“I will go before you and level mountains. ¹  Bronze doors I will shatter and iron bars ²  I will hack through.

My message is like a fire that purges dross! ¹  It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces! ²  I, the Lord, so affirm it! ³ 

But the time is coming when I will send men against Moab who will empty it out. They will empty the towns of their people, then will lay those towns in ruins. ¹  I, the Lord, affirm it! ² 

On all the housetops in Moab and in all its public squares there will be nothing but mourning. For I will break Moab like an unwanted jar. I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹ 

You will drain it dry, ¹  gnaw its pieces, ²  and tear out your breasts, ³  for I have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord.

Their heart is slipping; soon they will be punished for their guilt. The Lord ¹  will break their altars; he will completely destroy their fertility pillars.

Hazael asked, “Why are you crying, my master?” He replied, “Because I know the trouble you will cause the Israelites. You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, smash their children to bits, and rip open their pregnant women.”

He ordered the altars of the Baals to be torn down, ¹  and broke the incense altars that were above them. He smashed the Asherah poles, idols and images, crushed them up and sprinkled the dust over the tombs of those who had sacrificed to them.

All her carved idols will be smashed to pieces; all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire. ¹  I will make a waste heap ²  of all her images. Since ³  she gathered the metal ⁴  as a prostitute collects her wages, the idols will become a prostitute’s wages again.” ⁵ 

Yet she went into captivity as an exile; ¹  even her infants were smashed to pieces ²  at the head of every street. They cast lots ³  for her nobility; ⁴  all her dignitaries were bound with chains.

They met ¹  Adoni-Bezek at Bezek and fought him. They defeated the Canaanites and Perizzites.

He fought bravely, striking down the Amalekites and delivering Israel from the hand of its enemies. ¹ 

Indeed, ¹ with your help ²  I can charge ³  against an army; ⁴  by my God’s power ⁵  I can jump over a wall. ⁶ 

You give me strength for battle; ¹  you make my foes kneel before me. ² 

They demolished ¹  the sacred pillar of Baal and ²  the temple of Baal; it is used as ³  a latrine ⁴  to this very day.

When all this was over, the Israelites ¹  who were in the cities of Judah went out and smashed the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and demolished ²  all the high places and altars throughout Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. ³  Then all the Israelites returned to their own homes in their cities. ⁴ 

“Your hands have shaped ¹  me and made me, but ²  now you destroy me completely. ³ 

He breaks through against me, time and time again; ¹  he rushes ²  against me like a warrior.

My days have passed, my plans ¹  are shattered, even ²  the desires ³  of my heart.

Indeed, ¹  with your help ²  I can charge against ³  an army; ⁴  by my God’s power ⁵  I can jump over a wall. ⁶