49 [ref]◙ 2 ◙ 3 ◙ 4 ◙ 5 ◙ 6 ◙

25 [ref]◙ 2 ◙ 3 ◙ 4 ◙ 5 ◙

6 ◙ 7 ◙

Syria

3 This is what Yahweh says:

“Even if Damascus was three or four sins below the threshold,

I wouldn’t turn away their punishment,

for the cruel things they did to the people of Gilead.[ref]

4 I’ll send a fire into King Hazael’s house,

≈and it will devour King Ben-Hadad’s fortresses.

5 I’ll smash the gate bars of Damascus

and eliminate the ruler of the Aven Valley,

and also the leader of Beth-Eden.

The people of Aram will go in captivity to Kir,”

says Yahweh.

Philistia

6 This is what Yahweh says:

“Even if Azzah (Gaza) was three or four sins below the threshold,

I wouldn’t turn away their punishment,

because they carried a whole people group away as captives,

to hand them over to Edom.[ref] 7 I’ll send fire onto Azzah’s walls,

and it’ll devour her fortresses. 8 I will cut off those from Ashdod

≈and the ruler of Ashkelon.

I’ll cause problems for Ekron,

and the rest of the Philistines will die,”

says Yahweh the master.

Tsor

9 This is what Yahweh says:

“Even if Tsor (Tyre) was three or four sins below the threshold,

I wouldn’t turn away their punishment,

because they handed a whole people group over to Edom,

and they didn’t take any notice of their brotherhood agreement.[ref]

10 I’ll send fire onto Tsor’s walls,

and it’ll devour her fortresses.”

Edom

11 This is what Yahweh says,

“Even if Edom was three or four sins below the threshold,

I wouldn’t turn away their punishment,

because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity.

His anger raged continually,

≈and his rage lasted forever.[ref]

12 I’ll send fire on Teyman,

and it’ll devour Botsrah’s fortresses.”

Ammon

13 This is what Yahweh says,

“Even if the Ammonites were three or four sins below the threshold,

I wouldn’t turn away their punishment,

because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead,

in order to grab territory.[ref]

14 I’ll light a fire in Rabah’s walls,

and it’ll devour its fortresses,

with a shout in the day of battle,

with a storm in the day of the whirlwind.

15 Their king will go into captivity along with his officials,”

says Yahweh.

12 Once again the Israelis started doing things considered evil by Yahweh, so because of that, he strengthened King Eglon of Moab against Israel. 13 King Eglon enlisted warriors from the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and they attacked Israel and captured Yericho, the city of palm trees,

6 The Israelis continued to do what Yahweh considered evil: they worshipped the Ba’als, the Ashtorets, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines. They forsook Yahweh and didn’t serve him. 7 Yahweh was very angry with Israel, so he allowed the Philistines and the Ammonites to harass them. 8 They shattered and oppressed the Israelis that year, but it went on for eighteen years for all the Israelis who were on the opposite side of the Yordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in the Gilead. 9 Then the Ammonites also crossed over the Yordan to fight against Yehudah, against Benyamin, and against the half-tribe of Efraim.

This caused incredible distress for the Israelis 10 so they cried out to Yahweh, “We have sinned against you, because we have abandoned our God and we have served the Ba’als.”

11 “Wasn’t it from the Egyptians,” Yahweh responded, “from the Amorites, from the Ammonites, from the Philistines,