“The people of Damascus have sinned again and again,^[a]
    and I will not let them go unpunished!
They beat down my people in Gilead
    as grain is threshed with iron sledges.

“The people of Israel have sinned again and again,
    and I will not let them go unpunished!
They sell honorable people for silver
    and poor people for a pair of sandals.

“The people of Tyre have sinned again and again,
    and I will not let them go unpunished!
They broke their treaty of brotherhood with Israel,
    selling whole villages as slaves to Edom.

“The people of Judah have sinned again and again,
    and I will not let them go unpunished!
They have rejected the instruction of the Lord,
    refusing to obey his decrees.
They have been led astray by the same lies
    that deceived their ancestors.

“The people of Moab have sinned again and again,^[a]
    and I will not let them go unpunished!
They desecrated the bones of Edom’s king,
    burning them to ashes.

“The people of Ammon have sinned again and again,
    and I will not let them go unpunished!
When they attacked Gilead to extend their borders,
    they ripped open pregnant women with their swords.

“The people of Gaza have sinned again and again,
    and I will not let them go unpunished!
They sent whole villages into exile,
    selling them as slaves to Edom.

“The towns of Hamath and Arpad are struck with fear,
    for they have heard the news of their destruction.
Their hearts are troubled
    like a wild sea in a raging storm.
²⁴ Damascus has become feeble,
    and all her people turn to flee.
Fear, anguish, and pain have gripped her
    as they grip a woman in labor.
²⁵ That famous city, a city of joy,
    will be forsaken!
²⁶ Her young men will fall in the streets and die.
    Her soldiers will all be killed,”
    says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
²⁷ “And I will set fire to the walls of Damascus
    that will burn up the palaces of Ben-hadad.”