For the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, is he who touches the land and it melts, and all who dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise up wholly like the River, and will sink again, like the River of Egypt.
*This formula is not to be taken as equivalent to three+four transgressions, but as the climax after several antecedent evils of lesser degree. (Compare Proverbs 30:15-31)
