Part 16 (1/2)

Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. And now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.

And the LORD hath given commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown; out of the house of thy G.o.ds will I cut off the graven image and the molten image; I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.

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Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! Keep thy feasts, O Judah, perform thy vows: for the wicked one shall no more pa.s.s through thee; he is utterly cut off.

He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: Keep the munition; watch the way; Make thy loins strong, Fortify thy power mightily.

For the LORD bringeth again the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.

The s.h.i.+eld of his mighty men is made red: The valiant men are in scarlet: The chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, And the spears are shaken terribly.

The chariots rage in the streets, They justle one against another in the broad ways: The appearance of them is like torches, They run like the lightnings.

He remembereth his worthies: They stumble in their march; They make haste to the wall thereof, And the mantelet is prepared.

The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved: And Huzzab is uncovered; she is carried away; And her handmaids mourn as with the voice of doves, Tabering upon their b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water; Yet they flee away: 'Stand, stand'-- But none looketh back.

Take ye the spoil of silver, Take the spoil of gold; For there is none end of the store, The glory of all pleasant furniture.

She is empty, and void, and waste: And the heart melteth, and the knees smite together; And anguish is in all loins, And the faces of them all are waxed pale.

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Where is the den of the lions, And the feeding place of the young lions, Where the lion and the lioness walked, The lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?

The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, And strangled for his lionesses; And filled his caves with prey, And his dens with ravin.

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Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.

Woe to the b.l.o.o.d.y city!

It is all full of lies and rapine; The prey departeth not.

The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels; And pransing horses, and jumping chariots; The horseman mounting, and the flas.h.i.+ng sword, and the glittering spear;

And a mult.i.tude of slain, and a great heap of carcases: And there is none end of the corpses; They stumble upon their corpses:

Because of the mult.i.tude of the wh.o.r.edoms of the well-favoured harlot, The mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her wh.o.r.edoms, And families through her witchcrafts.

Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face; and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock. And it shall come to pa.s.s, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say:

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