2 Listen, all you peoples.

≈ Let the world and everything in it pay attention.

Let my master Yahweh be against you as a witness,

my master from his sacred temple

3 because wow, Yahweh comes out of his place.

He will come down and tread on the high places[fn] of the earth.

4 The mountains will melt under him.

≈ The valleys will break apart,

like wax that’s near a fire,

≈ like waters that are poured out from a steep place.

5 All that is because of Ya’akov’s (Jacob’s) disobedience,

and because of the sins of the Israeli people.

What was Ya’akov’s transgression? Isn’t it Shomron (Samaria)?

What is Yehudah’s (Judah’s) high place? Isn’t it Yerushalem (Jerusalem)?

6 “I will make Shomron a heap of ruins in the countryside—

≈ a place for planting vineyards.

Then I’ll pour the stones from her buildings down into the valley

≈ and I’ll uncover her foundations.

7 All her carved statues will be smashed into pieces,

and all her wages will be burnt.

Yes, I’ll totally destroy all her idols.

Since she used prostitutes’ wages to pay for them,

≈ the crushed pieces of idols will become prostitutes’ wages again.”

8 Because of that, I’ll mourn and wail.

I’ll go barefoot and undressed.

I’ll wail like the jackals

≈ and mourn like owls

9 because her wound is incurable.

Yes, it’s come to Yehudah (Judah).

≈ It’s reached the gate of my people—reached Yerushalem (Jerusalem).