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2. Judgment on Israel

¹ This is what the LORD says:

   “For three sins of Moab,
   even for four, I will not relent.
Because he burned to ashes
   the bones of Edom’s king,
² I will send fire on Moab
   that will consume the fortresses of Kerioth. Or of her cities
Moab will go down in great tumult
   amid war cries and the blast of the trumpet.
³ I will destroy her ruler
   and kill all her officials with him,” says the LORD.

⁴ This is what the LORD says:

   “For three sins of Judah,
   even for four, I will not relent.
Because they have rejected the law of the LORD
   and have not kept his decrees,
because they have been led astray by false gods, Or by lies
   the gods Or lies their ancestors followed,
⁵ I will send fire on Judah
   that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.”

Judgment on Israel

⁶ This is what the LORD says:

   “For three sins of Israel,
   even for four, I will not relent.
They sell the innocent for silver,
   and the needy for a pair of sandals.
⁷ They trample on the heads of the poor
   as on the dust of the ground
   and deny justice to the oppressed.
Father and son use the same girl
   and so profane my holy name.
⁸ They lie down beside every altar
   on garments taken in pledge.
In the house of their god
   they drink wine taken as fines.

    ⁹ “Yet I destroyed the Amorites before them,
   though they were tall as the cedars
   and strong as the oaks.
I destroyed their fruit above
   and their roots below.
¹⁰ I brought you up out of Egypt
   and led you forty years in the wilderness
   to give you the land of the Amorites.

    ¹¹ “I also raised up prophets from among your children
   and Nazirites from among your youths.
Is this not true, people of Israel?” declares the LORD.
¹² “But you made the Nazirites drink wine
   and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.

    ¹³ “Now then, I will crush you
   as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.
¹⁴ The swift will not escape,
   the strong will not muster their strength,
   and the warrior will not save his life.
¹⁵ The archer will not stand his ground,
   the fleet-footed soldier will not get away,
   and the horseman will not save his life.
¹⁶ Even the bravest warriors
   will flee naked on that day,” declares the LORD.

He therefore adds a threatening, I will send a fire on Moab, which shall devour the palaces of קריות, Koriut We have stated that what the Prophet means by these modes of speaking is that God would consume the Moabites by a violent punishment as by a burning fire, that fortified places could not hinder him from executing his vengeance, and that though they were proud of their palaces, yet these would avail them nothing.

And he subjoins, Moab shall die with tumult, with noise, with the sound of the trumpet; that is, I will send strong enemies, who will come and make no peace with the Moabites, but will take possession of every place, and of fortified cities, by force and by the sword. For what the Prophet means by tumult, by shouting, by the sound of the trumpet, is, that the Moabites would not come under the power of their enemies by certain agreements and compacts, as when a voluntary surrender is made, which usually mitigates the hostile rage of enemies; no, he says, it shall not be so; for their enemies shall have not only their wealth but their lives also.