God Will Speak in Baby Talk

28 1-4 Doom to the pretentious drunks of Ephraim,
    shabby and washed out and seedy—
Tipsy, sloppy-fat, beer-bellied parodies
    of a proud and handsome past.
Watch closely: God has someone picked out,
    someone tough and strong to flatten them.
Like a hailstorm, like a hurricane, like a flash flood,
    one-handed he’ll throw them to the ground.
Samaria, the party hat on Israel’s head,
    will be knocked off with one blow.
It will disappear quicker than
    a piece of meat tossed to a dog.

5-6 At that time, God-of-the-Angel-Armies will be
    the beautiful crown on the head of what’s left of his people:
Energy and insights of justice to those who guide and decide,
    strength and prowess to those who guard and protect.

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That fading flower, his glorious beauty,
    set on the head of a fertile valley,(A)
will be like figs(B) ripe before harvest—
    as soon as people see them and take them in hand,
    they swallow them.

In that day(C) the Lord Almighty
    will be a glorious(D) crown,(E)
a beautiful wreath
    for the remnant(F) of his people.
He will be a spirit of justice(G)
    to the one who sits in judgment,(H)
a source of strength
    to those who turn back the battle(I) at the gate.

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