariots and took his army ²  with him.

When Sihon and all his troops ¹  emerged to encounter us in battle at Jahaz, ² 

When you approach a city to wage war against it, offer it terms of peace.