Faithless Israel Called to Repentance
6 Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She awent up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there. 7 aI said, ‘After she has done all these things, she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her btreacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and agiven her a certificate of divorce, yet her btreacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also. 9 So it was, because of the lightness of her harlotry, that she apolluted the land and committed adultery with bstones and trees. 10 Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in alying,” declares Yahweh.
11 And Yahweh said to me, “aFaithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go and call out these words toward the north and say,
‘aReturn, faithless Israel,’ declares Yahweh;
‘bI will not look upon you in anger.
For I am cOne of lovingkindness,’ declares Yahweh;
‘I will not be angry forever.
13 Only aacknowledge your iniquity,
That you have transgressed against Yahweh your God
And have bscattered your ways of harlotry to the strangers cunder every green tree,
And you have not listened to My voice,’ declares Yahweh.
14 ‘Return, O faithless sons,’ declares Yahweh;
‘For I am a amaster to you,
And I will take you one from a city and two from a family,
And bI will bring you to Zion.’
15 “Then I will give you ashepherds after My own heart, who will bshepherd you on knowledge and understanding. 16 It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and fruitful in the land,” declares Yahweh, “they will ano longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of Yahweh.’ And it will not come upon the heart, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The aThrone of Yahweh,’ and ball the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the cname of Yahweh; nor will they dwalk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18 aIn those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together bfrom the land of the north to the cland that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.
19 “Then I said,
‘How I would set you among My sons
And give you a pleasant land,
The most abeautiful inheritance of the nations!’
And I said, ‘You shall call Me, b“My Father,”
And not turn away from following Me.’
20 Surely, as a woman treacherously departs from her lover,
So you have adealt treacherously with Me,
O house of Israel,” declares Yahweh.
21 A voice is heard on the abare heights,
The weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel;
Because they have perverted their way,
They have bforgotten Yahweh their God.
22 “Return, O faithless sons;
aI will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to You,
For You are Yahweh our God.
23 Surely, athe hills are a lie,
A tumult on the mountains.
Surely in bYahweh our God
Is the salvation of Israel.
24 “But athe shameful thing has devoured the labor of our fathers since our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 Let us lie down in our ashame, and let our dishonor cover us; for we have sinned against Yahweh our God, we and our fathers, bfrom our youth even to this day. And we have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God.”
Yahweh Calls Israel to Return to Him
“If you will areturn, O Israel,” declares Yahweh,
“Then you should return to Me.
And bif you will put away your detested things from My presence
And will not waver
2 And you will aswear, ‘As Yahweh lives,’
bIn truth, in justice, and in righteousness;
Then the cnations will be blessed in Him,
And din Him they will boast.”
3 For thus says Yahweh to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem,
“aBreak up your fallow ground,
And bdo not sow among thorns.
4 aCircumcise yourselves to Yahweh
And remove the foreskins of your heart,
Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Lest My bwrath go forth like fire
And burn with cnone to quench it
Because of the evil of your deeds.”
Evil from the North
5 Declare in Judah and make it heard in Jerusalem and say,
“aBlow the trumpet in the land;
Call out, make your voice full, and say,
‘bGather yourselves, and let us go
Into the fortified cities.’
6 Lift up a astandard toward Zion!
Seek safety, do not stand still,
For I am bringing bevil from the north,
And great destruction.
7 A alion has gone up from his thicket,
And a bdestroyer of nations has set out;
He has gone out from his place
To cmake your land a desolation.
Your cities will be turned into ruins
Without inhabitant.
8 For this, aI gird myself with sackcloth,
Lament and wail;
For the bburning anger of Yahweh
Has not turned back from us.”
9 “It will be in that day,” declares Yahweh, “that the aheart of the king and the heart of the princes will perish; and the priests will be appalled, and the bprophets will be astonished.”
10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Surely You have utterly adeceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘bYou will have peace’; whereas a sword touches the throat.”
11 In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A ascorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness along the way of the daughter of My people—not to winnow and not to cleanse, 12 a wind too full for these things—will come for My purpose; now I will also speak judgments against them.
13 Behold, he agoes up like clouds,
And his bchariots like the whirlwind;
His horses are cswifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for dwe are devastated!”
14 Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem,
That you may be saved.
How long will your awicked thoughts
Lodge within you?
15 For a voice declares from aDan,
And makes wickedness heard from Mount Ephraim.
16 “Make mention of it to the nations, saying, ‘Behold!’
Make it heard over Jerusalem,
‘Besiegers come from a afar country,
And bgive forth their voices against the cities of Judah.
17 Like watchmen of a field they are aagainst her round about
Because she has brebelled against Me,’ declares Yahweh.
18 Your aways and your deeds
Have done these things to you.
This is your evil. How bbitter!
How it has touched your heart!”
Anguish over Judah’s Desolation
19 aMy soul, my soul! I am in anguish! Oh, my heart!
My bheart is pounding in me;
I cannot be silent
Because you have heard, O my soul,
The csound of the trumpet,
The shout of war.
20 aDestruction upon destruction is called out,
For the bwhole land is devastated;
Suddenly my ctents are devastated,
My curtains in an instant.
21 How long must I see the standard
And hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “aFor My people are ignorant fools,
They know Me not;
They are simpleminded children
And have no understanding.
They are wise to bdo evil,
But to do good they do not know.”
23 I saw on the earth, and behold, it was aformless and void;
And to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I saw on the mountains, and behold, they were aquaking,
And all the hills moved to and fro.
25 I saw, and behold, there was no man,
And all the abirds of the sky had fled.
26 I saw, and behold, the afruitful orchard was a wilderness,
And all its cities were torn down
Before Yahweh, before His burning anger.
27 For thus says Yahweh,
“The awhole land shall be a desolation,
Yet I will bnot execute a complete destruction.
28 For this the aearth shall mourn
And the bheavens above be dark
Because I have cspoken; I have purposed,
And I will not relent, nor will I turn from it.”
29 At the sound of the horseman and bowman aevery city flees;
They bgo into the thickets and climb up among the rocks;
cEvery city is forsaken,
And no man inhabits them.
30 And you, O devastated one, awhat will you do?
Although you dress in scarlet,
Although you decorate yourself with ornaments of gold,
Although you benlarge your eyes with paint,
In vain you make yourself beautiful.
Your clovers despise you;
They seek your life.
31 For I heard a sound as of a woman in labor pains,
The distress as of one giving birth to her first child,
The sound of the daughter of Zion agasping for breath,
bStretching out her hands, saying,
“Ah, woe is me, for my soul faints before murderers.”
Jerusalem Refuses to Repent
“aRoam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
And see now and know,
And seek in her open squares,
If you can bfind a man,
cIf there is one who does justice, who seeks faithfulness,
Then I will pardon her.
2 And aif they say, ‘As Yahweh lives,’
Then they swear to a lie.”
3 O Yahweh, do not aYour eyes look for faithfulness?
You have bstruck them,
But they did not weaken;
You have consumed them,
But they crefused to receive discipline.
They have dmade their faces stronger than rock;
They have refused to repent.
4 Then I said, “They are only the poor;
They are foolish;
For they ado not know the way of Yahweh
Or the legal judgment of their God.
5 Let me go to the great
And let me speak to them,
For athey know the way of Yahweh
And the legal judgment of their God.”
But they too, altogether, have bbroken the yoke
And torn apart the bonds.
6 Therefore aa lion from the forest will strike them down;
A bwolf of the deserts will devastate them;
A cleopard is watching their cities.
Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces
Because their dtransgressions are many;
Their acts of faithlessness are mighty.
7 “Why should I pardon you?
Your sons have forsaken Me
And asworn by those who are bnot gods.
I had satisfied them to the full,
Then they ccommitted adultery
And trooped to the harlot’s house.
8 They were well‑fed lusty horses,
Each one neighing after his aneighbor’s wife.
9 Shall I not punish these people,” declares Yahweh,
“And on a nation such as this
aShall I not avenge Myself?
10 “Go up through her vine rows and make them a ruin,
But do not make a complete destruction;
Remove her branches,
For they are not Yahweh’s.
11 For the ahouse of Israel and the house of Judah
Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” declares Yahweh.
12 They have adealt falsely about Yahweh
And said, “bNot He;
Calamity will cnot come on us,
And we dwill not see sword or famine.
13 The aprophets are as wind,
And the word is not in them.
Thus it will be done to them!”
A Stubborn and Rebellious People
14 Therefore, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts,
“Because you have spoken this word,
Behold, I am amaking My words in your mouth fire
And this people wood, and it will devour them.
15 Behold, I am abringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” declares Yahweh.
“It is an enduring nation;
It is an ancient nation,
A nation whose btongue you do not know,
Nor can you understand what they say.
16 Their aquiver is like an bopen grave;
All of them are mighty men.
17 They will adevour your harvest and your food;
They will devour your sons and your daughters;
They will devour your flocks and your herds;
They will devour your bvines and your fig trees;
They will demolish with the sword your cfortified cities in which you trust.
18 “Yet even in those days,” declares Yahweh, “I will not make you a complete destruction. 19 It shall come about awhen they say, ‘Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will bserve strangers in a land that is not yours.’
20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob
And cause it to be heard in Judah, saying,
21 ‘Now hear this, O people who are simpleminded fools and without a heart of wisdom,
Who have aeyes but do not see,
Who have ears but do not hear.
22 Do you not afear Me?’ declares Yahweh.
‘Do you not tremble in My presence?
For I have bplaced the sand as a boundary for the sea,
A perpetual statute, so it cannot cross over it.
Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail;
Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.
23 But this people has a astubborn and rebellious heart;
They have turned aside and gone away.
24 They do not say in their heart,
“Let us now fear Yahweh our God,
Who agives rain in its season,
Both bthe early rain and the late rain,
Who keeps for us
The cappointed weeks of the harvest.”
25 Your ainiquities have turned these away,
And your sins have withheld good from you.
26 For wicked men are found among My people;
They awatch like fowlers lying in wait;
They set a trap;
They catch men.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
So their houses are full of adeceit;
Therefore they have become great and rich.
28 They are afat, they are sleek;
They also excel in deeds of evil;
They do not plead the cause,
The cause of the borphan, that they may succeed;
And they do not render justice for the poor.
29 aShall I not punish these people?’ declares Yahweh,
‘On a nation such as this
Shall I not avenge Myself?’
30 “A horrible and aappalling thing
Has happened in the land:
31 The aprophets prophesy with lying,
And the priests have dominion by their own hand;
And My people blove it so!
But what will you do at the end of it?
Yahweh Disciplines Israel
“Flee for safety, O sons of aBenjamin,
From the midst of Jerusalem!
Now blow a trumpet in Tekoa
And raise a signal over bBeth‑haccerem,
For evil looks down from the cnorth,
As well as great destruction.
2 The comely and adelicate one, bthe daughter of Zion, I will ruin.
3 aShepherds and their flocks will come to her;
They will bpitch their tents around her;
They will pasture each in his place.
4 aSet yourselves apart for war against her;
Arise, and let us go up at bnoon.
Woe to us, for the day declines,
For the shadows of the evening stretch out!
5 Arise, and let us go up by night
And adestroy her palaces!”
6 For thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“aCut down her trees
And cast up a bsiege against Jerusalem.
This is the city to be punished,
In whose midst there is only coppression.
7 aLike a well keeps its waters fresh,
So she keeps fresh her evil.
bViolence and devastation are heard in her;
cSickness and wounds are continually before Me.
8 aHeed discipline, O Jerusalem,
Lest bMy soul become disgusted at you,
Lest I make you a desolation,
A land not inhabited.”
9 Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“They will athoroughly glean as the vine the bremnant of Israel;
Pass your hand again like a grape gatherer
Over the branches.”
10 To whom shall I speak and give warning
That they may hear?
Behold, their aears are uncircumcised,
And they cannot give heed.
Behold, bthe word of Yahweh has become a reproach to them;
They have no delight in it.
11 But I am afull of the wrath of Yahweh;
I am bweary of holding it in.
“cPour it out on the infants in the street
And on the gathering of choice men together;
For both husband and wife shall be captured,
The aged with the one full of days.
12 Their ahouses shall be turned over to others,
Their fields and their wives together,
For I will bstretch out My hand
Against the inhabitants of the land,” declares Yahweh.
13 “For afrom the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is bgreedy for gain,
And from the prophet even to the priest
Everyone practices lying.
14 They have ahealed the brokenness of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
But there is no peace.
15 Were they aashamed because of the abomination they have done?
They were not even ashamed at all;
They did not even know how to feel dishonor.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time that I punish them,
They shall be cast down,” says Yahweh.
16 Thus says Yahweh,
“Stand by the ways and see and ask for the aancient paths,
Where the good way is, and walk in it;
And byou will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 And I set awatchmen over you, saying,
‘Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not give heed.’
18 Therefore hear, O nations,
And know, O congregation, what is among them.
19 aHear, O earth: behold, I am bringing evil on this people,
The bfruit of their plans,
Because they have not given heed to My words,
And as for My law, they have crejected it also.
20 aFor what purpose does bfrankincense come to Me from Sheba
And the csweet cane from a distant land?
dYour burnt offerings are not acceptable,
And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.”
21 Therefore, thus says Yahweh,
“Behold, aI am laying stumbling blocks before this people.
And they will stumble against them,
bFathers and sons together;
Neighbor and friend will perish.”
Mourn the Coming Destroyer
22 Thus says Yahweh,
“Behold, aa people is coming from the land of the north,
And a great nation will be aroused from the bremote parts of the earth.
23 They take hold of abow and spear;
They are bcruel and have no compassion;
Their voice croars like the sea,
And they ride on horses,
Arranged as a man for the battle
Against you, O daughter of Zion!”
24 We have aheard the report of it;
Our hands are limp.
bDistress has taken hold of us,
Pain as of a woman in childbirth.
25 aDo not go out into the field
And bdo not walk on the road,
For the enemy has a sword;
cTerror is on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, agird yourself with sackcloth
And broll in ashes;
cMourn as for an only son,
A lamentation most bitter.
For suddenly the destroyer
Will come upon us.
27 “I have amade you a tester of metals and an assayer among My people,
That you may know and test their way.”
28 All of them are rebelliously stubborn,
aGoing about as a slanderer.
They are bbronze and iron;
They, all of them, are corrupt.
29 The bellows blow fiercely;
The lead is consumed by the fire;
In vain the refining goes on,
But the aevil ones are not separated.
30 aThey call them rejected silver
Because bYahweh has rejected them.