Listen to the cries of anguish of the leaders. Listen to the wails of the shepherds of the flocks. They are wailing because the Lord is about to destroy their lands. ¹ 

They will be desolate among desolate lands, and their cities will be among ruined cities.

I will save my sheep; they will no longer be prey. I will judge between one sheep and another.

“They do not know how to do what is right.” (The Lord is speaking.) “They store up ¹  the spoils of destructive violence ²  in their fortresses.

How the people of Esau ¹  will be thoroughly plundered! ²  Their ³  hidden valuables will be ransacked! ⁴ 

The enemy said, ‘I will chase, ¹  I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire ²  will be satisfied on them. I will draw ³  my sword, my hand will destroy them.’ ⁴ 

You must not take for yourself anything that has been placed under judgment. ¹  Then the Lord will relent from his intense anger, show you compassion, have mercy on you, and multiply you as he promised your ancestors.

I saw among the goods we seized a nice robe from Babylon, ¹  two hundred silver pieces, ²  and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels. I wanted them, so I took them. They are hidden in the ground right in the middle of my tent with the silver underneath.”

saying, “Take home ¹  great wealth, a lot of cattle, ²  silver, gold, bronze, iron, and a lot of ³  clothing. Divide up the goods captured from your enemies with your brothers.”

For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion. They will wail, ¹  ‘We are utterly ruined! ²  We are completely disgraced! For our houses have been torn down and we must leave our land.’” ³ 

But our tents have been destroyed. The ropes that held them in place have been ripped apart. ¹  Our children are gone and are not coming back. ²  There is no survivor to put our tents back up, no one left to hang their tent curtains in place.

I will weep for the grapevines of Sibmah just like the town of Jazer weeps over them. ¹  Their branches once spread as far as the Dead Sea. ²  They reached as far as the town of Jazer. ³  The destroyer will ravage her fig, date, ⁴  and grape crops.

I will turn the land of Egypt into a desolation in the midst of desolate lands; for forty years her cities will lie desolate in the midst of ruined cities. I will scatter Egypt among the nations and disperse them among foreign countries.

“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction, and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of my people, ¹  declares the sovereign Lord.

Then the king of the north ¹  will return to his own land with much property. His mind will be set against the holy covenant. He will take action, and then return to his own land.

The roar of battle will rise against your people; all your fortresses will be devastated, just as Shalman devastated ¹  Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.

“If thieves came to rob you ¹  during the night, ²  they would steal only as much as they wanted! ³  If grape pickers came to harvest your vineyards, ⁴  they would leave some behind for the poor! ⁵  But you will be totally destroyed! ⁶ 

Therefore you must wait patiently ¹  for me,” says the Lord, “for the day when I attack and take plunder. ²  I have decided ³  to gather nations together and assemble kingdoms, so I can pour out my fury on them – all my raging anger. For ⁴  the whole earth will be consumed by my fiery anger.

He retrieved all the stolen property. ¹  He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, as well as the women and the rest of ²  the people.

Worthy of praise is ¹  the Most High God, who delivered ²  your enemies into your hand.” Abram gave Melchizedek ³  a tenth of everything.