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.

The Lord says, ¹  “The leaders of my people are sure to be judged. ²  They were supposed to watch over my people like shepherds watch over their sheep. But they are causing my people to be destroyed and scattered. ³ 

In the past I saw to it that they were uprooted and torn down, that they were destroyed and demolished. But now I will see to it that they are built up and firmly planted. ¹  I, the Lord, affirm it!” ² 

The destroyer will come against every town. Not one town will escape. The towns in the valley will be destroyed. The cities on the high plain will be laid waste. ¹  I, the Lord, have spoken! ² 

But I will strip everything away from Esau’s descendants. I will uncover their hiding places so they cannot hide. Their children, relatives, and neighbors will all be destroyed. Not one of them will be left!

Edom will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns that were around them. No one will live there. No human being will settle in it,” says the Lord.

ב (Bet) The Lord ¹  destroyed ²  mercilessly ³  all the homes of Jacob’s descendants. ⁴  In his anger he tore down the fortified cities ⁵  of Daughter Judah. He knocked to the ground and humiliated the kingdom and its rulers. ⁶ 

ג (Gimel) In fierce anger ¹  he destroyed ²  the whole army ³  of Israel. He withdrew his right hand ⁴  as the enemy attacked. ⁵  He was like a raging fire in the land of Jacob; ⁶  it consumed everything around it. ⁷ 

פ (Pe) All your enemies gloated over you. ¹  They sneered and gnashed their teeth; they said, “We have destroyed ²  her! Ha! We have waited a long time for this day. We have lived to see it!” ³ 

I will break down the wall you coated with whitewash and knock it to the ground so that its foundation is exposed. When it falls you will be destroyed beneath it, ¹  and you will know that I am the Lord.

So I have poured my anger on them, and destroyed them with the fire of my fury. I hereby repay them for what they have done, ¹  declares the sovereign Lord.”

“Son of man, because Tyre ¹  has said about Jerusalem, ²  ‘Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I will become rich, ³  now that she ⁴  has been destroyed,’

By the swords of the mighty warriors I will cause your hordes to fall – all of them are the most terrifying among the nations. They will devastate the pride of Egypt, and all its hordes will be destroyed.

He asked them to pray for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that he ¹  and his friends would not be destroyed along with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

“Then I kept on watching because of the arrogant words of the horn that was speaking. I was watching ¹  until the beast was killed and its body destroyed and thrown into ²  the flaming fire.

To him was given ruling authority, honor, and sovereignty. All peoples, nations, and language groups were serving ¹  him. His authority is eternal and will not pass away. ²  His kingdom will not be destroyed. ³ 

There will arise after him ¹  one ²  who will send out an exactor ³  of tribute to enhance the splendor of the kingdom, but after a few days he will be destroyed, ⁴  though not in anger or battle.

You have destroyed ¹  my people by failing to acknowledge me! Because you refuse to acknowledge me, ²  I will reject you as my priests. Because you reject ³  the law of your God, I will reject ⁴  your descendants.

They ¹  have destroyed our ²  vines; ³  they have turned our ⁴  fig trees into mere splinters. They have completely stripped off the bark ⁵  and thrown them aside; the ⁶  twigs are stripped bare. ⁷ 

“I destroyed your crops ¹  with blight and disease. Locusts kept ²  devouring your orchards, ³  vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees. Still you did not come back to me.” The Lord is speaking!