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“The Lord Yahweh has sworn by himself,” says Yahweh, the God of Armies:
    “I abhor the pride of Jacob,
    and detest his fortresses.
    Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.
It will happen, if there remain ten men in one house,
    that they shall die.

10 “When a man’s relative carries him, even he who burns him, to bring bodies out of the house, and asks him who is in the innermost parts of the house, ‘Is there yet any with you?’ And he says, ‘No;’ then he will say, ‘Hush! Indeed we must not mention Yahweh’s name.’

11 “For, behold, Yahweh commands, and the great house will be smashed to pieces,
    and the little house into bits.
12 Do horses run on the rocky crags?
    Does one plow there with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison,
    and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness;
13 you who rejoice in a thing of nothing, who say,
    ‘Haven’t we taken for ourselves horns by our own strength?’
14 For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, house of Israel,”
    says Yahweh, the God of Armies;
    “and they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of the Arabah.”

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Israel’s Pride Judged

The Lord God has sworn by himself(A)—this is the declaration of the Lord, the God of Armies:

I loathe Jacob’s pride(B)
and hate his citadels,(C)
so I will hand over the city(D) and everything in it.

And if there are ten men left in one house, they will die.(E) 10 A close relative[a] and burner[b](F) will remove his corpse[c] from the house. He will call to someone in the inner recesses of the house, “Any more with you?”

That person will reply, “None.”

Then he will say, “Silence, because the Lord’s name must not be invoked.”(G)

11 For the Lord commands:

The large house will be smashed to pieces,
and the small house to rubble.(H)

12 Do horses gallop on the cliffs?
Does anyone plow there with oxen?[d]
Yet you have turned justice into poison(I)
and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood(J)
13 you who rejoice over Lo-debar(K)
and say, “Didn’t we capture Karnaim
for ourselves by our own strength?” (L)
14 But look, I am raising up a nation
against you, house of Israel(M)
this is the declaration of the Lord,
the God of Armies—
and they will oppress you
from the entrance of Hamath[e](N)
to the Brook of the Arabah.[f]

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Footnotes

  1. 6:10 Lit His uncle
  2. 6:10 A burner of incense, a memorial fire, or a body; Hb obscure
  3. 6:10 Lit remove bones
  4. 6:12 Some emend to plow the sea
  5. 6:14 Or from Lebo-hamath
  6. 6:14 Probably the Valley of Zared at the southeast end of the Dead Sea