The Wickedness of Judah

Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth, for the Lord has spoken: I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.

Woe, sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, offspring who do evil, children who act corruptly, who have forsaken the Lord, who have despised the Holy One of Israel, [[who are utterly estranged!]]

And I will make youths their princes, and children shall rule over them.

See, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

Their bows will slaughter the young men; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not pity children.

For when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will sanctify my name; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

The Futility of Reliance on Egypt

Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord, who carry out a plan but not mine; who make an alliance but against my will, adding sin to sin;

For they are a rebellious people, faithless children, children who will not hear the instruction of the Lord;

They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth.

The living, the living, they thank you, as I do this day; fathers make known to children your faithfulness.

Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel and its Maker: Will you question me about my children or command me concerning the work of my hands?

Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children”—

both these things shall come upon you in a moment, in one day: the loss of children and widowhood shall come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the great power of your enchantments.

Zion’s Children to Be Brought Home

Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I have answered you; on a day of salvation I have helped you; I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages,

The children born in the time of your bereavement will yet say in your hearing: “The place is too crowded for me; make room for me to settle.”

But thus says the Lord: Even the captives of the mighty will be taken, and the prey of the tyrant will be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.

There is no one to guide her among all the children she has borne; there is no one to take her by the hand among all the children she has brought up.

Your children have fainted; they lie at the head of every street like an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of the Lord, the rebuke of your God.

The Eternal Covenant of Peace

Shout for joy, O barren one who has borne no children; burst into song and shout, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate woman will be more than the children of the one who is married, says the Lord.

All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the prosperity of your children.

But as for you, come here, you children of a sorceress, you offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute.

Whom are you mocking? Against whom do you open your mouth wide and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, the offspring of deceit—

you who burn with lust among the oaks, under every green tree; you who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?

And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord: my spirit that is upon you and my words that I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth or out of the mouths of your children or out of the mouths of your children’s children, says the Lord, from now on and forever.

For the coastlands shall wait for me, the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your children from far away, their silver and gold with them, for the name of the Lord your God and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you.