2 Meqabyan1

The Reign of the Righteous Meqabis

^1•This is a book that tells how Meqabees found the Israelites in Mesopotamia, which is part of Syria, and killed them in that region, beginning from Jabbok all the way to the square of Jerusalem; and it tells how he destroyed the country. ^2•Because the Syrians, the Edomites, and the Amalekites were united with the Moabite man, Meqabees, who destroyed the land of Jerusalem—for they camped from Samaria to the square of Jerusalem and throughout its entire region—they killed in war, sparing no one except a few people who fled. ^3•When the children of Israel did wrong, the Lord aroused Meqabees, the man of Moab, against them, and he killed them with the sword. ^4•Because of this, the enemies of the Lord and the nations bragged over His honored country and swore by their crimes. ^5•The Philistines and the Edomites camped there; the Lord sent them because the people had been hypocritical regarding His Word, and they began to take revenge and destroy the Lord's land. ^6•The country of Meqabees is Riemat, which is part of Moab; he arose from his country with power, and those with him also swore oaths. ^7•They camped in the region of Gilead, which is the lot of Mesopotamia up to Syria, so that they might destroy the Lord's land. There, he begged the Amalekites and Philistines for help, giving them much silver, gold, chariots, and horses to be one with him in his crime. ^8•They came together and crushed the fortress; those who lived in it shed blood like water. ^9•They made Jerusalem like a hut in a vineyard (a temporary shelter); he made a voice heard within it and performed all the sinful works the Lord hates. They also defiled the Lord's land, which was once filled with praise and honor. ^10•They made the flesh of your friends and the corpses of your servants food for the beasts of the wilderness and the birds of heaven. ^11•They robbed the orphans and the widows; without fearing the Lord, they acted as Satan taught them. Until the Lord, who examines the kidneys and the mind, was provoked to anger, they even ripped fetuses out of the bellies of pregnant women. ^12•They returned to their own country rejoicing because they had worked evil against the Lord's people, taking the plunder they captured from the honored land. ^13•When they returned and entered their houses, they made celebrations, songs, and clapping.