Judgment on Moab, Judah, and Israel

1Thus says YHWH:

“Over three transgressions of Moab, even over four,

I will not turn back—†

over his burning the bones

of the king of Edom to lime!

2And I will send a fire on Moab,

and it will devour the citadels of Kerioth;

and Moab will die with a roar,

with shouting, with the voice of the shofar.

3And I will cut off the judge from her midst,

and all her princes I will kill with him,”

says YHWH.

4Thus says YHWH:

“Over three transgressions of Judah, even over four,

I will not turn back—

over their rejecting the law of YHWH,

and they did not keep His commandments,

and their lies have led them astray,

after which their fathers have walked!

5And I will send a fire on Judah,

and it will devour the citadels of Jerusalem.”

6Thus says YHWH:

“Over three transgressions of Israel, even over four,

I will not turn back—

over their selling the righteous for silver,

and the poor for a pair of sandals.

7They pant after the dust of the earth

on the heads of the poor,

out of their way they stretch aside the humble,

and a man and his father

go into the same girl,

in order to defile the name of My holiness.

8And on clothes taken in pledge they stretch out

beside every altar,

and the wine of those having been fined†

they drink in the house of their God.†

9And I—I have destroyed the Amorite

before their faces,

whose height was like the height of the cedars,

and he was strong as the Oaks;

and I destroyed his fruit above

and his roots beneath.

10And I brought you⁺ up from the land of Egypt,

and I led you⁺ in the wilderness forty years,

to possess the land

of the Amorite.

11And I raised up some of your⁺ sons as prophets,

and some of your⁺ young men as Nazirites.

Indeed, Is it not thus,

O sons of Israel?”

An utterance of YHWH.

12“And the Nazirites you⁺ made to drink wine,

and regarding the prophets you⁺ commanded, saying, ‘You⁺ will not prophesy.’

13Behold, I am going to press you⁺ under,

as a cart full of sheaves presses down.

14And flight will perish from the swift,

and the strong will not strengthen his power,

and the mighty will not deliver his soul.

15And the one handling the bow will not stand,

and the one swift in his feet will not escape,

and the one riding a horse will not deliver his soul;

16and the strong in his heart among the mighty ones

will flee naked on that day,”

a declaration of YHWH.