"Now, mortal man, prophesy. Clap your hands, and the sword will strike again and again. It is a sword that kills, a sword that terrifies and slaughters.

Cut to the right and the left, you sharp sword! Cut wherever you turn.

Balak clenched his fists in anger and said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, but three times now you have blessed them instead.

The LORD says, "Shout as loud as you can! Tell my people Israel about their sins!

I wish my head were a well of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I could cry day and night for my people who have been killed.

I said, "I will mourn for the mountains and weep for the pastures, because they have dried up, and no one travels through them. The sound of livestock is no longer heard; birds and wild animals have fled and gone."

"Go through the whole city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the forehead of everyone who is distressed and troubled because of all the disgusting things being done in the city."

A terrible day is coming; no other day can compare with it--- a time of distress for my people, but they will survive."

The day of the LORD is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. What terror that day will bring!

And so the Sovereign LORD Almighty says, "There will be wailing and cries of sorrow in the city streets. Even farmers will be called to mourn the dead along with those who are paid to mourn.

They stand a long way off, because they are afraid of sharing in her suffering. They say, "How terrible! How awful! This great and mighty city Babylon! In just one hour you have been punished!"

and say, "How terrible! How awful for the great city! She used to dress herself in linen, purple, and scarlet, and cover herself with gold ornaments, precious stones, and pearls!

and cried out as they saw the smoke from the flames that consumed her: "There never has been another city like this great city!"

A third of your people will die from sickness and hunger in the city; a third will be cut down by swords outside the city; and I will scatter the last third to the winds and pursue them with a sword.

This is what the Sovereign LORD is saying: "I will send my four worst punishments on Jerusalem---war, famine, wild animals, and disease---to destroy people and animals alike.

When they ask you where they should go, tell them that I have said: Some are doomed to die by disease--- that's where they will go! Others are doomed to die in war--- that's where they will go! Some are doomed to die of starvation--- that's where they will go! Others are doomed to be taken away as prisoners--- that's where they will go!

I, the LORD, have decided that four terrible things will happen to them: they will be killed in war; their bodies will be dragged off by dogs; birds will eat them, and wild animals will devour what is left over.

They will die of terrible diseases, and no one will mourn for them or bury them. Their bodies will lie like piles of manure on the ground. They will be killed in war or die of starvation, and their bodies will be food for the birds and the wild animals.

I will bring war, starvation, and disease on them until there is not one of them left in the land that I gave to them and their ancestors."