The Lord stretched out his hand over the sea, ¹  he shook kingdoms; he ²  gave the order to destroy Canaan’s fortresses. ³ 

All this will happen because the Lord said, ¹  “The whole land will be desolate; however, I will not completely destroy it.

The Lord says, ¹  “Attack ²  the land of Merathaim and the people who live in Pekod! ³  Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them! ⁴  Do just as I have commanded you! ⁵ 

“Babylon, ¹  you are my war club, ²  my weapon for battle. I used you to smash nations. ³  I used you to destroy kingdoms.

Yet I had pity on ¹  them and did not destroy them, so I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.

“This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘The Philistines ¹  have exacted merciless revenge, ²  showing intense scorn ³  in their effort to destroy Judah ⁴  with unrelenting hostility. ⁵ 

They will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers. I will scrape her soil ¹  from her and make her a bare rock.

I will destroy all its cattle beside the plentiful waters; and no human foot will disturb ¹  the waters ²  again, nor will the hooves of cattle disturb them.

It was like the vision I saw when he ¹  came to destroy the city, and the vision I saw by the Kebar River. I threw myself face down.

Those who share the king’s fine food will attempt to destroy him, and his army will be swept away; ¹  many will be killed in battle.

But reports will trouble him from the east and north, and he will set out in a tremendous rage to destroy and wipe out many.

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.

A sword will flash in their cities, it will destroy the bars of their city gates, and will devour them in their fortresses.

I will destroy both the winter and summer houses. ¹  The houses filled with ivory ²  will be ruined, the great ³  houses will be swept away.” ⁴  The Lord is speaking!

At that time,” ¹  the Lord says, “I will destroy the wise sages of Edom! ²  the advisers ³  from Esau’s mountain! ⁴ 

But you are the ones who will be forced to leave! ¹  For this land is not secure! ²  Sin will thoroughly destroy it! ³ 

The Lord ¹  will attack the north ²  and destroy Assyria. He will make Nineveh a heap of ruins; it will be as barren ³  as the desert.

This is what the Lord says: “When ¹  juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes, someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’ ²  So I will do for the sake of my servants – I will not destroy everyone. ³ 

So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them. Like a wolf from the desert they will destroy them. Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities and totally destroy anyone who ventures out. ¹  For they have rebelled so much and done so many unfaithful things. ² 

The snorting of the enemy’s horses is already being heard in the city of Dan. The sound of the neighing of their stallions ¹  causes the whole land to tremble with fear. They are coming to destroy the land and everything in it! They are coming to destroy ²  the cities and everyone who lives in them!”