The kings of the earth couldn’t believe it.
World rulers were in shock,
Watching old enemies march in big as you please,
right through Jerusalem’s gates.
Because of the sins of her prophets
and the evil of her priests,
Who exploited good and trusting people,
robbing them of their lives,
These prophets and priests blindly grope their way through the streets,
grimy and stained from their dirty lives,
Wasted by their wasted lives,
shuffling from fatigue, dressed in rags.
People yell at them, “Get out of here, dirty old men!
Get lost, don’t touch us, don’t infect us!”
They have to leave town. They wander off.
Nobody wants them to stay here.
Everyone knows, wherever they wander,
that they’ve been kicked out of their own hometown.
GOD himself scattered them.
No longer does he look out for them.
He has nothing to do with the priests;
he cares nothing for the elders.
We watched and watched,
wore our eyes out looking for help. And nothing.
We mounted our lookouts and looked
for the help that never showed up.
They tracked us down, those hunters.
It wasn’t safe to go out in the street.
Our end was near, our days numbered.
We were doomed.
They came after us faster than eagles in flight,
pressed us hard in the mountains, ambushed us in the desert.
Our king, our life’s breath, the anointed of GOD,
was caught in their traps—
Our king under whose protection
we always said we’d live.
Celebrate while you can, O Edom!
Live it up in Uz!
For it won’t be long before you drink this cup, too.
You’ll find out what it’s like to drink God’s wrath,
Get drunk on God’s wrath
and wake up with nothing, stripped naked.
And that’s it for you, Zion. The punishment’s complete.
You won’t have to go through this exile again.
But Edom, your time is coming:
He’ll punish your evil life, put all your sins on display.
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