12 The Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west; And they devour Israel with gaping jaws. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.
13 Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them, Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts.
14 So the Lord cuts off head and tail from Israel, Both palm branch and bulrush in a single day.
15 The head is the elder and honorable man, And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail.
16 For those who guide this people are leading them astray; And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.
17 Therefore the Lord does not take pleasure in their young men, Nor does He have pity on their orphans or their widows; For every one of them is godless and an evildoer, And every mouth is speaking foolishness. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.
18 For wickedness burns like a fire; It consumes briars and thorns; It even sets the thickets of the forest aflame And they roll upward in a column of smoke.