The Lord will certainly have compassion on Jacob; he will again choose Israel as his special people and restore them to their land. Resident foreigners will join them and unite with the family of Jacob.

Nations will take them and bring them back to their own place. Then the family of Israel will make foreigners their servants as they settle in the Lord’s land. They will make their captors captives and rule over the ones who oppressed them.

Sheol below is stirred up about you, ready to meet you when you arrive. It rouses the spirits of the dead for you, all the former leaders of the earth; it makes all the former kings of the nations rise from their thrones.

Prepare to execute his sons for the sins their ancestors have committed. They must not rise up and take possession of the earth, or fill the surface of the world with cities.

I will break Assyria in my land, I will trample them underfoot on my hills. Their yoke will be removed from my people, the burden will be lifted from their shoulders.

In their streets they wear sackcloth; on their roofs and in their town squares all of them wail; they fall down weeping.

The people of Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz. For this reason Moab’s soldiers shout in distress; their courage wavers.

My heart cries out because of Moab’s plight, and for the fugitives stretched out as far as Zoar and Eglath Shelishiyah. For they weep as they make their way up the ascent of Luhith; they loudly lament their demise on the road to Horonaim.

Indeed, the cries of distress echo throughout Moabite territory; their wailing can be heard in Eglaim and Beer Elim.

Indeed, the waters of Dimon are full of blood! Indeed, I will heap even more trouble on Dimon. A lion will attack the Moabite fugitives and the people left in the land.

We have heard about Moab’s pride— their great arrogance— their boasting, pride, and excess. But their boastful claims are empty.

For the fields of Heshbon are dried up, as well as the vines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations trample all over its vines, which reach Jazer and spread to the wilderness; their shoots spread out and cross the sea.

When the Moabites plead with all their might at their high places, and enter their temples to pray, their prayers will be ineffective.

At that time men will trust in their Creator; they will depend on the Holy One of Israel.

They will no longer trust in the altars their hands made, or depend on the Asherah poles and incense altars their fingers made.

At that time their fortified cities will be like the abandoned summits of the Amorites, which they abandoned because of the Israelites; there will be desolation.

The Lord Will Judge Egypt

This is an oracle about Egypt: Look, the Lord rides on a swift-moving cloud and approaches Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him; the Egyptians lose their courage.

The Egyptians will panic, and I will confuse their strategy. They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead, from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians.

The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and then healing them. They will turn to the Lord, and he will listen to their prayers and heal them.

At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will visit Egypt, and the Egyptians will visit Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.

Those who put their hope in Cush and took pride in Egypt will be afraid and embarrassed.

Your very best valleys were full of chariots; horsemen confidently took their positions at the gate.

This is what the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “Go visit this administrator, Shebna, who supervises the palace, and tell him:

Look at the land of the Chaldeans, these people who have lost their identity! The Assyrians have made it a home for wild animals. They erected their siege towers, demolished its fortresses, and turned it into a heap of ruins.

So a treaty curse devours the earth; its inhabitants pay for their guilt. This is why the inhabitants of the earth disappear, and are reduced to just a handful of people.