For I raise My hand to the heavens, and say, As I live forever,

And say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: On the day when I chose Israel and raised My hand and swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I raised My hand and swore to them, saying, I am Jehovah your God.

And they shall build houses and live in them; and they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for terror. For they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring with them.

I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause pining away of soul. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it; your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you, and shall not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have no one to rescue them.

A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and your produce, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually.

So it was that when Israel had sown, the Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the sons of the East would come up against them.

For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as the abundance of locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it.

And they shall eat up your harvest and your bread. They will devour your sons and your daughters. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees. They shall beat down your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.