Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. {extortioner: Heb. wringer} {the oppressors: Heb. the treaders down}

Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau {is} Edom.

And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan {by} Jericho.

And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for {their} hurt, {to be} a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. {to be removed: Heb. for removing, or, vexation}

Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah {is} like unto all the heathen;

Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them;

Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. {skirts: Heb. wings}

Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them; {by...: Heb. by revenging revengement}

Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed {the blood of} the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time {that their} iniquity {had} an end: {perpetual...: or, hatred of old} {shed...: Heb. poured out the children} {force: Heb. hands}

Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabeshgilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.

And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God {was} your king.

For thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast clapped {thine} hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel; {hands: Heb. hand} {feet: Heb. foot} {heart: Heb. soul}

A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.

In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou {wast} as one of them. {captive...: or, his substance}

As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, {even} all of it: and they shall know that I {am} the LORD.

And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.

But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations, whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah;

My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek {after them}.

Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that {were} in Mizpah, {even} the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the Ammonites.

And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD. {gathered: Heb. melted}

Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.

And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.

Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.