The Lord says, “A sound is heard in Ramah, ¹  a sound of crying in bitter grief. It is the sound of Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are gone.” ² 

Oh, how shattered Moab will be! Oh, how her people will wail! Oh, how she will turn away ¹  in shame! Moab will become an object of ridicule, a terrifying sight to all the nations that surround her.”

I said, ¹  “I have heard a message from the Lord. A messenger has been sent among the nations to say, ‘Gather your armies and march out against her! Prepare to do battle with her!’” ² 

Prepare the nations to do battle against her. ¹  Prepare the kings of the Medes. Prepare their governors and all their leaders. ²  Prepare all the countries they rule to do battle against her. ³ 

“I will make her officials and wise men drunk, along with her governors, leaders, ¹  and warriors. They will fall asleep forever and never wake up,” ²  says the King whose name is the Lord who rules over all. ³ 

ג (Gimel) Judah ¹  has departed into exile under ²  affliction and harsh oppression. ³  She ⁴  lives among the nations; she has found no resting place. All who pursued her overtook her in ⁵  narrow straits. ⁶ 

י (Yod) An enemy grabbed ¹  all her valuables. ²  Indeed she watched in horror ³  as Gentiles ⁴  invaded her holy temple ⁵  – those whom you ⁶  had commanded: “They must not enter ⁷  your assembly place.” ⁸ 

פ (Pe) Zion spread out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. The Lord has issued a decree against Jacob; his neighbors ¹  have become his enemies. Jerusalem has become like filthy garbage ²  in their midst. ³ 

You are the daughter of your mother, who detested her husband and her sons, and you are the sister of your sisters who detested their husbands and their sons. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters will be restored to their former status, Samaria and her daughters will be restored to their former status, and you and your daughters will be restored to your former status.

“As for you, son of man, are you willing to pronounce judgment, ¹  are you willing to pronounce judgment on the bloody city? ²  Then confront her with all her abominable deeds!

Her princes ¹  within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows ²  within it.

“‘This is what the Lord says: Egypt’s supporters will fall; her confident pride will crumble. ¹  From Migdol to Syene ²  they will die by the sword within her, declares the sovereign Lord.

Their ¹  graves are located in the remote slopes of the pit. ²  Her assembly is around her grave, all of them struck down by the sword, those who spread terror in the land of the living.

“Meshech-Tubal is there, along with all her hordes around her grave. ¹  All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for they spread their terror in the land of the living.

“Edom is there with her kings and all her princes. Despite their might they are laid with those killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised and those who descend to the pit.

“I will punish her for the festival days when she burned incense to the Baal idols; ¹  she adorned herself with earrings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but ²  she forgot me!” ³  says the Lord.

“I will turn Samaria ¹  into a heap of ruins in an open field – vineyards will be planted there! ²  I will tumble ³  the rubble of her stone walls ⁴  down into the valley, and tear down her fortifications to their foundations. ⁵ 

For a son thinks his father is a fool, a daughter challenges ¹  her mother, and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are his own servants. ² 

“The Lord who rules over all says, ‘I am very much concerned for Zion; indeed, I am so concerned for her that my rage will fall on those who hurt her.’