<p class="poetry">&#8220;I will set fire to the walls of Damascus;p> <p class="poetry">it will burn up the palaces of Ben Hadad.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Like lions his enemies roar victoriously over him;p> <p class="poetry">they raise their voices in triumph.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They have laid his land waste;p> <p class="poetry">his cities have been burned down and deserted.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">But I will punish you as your deeds deserve,&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;I will set fire to your palace;p> <p class="poetry">it will burn up everything around it.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">You will stumble and fall, you proud city;p> <p class="poetry">no one will help you get up.p> <p class="poetry">I will set fire to your towns;p> <p class="poetry">it will burn up everything that surrounds you.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, once called<n id="1" /> you a thriving olive tree,p> <p class="poetry">one that produced beautiful fruit.p> <p class="poetry">But I will set you<n id="2" /> on fire,p> <p class="poetry">fire that will blaze with a mighty roar.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Then all your branches will be good for nothing.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Pack your bags for exile,p> <p class="poetry">you inhabitants of poor dear Egypt.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For Memphis will be laid waste.p> <p class="poetry">It will lie in ruins<n id="2" /> and be uninhabited.p>

<p class="poetry">The soldiers of Babylonia will stop fighting.p> <p class="poetry">They will remain in their fortified cities.p> <p class="poetry">They will lose their strength to do battle.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They will be as frightened as women.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">The houses in her cities will be set on fire.p> <p class="poetry">The gates of her cities will be broken down.<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">I said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will weep and mourn<n id="2" /> for the grasslands on the mountains,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I will sing a mournful song for the pastures in the wildernessp> <p class="poetry">because they are so scorched no one travels through them.p> <p class="poetry">The sound of livestock is no longer heard there.p> <p class="poetry">Even the birds in the sky and the wild animals in the fieldsp> <p class="poetry">have fled and are gone.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">I said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Who is wise enough to understand why this has happened?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Who has a word from the <sc>Lordsc> that can explain it?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Why does the land lie in ruins?p> <p class="poetry">Why is it as scorched as a desert through which no one travels?&#8221;p>

But you must obey me and set the Sabbath day apart to me. You must not carry any loads in through<n id="1" /> the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. If you disobey, I will set the gates of Jerusalem on fire. It will burn down all the fortified dwellings in Jerusalem and no one will be able to put it out.&#8217;&#8221;p>

The Babylonian soldiers<n id="1" /> that are attacking this city will break into it and set it on fire. They will burn it down along with the houses where people have made me angry by offering sacrifices to the god Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods on their rooftops.<n id="2" />

He will set fire<n id="1" /> to the temples of the gods of Egypt. He will burn their gods or carry them off as captives.<n id="2" /> He will pick Egypt clean like a shepherd picks the lice from his clothing.<n id="3" /> He will leave there unharmed.<n id="4" />

<p class="poetry">Because you did that,p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm that<n id="1" /> a time is comingp> <p class="poetry">when I will make Rabbah, the capital city of Ammon,p> <p class="poetry">hear the sound of the battle cry.p> <p class="poetry">It will become a mound covered with ruins.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Its villages will be burned to the ground.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Then Israel will take back its landp> <p class="poetry">from those who took their land from them.p> <p class="poetry">I, the Lord, affirm it!<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">This is what the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all<n id="1" /> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Babylon&#8217;s thick wall<n id="2" /> will be completely demolished.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Her high gates will be set on fire.p> <p class="poetry">The peoples strive for what does not satisfy.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">The nations grow weary trying to get what will be destroyed.&#8221;<n id="5" />p>