5  ^yRun to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,

look and take note!

Search her squares to see

^zif you can find a man,

one who does justice

and seeks truth,

^athat I may pardon her.

2  ^bThough they say, “As the Lord lives,”

^cyet they swear falsely.

3  O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?

^dYou have struck them down,

but they felt no anguish;

you have consumed them,

but they refused to take correction.

^eThey have made their faces harder than rock;

they have refused to repent.

4  Then I said, “These are only the poor;

they have no sense;

^ffor they do not know the way of the Lord,

the justice of their God.

5  I will go to the great

and will speak to them,

for they know the way of the Lord,

the justice of their God.”

^gBut they all alike had broken the yoke;

they had burst the bonds.

6  Therefore ^ha lion from the forest shall strike them down;

a ⁱwolf from the desert shall devastate them.

^jA leopard is watching their cities;

everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,

because their transgressions are many,

their ^kapostasies are great.

7  ^l“How can I pardon you?

Your children have forsaken me

^mand have sworn by those who are no gods.

ⁿWhen I fed them to the full,

^othey committed adultery

^pand trooped to the houses of whores.

8  They were well-fed, lusty stallions,

^qeach neighing ^rfor his neighbor’s wife.

9  ^sShall I not punish them for these things?

declares the Lord;

and shall I not avenge myself

on a nation such as this?

10  ^t“Go up through her vine rows and destroy,

^ubut make not a full end;

strip away her branches,

for they are not the Lord’s.

11  ^vFor the house of Israel and the house of Judah

have been utterly treacherous to me,

declares the Lord.

12  They have spoken falsely of the Lord

and have said, ‘He will do nothing;

^wno disaster will come upon us,

^xnor shall we see sword or famine.

13  The prophets will become wind;

the word is not in them.

Thus shall it be done to them!’”

14  Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts:

“Because you have spoken this word,

behold, ^yI am making my words in your mouth ^za fire,

and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.

15  ^aBehold, I am bringing against you

a nation from afar, O house of Israel,

declares the Lord.

It is an enduring nation;

it is an ancient nation,

a nation whose language you do not know,

^bnor can you understand what they say.

16  ^cTheir quiver is like ^dan open tomb;

they are all mighty warriors.

17  ^eThey shall eat up your harvest and your food;

they shall eat up your sons and your daughters;

they shall eat up your flocks and your herds;

they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;

your ^ffortified cities in which you trust

they shall beat down with the sword.”

20  Declare this in the house of Jacob;

proclaim it in Judah:

21  “Hear this, ⁱO foolish and senseless people,

^jwho have eyes, but see not,

who have ears, but hear not.

22  ^kDo you not fear me? declares the Lord.

Do you not tremble before me?

I placed the sand ^las the boundary for the sea,

a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;

though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;

though ^mthey roar, they cannot pass over it.

23  ⁿBut this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;

they have turned aside and gone away.

24  They do not say in their hearts,

‘Let us fear the Lord our God,

^owho gives the rain in its season,

the autumn rain and the spring rain,

and keeps for us

^pthe weeks appointed for the harvest.’

25  ^qYour iniquities have turned these away,

and your sins have kept good from you.

26  For wicked men are found among my people;

^rthey lurk like fowlers lying in wait.¹

^sThey set a trap;

they catch men.

27  Like a cage full of birds,

their houses are full of deceit;

therefore they have become great and rich;

28  ^tthey have grown fat and sleek.

They know no bounds in deeds of evil;

^uthey judge not with justice

the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,

and they do not defend the rights of the needy.

29  ^vShall I not punish them for these things?

declares the Lord,

and shall I not avenge myself

on a nation such as this?”

30  An appalling and ^whorrible thing

has happened in the land:

31  ^xthe prophets prophesy falsely,

and the priests rule at their direction;

^ymy people love to have it so,

but what will you do when the end comes?

6  Flee for safety, ^zO people of Benjamin,

from the midst of Jerusalem!

Blow the trumpet in ^aTekoa,

and raise a signal on ^bBeth-haccherem,

for disaster looms ^cout of the north,

and great destruction.

2  The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy,

^dthe daughter of Zion.¹

3  ^eShepherds with their flocks shall come against her;

^fthey shall pitch their tents around her;

they shall pasture, each in his place.

4  ^g“Prepare war against her;

arise, and let us attack ^hat noon!

Woe to us, for the day declines,

for the shadows of evening lengthen!

5  Arise, and let us attack by night

and destroy her palaces!”

6  For thus says the Lord of hosts:

ⁱ“Cut down her trees;

^jcast up a siege mound against Jerusalem.

This is the city that must be ^kpunished;

there is nothing but oppression within her.

7  ^lAs a well keeps its water fresh,

so she keeps fresh her evil;

^mviolence and destruction are heard within her;

sickness and wounds are ever before me.

8  Be warned, O Jerusalem,

ⁿlest I turn from you in disgust,

lest I make you ^oa desolation,

an uninhabited land.”

9  Thus says the Lord of hosts:

^p“They shall glean thoroughly as a vine

the remnant of Israel;

like a grape gatherer pass your hand again

over its branches.”

10  ^qTo whom shall I speak and give warning,

that they may hear?

^rBehold, their ears are uncircumcised,

^sthey cannot listen;

behold, ^tthe word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn;

they take no pleasure in it.

11  Therefore I am full of the wrath of the Lord;

^uI am weary of holding it in.

^v“Pour it out upon the children in the street,

and upon the gatherings of young men, also;

^wboth husband and wife ^xshall be taken,

the elderly and the very aged.

12  ^yTheir houses shall be turned over to others,

their fields and wives together,

for I will stretch out my hand

against the inhabitants of the land,”

declares the Lord.

13  ^z“For from the least to the greatest of them,

everyone ^ais greedy for unjust gain;

and from ^bprophet to priest,

everyone deals falsely.

14  They have healed the wound of my people lightly,

saying, ^c‘Peace, peace,’

^dwhen there is no peace.

15  ^eWere they ashamed when they committed abomination?

No, they were not at all ashamed;

they did not know how to blush.

Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;

^fat the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,”

says the Lord.

16  Thus says the Lord:

“Stand by the roads, and look,

and ask for ^gthe ancient paths,

where the good way is; and walk in it,

^hand find rest for your souls.

But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

17  ⁱI set watchmen over you, saying,

‘Pay attention to ^jthe sound of the trumpet!’

But they said, ^k‘We will not pay attention.’

18  Therefore hear, O nations,

and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.

19  Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,

^lthe fruit of their devices,

because they have not paid attention to my words;

and as for my law, they have rejected it.

20  ^mWhat use to me is ⁿfrankincense that comes from ^oSheba,

or sweet cane from a distant land?

^pYour burnt offerings are not acceptable,

nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.

21  Therefore thus says the Lord:

^q‘Behold, I will lay before this people

stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;

fathers and sons together,

neighbor and friend shall perish.’”

22  Thus says the Lord:

^r“Behold, a people is coming ^sfrom the north country,

a great nation is stirring from ^tthe farthest parts of the earth.

23  They lay hold on bow and javelin;

they are ^ucruel and have no mercy;

^vthe sound of them is like the roaring sea;

they ride on horses,

set in array as a man for battle,

against you, O daughter of Zion!”

24  We have heard the report of it;

^wour hands fall helpless;

anguish has taken hold of us,

^xpain as of a woman in labor.

25  Go not out into the field,

nor walk on the road,

for the enemy has a sword;

^yterror is on every side.

26  O daughter of my people, ^zput on sackcloth,

and ^aroll in ashes;

^bmake mourning as for an only son,

most bitter lamentation,

for suddenly the destroyer

will come upon us.

27  “I have made you ^ca tester of metals among my people,

that you may know and ^dtest their ways.

28  ^eThey are all stubbornly rebellious,

^fgoing about with slanders;

they are ^gbronze and iron;

all of them act corruptly.

29  The ^gbellows blow fiercely;

the lead is consumed by the fire;

^hin vain the refining goes on,

for the wicked are not removed.

30  ⁱRejected silver they are called,

for the Lord has rejected them.”

29  ^f“‘Cut off your hair and cast it away;

raise a lamentation on ^gthe bare heights,

for the Lord has rejected and forsaken

the generation of his wrath.’

4  “You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord:

^yWhen men fall, do they not rise again?

If one turns away, does he not return?

5  Why then has this people ^zturned away

in perpetual ^abacksliding?

^bThey hold fast to deceit;

they refuse to return.

6  ^cI have paid attention and listened,

but they have not spoken rightly;

no man relents of his evil,

saying, ‘What have I done?’

Everyone turns to his own course,

^dlike a horse plunging headlong into battle.

7  Even the stork in the heavens

knows her times,

and ^ethe turtledove, ^fswallow, and crane¹

keep the time of their coming,

^gbut my people know not

the rules² of the Lord.

8  ^h“How can you say, ‘We are wise,

and the law of the Lord is with us’?

But behold, the lying pen of the scribes

has made it into a lie.

9  ⁱThe wise men shall be put to shame;

they shall be dismayed ^jand taken;

behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord,

so what wisdom is in them?

10  ^kTherefore I will give their wives to others

and their fields to conquerors,

because from the least to the greatest

everyone ^lis greedy for unjust gain;

from prophet to priest,

everyone deals falsely.

11  They have healed ^mthe wound of my people lightly,

saying, ‘Peace, peace,’

when there is no peace.

12  Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?

No, ⁿthey were not at all ashamed;

they did not know how to blush.

^oTherefore they shall fall among the fallen;

when I punish them, they shall be overthrown,

says the Lord.

13  When I would gather them, declares the Lord,

there are ^qno grapes on the vine,

^rnor figs on the fig tree;

^seven the leaves are withered,

and what I gave them has passed away from them.”³

14  Why do we sit still?

^tGather together; ^tlet us go into the fortified cities

and perish there,

for the Lord our God has doomed us to perish

and has ^ugiven us ^vpoisoned water to drink,

because we have sinned against the Lord.

15  ^wWe looked for peace, but no good came;

for a time of healing, but behold, terror.

16  ^x“The snorting of their horses is heard ^yfrom Dan;

at the sound of the neighing ^zof their stallions

^athe whole land quakes.

They come ^band devour the land and all that fills it,

the city and those who dwell in it.

17  For behold, I am sending among you ^cserpents,

adders ^dthat cannot be charmed,

^eand they shall bite you,”

declares the Lord.

18  My joy is gone; grief is upon me;⁴

^fmy heart is sick within me.