Today's Reading

¹Of the children of Ammon. "Thus says the Lord: 'Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in its cities?

²Therefore behold, the days come,' says the Lord, 'that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon; and it shall become a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel possess those who possessed him,' says the Lord.

³'Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste; cry, you daughters of Rabbah, clothe yourself in sackcloth: lament, and run back and forth among the fences; for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.

⁴Why do you glory in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? You who trusted in her treasures, saying, "Who shall come to me?"

⁵Behold, I will bring a fear on you,' says the Lord, the Lord of hosts, 'from all who are around you; and you shall be driven out every man right forth, and there shall be none to gather together the fugitives.

⁶But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon,' says the Lord."

⁷Of Edom. "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Is wisdom no more in Teman? Is counsel perished from the prudent? Is their wisdom vanished?

⁸Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him, the time that I shall visit him.

⁹If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night, wouldn't they destroy until they had enough?

¹⁰But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is destroyed, and his brothers, and his neighbors; and he is no more.

¹¹Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me.'

¹²For thus says the Lord: 'Behold, they to whom it did not pertain to drink of the cup shall certainly drink; and are you he who shall altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink.

¹³For I have sworn by myself,' says the Lord, 'that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all its cities shall be perpetual wastes.'"

¹⁴I have heard news from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, "Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle."

¹⁵"For, behold, I have made you small among the nations, and despised among men.

¹⁶As for your terror, the pride of your heart has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill: though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there," says the Lord.

¹⁷"Edom shall become an astonishment: everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all its plagues.

¹⁸As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities of it," says the Lord, "no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein.

¹⁹Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? And who will appoint me a time? And who is the shepherd who will stand before me?

²⁰Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord, that he has taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely they shall drag them away, the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.

²¹The earth trembles at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Red Sea.

²²Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah: and the heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs."

²³Of Damascus. "Hamath is confounded, and Arpad; for they have heard evil news, they are melted away: there is sorrow on the sea; it can't be quiet.

²⁴Damascus has grown feeble, she turns herself to flee, and trembling has seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail.

²⁵How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy?

²⁶Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be brought to silence in that day," says the Lord of hosts.

²⁷"I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben Hadad."

²⁸Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck. "Thus says the Lord: 'Arise, go up to Kedar, and destroy the children of the east.'

²⁹Their tents and their flocks shall they take; they shall carry away for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry to them, 'Terror on every side!'

³⁰Flee, wander far off, dwell in the depths, you inhabitants of Hazor," says the Lord; "for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a purpose against you."

³¹"Arise, go up to a nation that is at ease, that dwells without care, says the Lord; that have neither gates nor bars, that dwell alone.

³²Their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their livestock a spoil: and I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners of their beards cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them," says the Lord.

³³"Hazor shall be a dwelling place of jackals, a desolation forever: no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein."

³⁴The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,

³⁵"Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.

³⁶On Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.

³⁷I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life; and I will bring evil on them, even my fierce anger,' says the Lord; 'and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them;

³⁸and I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from there king and princes,' says the Lord.

³⁹'But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam,' says the Lord."

¹The word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.

²"Declare among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and do not conceal: say, 'Babylon is taken, Bel is disappointed, Merodach is dismayed; her images are disappointed, her idols are dismayed.

³For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they are fled, they are gone, both man and animal.

⁴In those days, and in that time,' says the Lord, 'the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek the Lord their God.

⁵They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces turned toward it, saying, "Come, and join yourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten."

⁶My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.

⁷All who found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, "We are not guilty, because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of righteousness, even the Lord, the hope of their fathers."

⁸Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the male goats before the flocks.

⁹For, behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from there she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man; none shall return in vain.

¹⁰Chaldea shall be a prey: all who prey on her shall be satisfied,' says the Lord.'

¹¹Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you who plunder my heritage, because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out the grain, and neigh as strong horses;

¹²your mother shall be utterly disappointed; she who bore you shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

¹³Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: everyone who goes by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.

¹⁴"Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against the Lord.

¹⁵Shout against her all around: she has submitted herself; her towers are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance on her; as she has done, do to her.

¹⁶Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn everyone to his people, and they shall flee everyone to his own land."'

¹⁷'Israel is a hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.

¹⁸Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.

¹⁹I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.

²⁰In those days, and in that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant."'"

²¹"Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: kill and utterly destroy after them," says the Lord, "and do according to all that I have commanded you.

²²A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.

²³How is the hammer of the whole earth cut apart and broken! How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!

²⁴I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, Babylon, and you weren't aware: you are found, and also caught, because you have striven against the Lord.

²⁵The Lord has opened his armory, and has brought forth the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, the Lord of hosts, has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.

²⁶Come against her from the utmost border; open her storehouses; cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left.

²⁷Kill all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their visitation."

²⁸The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple.

²⁹"Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow; encamp against her all around; let none of it escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel.

³⁰Therefore her young men will fall in her streets, and all her men of war will be brought to silence in that day," says the Lord.

³¹"Behold, I am against you, you proud one," says the Lord, the Lord of hosts; for your day has come, the time that I will visit you.

³²The proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all who are around him."

³³Thus says the Lord of hosts: "The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; and all who took them captive hold them fast; they refuse to let them go.

³⁴Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵A sword is on the Chaldeans," says the Lord, "and on the inhabitants of Babylon, and on her princes, and on her wise men.

³⁶A sword is on the boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is on her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.

³⁷A sword is on their horses, and on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is on her treasures, and they shall be robbed.

³⁸A drought is on her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of engraved images, and they glory over idols.

³⁹Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall it be lived in from generation to generation.

⁴⁰As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities of it," says the Lord, "so shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein."

⁴¹"Behold, a people comes from the north; and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.

⁴²They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Babylon.

⁴³The king of Babylon has heard the news of them, and his hands wax feeble: anguish has taken hold of him, pains as of a woman in labor.

⁴⁴Behold, the enemy shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? And who will appoint me a time? And who is the shepherd who can stand before me?"

⁴⁵Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord, that he has taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: "Surely they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.

⁴⁶At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles, and the cry is heard among the nations."

¹Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind.

²I will send to Babylon foreigners who shall winnow her; and they shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her around.

³Against him who bends let the archer bend his bow, and against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail: and do not spare her young men; utterly destroy all her army.

⁴They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets.

⁵"For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of the Lord of hosts; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.

⁶Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life; do not be cut off in her iniquity: for it is the time of the Lord's vengeance; he will render to her a recompense.

⁷Babylon has been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, who made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

⁸Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.

⁹'We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go everyone into his own country; for her judgment reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.'

¹⁰'The Lord has brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.'

¹¹Make sharp the arrows; hold firm the shields: the Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it: for it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple.

¹²Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for the Lord has both purposed and done that which he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

¹³You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your covetousness.

¹⁴The Lord of hosts has sworn by himself, saying, "Surely I will fill you with men, as with the canker worm; and they shall lift up a shout against you."

¹⁵He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens.

¹⁶When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightning for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries.

¹⁷Every man has become brutish without knowledge. Every goldsmith is disappointed by his image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

¹⁸They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

¹⁹The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and is the tribe of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name.

²⁰"You are my battle axe and weapons of war: and with you will I break in pieces the nations; and with you will I destroy kingdoms;

²¹and with you will I break in pieces the horse and his rider;

²²and with you will I break in pieces the chariot and him who rides therein; and with you will I break in pieces man and woman; and with you will I break in pieces the old man and the youth; and with you will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin;

²³and with you will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with you will I break in pieces the farmer and his yoke; and with you will I break in pieces governors and deputies.

²⁴I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight," says the Lord.

²⁵"Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain," says the Lord, "which destroys all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand on you, and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain.

²⁶They shall not take of you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but you shall be desolate for ever," says the Lord.

²⁷Set up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough canker worm.

²⁸Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, its governors, and all its deputies, and all the land of their dominion.

²⁹The land trembles and is in pain; for the purposes of the Lord against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.

³⁰The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they remain in their strongholds; their might has failed; they are become as women: her dwelling places are set on fire; her bars are broken.

³¹One runner will run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter:

³²and the passages are seized, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are frightened.

³³For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her.

³⁴'Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me, he has made me an empty vessel, he has, like a monster, swallowed me up, he has filled his maw with my delicacies; he has cast me out.

³⁵The violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon,' shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, 'My blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea,' shall Jerusalem say.

³⁶Therefore thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.

³⁷Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.

³⁸They shall roar together like young lions; they shall growl as lions' cubs.

³⁹When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake," says the Lord.

⁴⁰"I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.

⁴¹How is Sheshach taken! and the praise of the whole earth seized! How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!

⁴²The sea has come up on Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of its waves.

⁴³Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land in which no man dwells, neither does any son of man pass thereby.

⁴⁴I will execute judgment on Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up; and the nations shall not flow any more to him: yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall."

⁴⁵"My people, go away from the midst of her, and save yourselves every man from the fierce anger of the Lord.

⁴⁶Do not let your heart faint, neither fear for the news that shall be heard in the land; for news shall come one year, and after that in another year shall come news, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.

⁴⁷Therefore behold, the days come, that I will execute judgment on the engraved images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be confounded; and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.

⁴⁸Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come to her from the north," says the Lord.

⁴⁹As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land.

⁵⁰You who have escaped the sword, go, do not stand still; remember the Lord from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.

⁵¹"We are confounded, because we have heard reproach; confusion has covered our faces: for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the Lord's house."

⁵²"Therefore behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that I will execute judgment on her engraved images; and through all her land the wounded shall groan.

⁵³Though Babylon should mount up to the sky, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall destroyers come to her," says the Lord.

⁵⁴"The sound of a cry from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!"

⁵⁵For the Lord lays Babylon waste, and destroys out of her the great voice; and their waves roar like many waters; the noise of their voice is uttered:

⁵⁶for the destroyer has come on her, even on Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bows are broken in pieces; for the Lord is a God of recompenses, he will surely requite.

⁵⁷"I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up," says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.

⁵⁸Thus says the Lord of hosts: "The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the peoples shall labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they shall be weary."

⁵⁹The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief quartermaster.

⁶⁰Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon.

⁶¹Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "When you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words,

⁶²and say, 'Lord, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor animal, but that it shall be desolate forever.'

⁶³It shall be, when you have made an end of reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates:

⁶⁴and you shall say, 'Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her; and they shall be weary.'" Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

¹God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,

²has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.

³His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had made, through himself, purification for sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

⁴having become so much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they have.

⁵For to which of the angels did he say at any time, "You are my Son. Today have I become your father?" and again, "I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a Son?"

⁶Again, when he brings in the firstborn into the world he says, "Let all the angels of God worship him."

⁷Of the angels he says, "Who makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire."

⁸But of the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom.

⁹You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows."

¹⁰And, "You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the works of your hands.

¹¹They will perish, but you continue. They all will grow old like a garment does.

¹²As a mantle, you will roll them up, and like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will have no end."

¹³But which of the angels has he told at any time, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet?"

¹⁴Are not they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

¹Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than he who is perverse in his lips and is a fool.

²It isn't good to have zeal without knowledge; nor being hasty with one's feet and missing the way.

³The foolishness of man subverts his way; his heart rages against the Lord.

⁴Wealth adds many friends, but the poor is separated from his friend.

⁵A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who pours out lies shall not go free.

⁶Many will entreat the favor of a ruler, and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts.

⁷All the relatives of the poor shun him: how much more do his friends avoid him! He pursues them with pleas, but they are gone.

⁸He who gets wisdom loves his own soul. He who keeps understanding shall find good.

⁹A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who utters lies shall perish.

¹⁰Delicate living is not appropriate for a fool, much less for a servant to have rule over princes.

¹¹The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger. It is his glory to overlook an offense.

¹²The king's wrath is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

¹³A foolish son is the calamity of his father. A wife's quarrels are a continual dripping.

¹⁴House and riches are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.

¹⁵Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep. The idle soul shall suffer hunger.

¹⁶He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, but he who is contemptuous in his ways shall die.

¹⁷He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord; he will reward him.

¹⁸Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death.

¹⁹A hot-tempered man must pay the penalty, for if you rescue him, you must do it again.

²⁰Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be wise in your latter end.

²¹There are many plans in a man's heart, but the Lord's counsel will prevail.

²²That which makes a man to be desired is his kindness. A poor man is better than a liar.

²³The fear of the Lord leads to life, then contentment; he rests and will not be touched by trouble.

²⁴The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.

²⁵Flog a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; rebuke one who has understanding, and he will gain knowledge.

²⁶He who robs his father and drives away his mother, is a son who causes shame and brings reproach.

²⁷If you stop listening to instruction, my son, you will stray from the words of knowledge.

²⁸A corrupt witness mocks justice, and the mouth of the wicked gulps down iniquity.

²⁹Penalties are prepared for scoffers, and beatings for the backs of fools.