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¹²The watchman said:

'The morning cometh, and also the night—

If ye will inquire, inquire ye; return, come.'

¹³The burden upon Arabia.

In the thickets in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye caravans of Dedanites.

¹⁴Unto him that is thirsty bring ye water!

The inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitive with his bread.

¹⁵For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword,

And from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.

¹⁶For thus hath the Lord said unto me: 'Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail; ¹⁷and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished; for the Lord, the God of Israel, hath spoken it.'

22The burden concerning the Valley of Vision.

What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops,

²Thou that art full of uproar, a tumultuous city, a joyous town?

Thy slain are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.

³All thy rulers are fled together,

Without the bow they are bound;

All that are found of thee are bound together, they are fled afar off.

⁴Therefore said I: 'Look away from me, I will weep bitterly;

Strain not to comfort me, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.'

⁵For it is a day of trouble, and of trampling, and of perplexity,

From the Lord, the God of hosts, in the Valley of Vision;

Kir shouting, and Shoa at the mount.

⁶And Elam bore the quiver, with troops of men, even horsemen;

And Kir uncovered the shield.

⁷And it came to pass, when thy choicest valleys were full of chariots,

And the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate,

⁸And the covering of Judah was laid bare,

that thou didst look in that day to the armour in the house of the forest. ⁹And ye saw the breaches of the city of David, that they were many; and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool. ¹⁰And ye numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and ye broke down the houses to fortify the wall; ¹¹ye made also a basin between the two walls for the water of the old pool—

But ye looked not unto Him that had done this,

Neither had ye respect unto Him that fashioned it long ago.

¹²And in that day did the Lord, the God of hosts, call

To weeping, and to lamentation, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth;

¹³And behold joy and gladness,

Slaying oxen and killing sheep,

Eating flesh and drinking wine—

'Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die!'

¹⁴And the Lord of hosts revealed Himself in mine ears:

Surely this iniquity shall not be expiated by you till ye die,

Saith the Lord, the God of hosts.

 

¹⁵Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts:

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