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This, too: Thrice forfeit Moab, and forfeit once again, that burned the king of Edom’s bones to dust;✻
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fall fire on Moab, to burn down all the strongholds of Carioth! With tumult and the bray of trumpets, Moab shall go to his death;
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ruler of theirs I will strike down in their midst, and all his vassals shall perish with him, the Lord says.
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This, too: Thrice forfeit Juda, and forfeit once again, that spurned the Lord’s law and left his bidding undone, so mazed were they by the false gods their fathers had gone a-courting;
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fire fall on Juda, to burn down all the strongholds of Jerusalem!
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And this, too: What of Israel? Thrice forfeit Israel like the rest, and forfeit once again, that for a debt, though it were but the price of a pair of shoes, will make slaves of poor, honest folk.
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Ground in the dust, the poor man’s rights, shouldered aside, the claim of the unbefriended! See where father and son, to my name’s dishonour, bed with one maid!
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See where they lie feasting beside the altar, at the very shrine of their God, no cloak there but is some borrower’s pledge, no stoup of wine but is some debtor’s forfeit!
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Was it for such men as these I exterminated the Amorrhites, a race tall as the cedar, hardy as the oak, root and fruit of them doomed to destruction?
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These are the men I rescued from Egypt, guided them, all those forty years, through the wilderness, to make the domain of the Amorrhites theirs!
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Tell me, men of Israel, the Lord says, what avails it that I should call sons of yours, from their boyhood’s days, to serve me as prophets and Nazirites?
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Ever you tempt the Nazirites with wine, ever you forbid the prophet to raise his voice in prophecy.
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Henceforth, you shall seek my help in vain; waggon-axle overladen with sheaves groans not so reluctant as I!
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Speed shall be no profit to the speedy, strength to the strong; warrior shall not escape,
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nor bowman stand firm; the fleet of foot, nay, the very horseman shall have no deliverance;
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a day is coming, the Lord says, when tried valour shall be fain to throw arms away, and take flight.
