¹³ The people ^(A)did not turn to him who struck them,
    nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.
¹⁴ So the Lord cut off from Israel ^(B)head and tail,
    palm branch and reed in one day—
^15 (C)the elder and honored man is the head,
    and ^(D)the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
¹⁶ for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
    and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
¹⁷ Therefore the Lord does not ^(E)rejoice over their young men,
    and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for everyone is ^(F)godless and an evildoer,
    and every mouth speaks ^(G)folly.^[a]
(H)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

¹⁸ For wickedness burns like ^(I)a fire;
    it consumes briers and thorns;
it kindles the thickets of the forest,
    and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
¹⁹ Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
    the land is scorched,
and ^(J)the people are like fuel for the fire;
    ^(K)no one spares another.
^20 (L)They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,
    and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
^(M)each devours the flesh of his own arm,
²¹ Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
    together they are ^(N)against Judah.
^(O)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

10 Woe to those who ^(P)decree iniquitous decrees,
    and the writers who ^(Q)keep writing oppression,
² to turn aside the needy from justice
    and ^(R)to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil,
    and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
³ What will you do on ^(S)the day of punishment,
    in the ruin that will come ^(T)from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
    and where will you leave your wealth?
⁴ Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
    or fall among the slain.
^(U)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
    and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I remove the boundaries of peoples,
    and plunder their treasures;
    like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
¹⁴ My hand has found like a nest
    the wealth of the peoples;
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
    so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing
    or opened the mouth or chirped.”

¹⁵ Shall ^(AO)the axe boast over him who hews with it,
    or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
    or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
¹⁶ Therefore the Lord God of hosts
    will send wasting sickness among his ^(AP)stout warriors,
and under his glory ^(AQ)a burning will be kindled,
    like the burning of fire.
^17 (AR)The light of Israel will become a fire,
    and ^(AS)his Holy One a flame,
and ^(AT)it will burn and devour
    his thorns and briers ^(AU)in one day.
¹⁸ The glory of ^(AV)his forest and of his ^(AW)fruitful land
    the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
    and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
¹⁹ The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
    that a child can write them down.

³³ He ^(A)turns rivers into a desert,
    springs of water into thirsty ground,
^34 (B)a fruitful land into a salty waste,
    because of the evil of its inhabitants.
³⁵ He ^(C)turns a desert into pools of water,
    ^(D)a parched land into springs of water.
³⁶ And there he lets the hungry dwell,
    and they establish ^(E)a city to live in;
³⁷ they sow fields and plant vineyards
    and get a fruitful yield.
^38 (F)By his blessing they multiply greatly,
    and he does not let their livestock diminish.