Israel {is} a scattered sheep; the lions have driven {him} away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.

And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in {yourselves}, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. {turneth...: Heb. perverteth the face thereof}

He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.

All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed {her} up: certainly this {is} the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen {it}.

Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they have made {you} desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and {are} an infamy of the people: {Because: Heb. Because for because} {are...: or, ye are made to come up on the lip of the tongue}

How doth the city sit solitary, {that was} full of people! {how} is she become as a widow! she {that was} great among the nations, {and} princess among the provinces, {how} is she become tributary!

Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,

For the LORD hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches. {the excellency of Jacob...: or, the pride of Jacob as the pride, etc}

Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:

Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed. {remained: Heb. stood}

Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for {there is} none end of the store {and} glory out of all the pleasant furniture. {for...: or, and their infinite store, etc} {pleasant...: Heb. vessels of desire}

All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.

In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.

But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. {cormorant: or, pelican}

The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, {and} come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into {their} hands, {from whom} I am not able to rise up.

As Babylon {hath caused} the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth. {As...: or, Both Babylon is to fall, O ye slain of Israel, and with Babylon, etc} {the earth: or, the country}

And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.

In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that {is} in the sea. {piercing: or, crossing like a bar}

But this {is} a people robbed and spoiled; {they are} all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. {they are all...: or, in snaring all the young men of them} {for a spoil: Heb. a treading}

For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.

Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein {is} no pleasure.

Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.

The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.

That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow {it} down: according to {his} substance {shall} the restitution {be}, and he shall not rejoice {therein}. {his...: Heb. the substance of his exchange}

For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, {which} made them afraid, because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.

Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.

All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed {her} up: certainly this {is} the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen {it}.

Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that {are} in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.

Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.

Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed. {remained: Heb. stood}

Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls; {fat: Heb. big, or, corpulent} {bellow...: or, neigh as steeds}

Israel {is} a scattered sheep; the lions have driven {him} away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah {were} oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.

The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty {men} in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, {as} in a winepress. {the virgin...: or, the winepress of the virgin, etc}

Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they have made {you} desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and {are} an infamy of the people: {Because: Heb. Because for because} {are...: or, ye are made to come up on the lip of the tongue}

Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth {that which is} not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay! {Woe...: or, Ho, he}

Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men's blood, and {for} the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. {blood: Heb. bloods}

And I am very sore displeased with the heathen {that are} at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.

And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. {abundance: or, power}

I {am one of them that are} peaceable {and} faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?

And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth {day} of the month, {that} Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.

Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for {he was} in a rage with him because of this {thing}. And Asa oppressed {some} of the people the same time. {oppressed: Heb. crushed}

The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.

They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage.

Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:

And I will punish the world for {their} evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.

That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! {proverb: or, taunting speech} {golden...: or, exactress of gold}

Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry {is} in the ships. {nobles: Heb. bars}

Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet {thee as} a man.