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Thus says the LORD: 1"For three transgressions of 2Moab, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,a because 3he burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom.
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So I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the strongholds of 4Kerioth, and Moab shall die amid uproar, amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;
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5I will cut off the ruler from its midst, and will kill 6all its princesb with him," says the LORD.
Judgment on Judah
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Thus says the LORD: 7"For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because 8they have rejected the law of the LORD, and have not kept his statutes, but 9their lies have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked.
Judgment on Israel
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Thus says the LORD: 11"For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because 12they sell the righteous for 13silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals--
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those who trample the head of the poor 14into the dust of the earth and 15turn aside the way of the afflicted; 16a man and his father go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned;
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they lay themselves down beside every altar on garments 17taken in pledge, and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.
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"Yet 18it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, 19whose height was like the height of the cedars and who was as strong as the oaks; 20I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath.
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21Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt 22and led you forty years in the wilderness, 23to possess the land of the Amorite.
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And I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for 24Nazirites. Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?" declares the LORD.
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"But you made the Nazirites 25drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, 26'You shall not prophesy.'
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"Behold, I will press you down in your place, as a cart full of sheaves presses down.
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27Flight shall perish from the swift, 28and the strong shall not retain his strength, 29nor shall the mighty save his life;
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he who handles the bow shall not stand, and he who is 30swift of foot shall not save himself, 31nor shall he who rides the horse save his life;
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and he who is stout of heart among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day," declares the LORD.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)