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10 It is sharpened for terrible slaughter
    and polished to flash like lightning!
Now will you laugh?
    Those far stronger than you have fallen beneath its power![a]

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Footnotes

  1. 21:10 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.

The Lord stands at your right hand to protect you.
    He will strike down many kings when his anger erupts.
He will punish the nations
    and fill their lands with corpses;
    he will shatter heads over the whole earth.

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47 Tell the southern wilderness, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Hear the word of the Lord! I will set you on fire, and every tree, both green and dry, will be burned. The terrible flames will not be quenched and will scorch everything from south to north.

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27 They will rule the nations with an iron rod
    and smash them like clay pots.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 2:26-27 Ps 2:8-9 (Greek version).

34 “Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life. Don’t let that day catch you unaware, 35 like a trap. For that day will come upon everyone living on the earth.

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11 The sun and moon stood still in the sky
    as your brilliant arrows flew
    and your glittering spear flashed.

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See the flashing swords and glittering spears
    as the charioteers charge past!
There are countless casualties,
    heaps of bodies—
so many bodies that
    people stumble over them.

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10 His enemies, tangled like thornbushes
    and staggering like drunks,
    will be burned up like dry stubble in a field.

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You push away every thought of coming disaster,
    but your actions only bring the day of judgment closer.
How terrible for you who sprawl on ivory beds
    and lounge on your couches,
eating the meat of tender lambs from the flock
    and of choice calves fattened in the stall.
You sing trivial songs to the sound of the harp
    and fancy yourselves to be great musicians like David.
You drink wine by the bowlful
    and perfume yourselves with fragrant lotions.
    You care nothing about the ruin of your nation.[a]
Therefore, you will be the first to be led away as captives.
    Suddenly, all your parties will end.

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Footnotes

  1. 6:6 Hebrew of Joseph.

25 “O you corrupt and wicked prince of Israel, your final day of reckoning is here! 26 This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“Take off your jeweled crown,
    for the old order changes.
Now the lowly will be exalted,
    and the mighty will be brought down.
27 Destruction! Destruction!
    I will surely destroy the kingdom.
And it will not be restored until the one appears
    who has the right to judge it.
Then I will hand it over to him.

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11 Its branches became strong—
    strong enough to be a ruler’s scepter.
It grew very tall,
    towering above all others.
It stood out because of its height
    and its many lush branches.
12 But the vine was uprooted in fury
    and thrown down to the ground.
The desert wind dried up its fruit
    and tore off its strong branches,
so that it withered
    and was destroyed by fire.
13 Now the vine is transplanted to the wilderness,
    where the ground is hard and dry.
14 A fire has burst out from its branches
    and devoured its fruit.
Its remaining limbs are not
    strong enough to be a ruler’s scepter.

“This is a funeral song, and it will be used in a funeral.”

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Harness the horses,
    and mount the stallions.
Take your positions.
    Put on your helmets.
Sharpen your spears,
    and prepare your armor.

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And when my sword has finished its work in the heavens,
    it will fall upon Edom,
    the nation I have marked for destruction.
The sword of the Lord is drenched with blood
    and covered with fat—
with the blood of lambs and goats,
    with the fat of rams prepared for sacrifice.
Yes, the Lord will offer a sacrifice in the city of Bozrah.
    He will make a mighty slaughter in Edom.

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12 At that time the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
    called you to weep and mourn.
He told you to shave your heads in sorrow for your sins
    and to wear clothes of burlap to show your remorse.
13 But instead, you dance and play;
    you slaughter cattle and kill sheep.
    You feast on meat and drink wine.
You say, “Let’s feast and drink,
    for tomorrow we die!”

14 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has revealed this to me: “Till the day you die, you will never be forgiven for this sin.” That is the judgment of the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

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12 They furnish wine and lovely music at their grand parties—
    lyre and harp, tambourine and flute—
but they never think about the Lord
    or notice what he is doing.

13 So my people will go into exile far away
    because they do not know me.
Those who are great and honored will starve,
    and the common people will die of thirst.
14 The grave[a] is licking its lips in anticipation,
    opening its mouth wide.
The great and the lowly
    and all the drunken mob will be swallowed up.

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Footnotes

  1. 5:14 Hebrew Sheol.

A time to cry and a time to laugh.
    A time to grieve and a time to dance.

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38 But now you have rejected him and cast him off.
    You are angry with your anointed king.
39 You have renounced your covenant with him;
    you have thrown his crown in the dust.
40 You have broken down the walls protecting him
    and ruined every fort defending him.
41 Everyone who comes along has robbed him,
    and he has become a joke to his neighbors.
42 You have strengthened his enemies
    and made them all rejoice.
43 You have made his sword useless
    and refused to help him in battle.
44 You have ended his splendor
    and overturned his throne.
45 You have made him old before his time
    and publicly disgraced him. Interlude

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26 And he will call out to me, ‘You are my Father,
    my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
27 I will make him my firstborn son,
    the mightiest king on earth.
28 I will love him and be kind to him forever;
    my covenant with him will never end.
29 I will preserve an heir for him;
    his throne will be as endless as the days of heaven.
30 But if his descendants forsake my instructions
    and fail to obey my regulations,
31 if they do not obey my decrees
    and fail to keep my commands,
32 then I will punish their sin with the rod,
    and their disobedience with beating.

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The king proclaims the Lord’s decree:
“The Lord said to me, ‘You are my son.[a]
    Today I have become your Father.[b]
Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance,
    the whole earth as your possession.
You will break[c] them with an iron rod
    and smash them like clay pots.’”

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Footnotes

  1. 2:7a Or Son; also in 2:12.
  2. 2:7b Or Today I reveal you as my son.
  3. 2:9 Greek version reads rule. Compare Rev 2:27.

15 At the king’s command, the decree went out by swift messengers, and it was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa fell into confusion.

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