Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageLike a lion He has abandoned His den, for their land has become a wasteland—ravaged by the oppressor's sword and by His burning wrath.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GLike a lion He has left His lair, for their land has become a desolation because of the oppressor's sword and because of His fierce anger.
KJV
King James VersionHe hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleHe has left His den like a lion, for their land has been made a desolation by the sword of the oppressor, and because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
Footnotes
The closing lion simile uses *kfír* (כְּפִיר), specifically a *young lion*—vigorous, on the prowl, and terrifyingly potent. This bookends the chapter's closing movement: in verse 30 YHWH *roars* from on high like a lion; now He has *left His lair* and is active in the earth. The phrase *cherev ha-yonáh* (חֶרֶב הַיּוֹנָה), 'the sword of the oppressor,' derives from *yanáh* (יָנָה), to oppress or wrong unjustly. The Babylonian sword is simultaneously YHWH's sovereign instrument and its own moral indictment—the conqueror's very violence becomes evidence against it when its own turn to drink arrives. Both FOG and FOG Message render 'oppressor's sword,' but the Hebrew *yonáh* carries the full moral weight of injustice, not merely geopolitical conquest.