Therefore you will have to say farewell to Moresheth Gath. The residents of Achzib will be as disappointing as a dried up well to the kings of Israel.

Therefore the Lord says this: "Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of catastrophe.

Don't preach with such impassioned rhetoric,' they say excitedly. 'These prophets should not preach of such things; we will not be overtaken by humiliation.'

Does the family of Jacob say, 'The Lord's patience can't be exhausted -- he would never do such things'? To be sure, my commands bring a reward for those who obey them,

If a lying windbag should come and say, 'I'll promise you blessings of wine and beer,' he would be just the right preacher for these people!

This is what the Lord says: "The prophets who mislead my people are as good as dead. If someone gives them enough to eat, they offer an oracle of peace. But if someone does not give them food, they are ready to declare war on him.

Her leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, her priests proclaim rulings for profit, and her prophets read omens for pay. Yet they claim to trust the Lord and say, "The Lord is among us. Disaster will not overtake us!"

"In that day," says the Lord, "I will gather the lame, and assemble the outcasts whom I injured.

Many nations have now assembled against you. They say, "Jerusalem must be desecrated, so we can gloat over Zion!"

"In that day," says the Lord, "I will destroy your horses from your midst, and smash your chariots.

Listen to what the Lord says: "Get up! Defend yourself before the mountains! Present your case before the hills!"

When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame. They say to me, "Where is the Lord your God?" I will gloat over them. Then they will be trampled down like mud in the streets.