Beginning

4 Israel, if thou turnest again, saith the Lord, turn thou (again) to me; if thou takest away thine offendings from my face, thou shalt not be moved. (Israel, if thou shalt return to me, saith the Lord, then return thou to me; if thou takest away thy offences from before my face, then thou shalt not be shaken out.)

² And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, and in doom, and in rightfulness; and all folks shall bless him, and shall praise him. (And if thou shalt swear, As the Lord liveth, in truth, and in judgement, and in righteousness/in truth, and in justice, and in uprightness; then all the nations shall ask me to bless them like you, and they shall praise me.)

³ For the Lord God saith these things to a man of Judah, and to a dweller of Jerusalem (and to an inhabitant of Jerusalem), Make ye new to you a land tilled of new, either a fallow (land), and do not ye sow on thorns.

⁴ Men of Judah, and dwellers of Jerusalem, be ye circumcised to the Lord, and do ye away the prepuces, either filths, of your hearts; lest peradventure mine indignation go out as fire, and be kindled, and none there be that quench, for the malice of your thoughts. (People of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, be ye circumcised to the service of the Lord, and do ye away the prepuces, or the filths, of your hearts; lest perhaps my indignation go out like fire, and be kindled, and there be no one who can quench it, for the malice of your thoughts.)

⁵ Tell ye in Judah, and make ye heard in Jerusalem; speak ye, and sing ye with a trump in the land; cry ye strongly, and say ye, Be ye gathered together, and enter we into [the] strong cities.

⁶ Raise ye a sign in Zion, comfort ye, and do not ye stand (Raise ye up a sign in Zion, escape ye, and do not ye just stand there); for I [shall] bring evil from the north, and a great sorrow.

⁷ A lion shall go up from his den, and the robber of folks shall raise himself. He is gone out of his place, to set thy land into wilderness; thy cities shall be destroyed, abiding still without (a) dweller. (A lion shall go up from his den, yea, the robber of the nations shall raise himself up. He is gone out of his place, to make thy land into a wilderness; thy cities shall be destroyed, and their remains, or their ruins, shall be without any inhabitants.)

⁸ On this thing gird you(rselves) with hair-shirts; wail ye, and yell, for the wrath of the strong vengeance of the Lord is not turned away from you.

⁹ And it shall be, in that day, saith the Lord, the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of princes; and the priests shall wonder, and the prophets shall be astonied. (And it shall be, on that day, saith the Lord, the heart of the king, and the hearts of the princes, or of the leaders, shall perish, or shall fail them; and the priests shall wonder, and the prophets shall be astonished.)

¹⁰ And I said, Alas! alas! alas! Lord God; therefore whether thou hast deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Peace shall be to you, and lo! a sword is come unto the soul? (and lo! a sword is come unto our souls?)

¹¹ In that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A burning wind in the ways that be in desert, be the ways of the daughter of my people, not to winnow, and not to purge. (At that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem, Like a burning wind on the ways that be in the wilderness, be the ways of the daughter of my people, not to winnow, and not to purge.)

¹² A spirit full of them shall come to me; and now I, but I shall speak my dooms with them. (A strong wind shall come to them at my command; and now I shall tell out my judgement against them.)

¹³ Lo! he shall ascend as a cloud, and his chariots as a tempest (Lo! the enemy shall ascend like a cloud, and his chariots like a tempest); his horses be swifter than eagles; woe to us, for we be destroyed.

¹⁴ Thou Jerusalem, wash thine heart from malice, that thou be made safe (so that thou can be saved). How long shall harmful thoughts dwell in thee?

¹⁵ For why the voice of a teller from Dan, and making known an idol from the hill(s) of Ephraim.

¹⁶ Raise, ye folks; lo! it is heard in Jerusalem, that keepers be come from a far land, and give their voice on the cities of Judah. (Raise up, ye nations; lo! it is heard in Jerusalem, that enemies have come from a far land, and shout out their voices against the cities of Judah.)

¹⁷ As the keepers of fields, they be made on it in compass; for it stirred me to wrathfulness, saith the Lord. (Like the guardians of a field, they stand all around it, and come against it; for it stirred me to anger, saith the Lord.)

¹⁸ Thy ways and thy thoughts have made this to thee; this malice of thee, for it is bitter, for it touched thine heart. (Thy ways and thy thoughts have brought these things to thee; this is thy malice, for it is bitter, and it hath touched thy heart.)

¹⁹ My womb acheth, my womb acheth; the wits of mine heart be troubled in me. I shall not be still, for my soul heard the voice of a trump, the cry of battle.

²⁰ Sorrow is called on sorrow, and all the land is destroyed; my tabernacles be wasted suddenly, my skins be wasted suddenly (my tents suddenly be destroyed, my curtains suddenly be all torn in pieces).

²¹ How long shall I see them that flee, shall I hear the voice of a clarion? (How long shall I see those who attack, shall I hear the sound of the trumpet?)

²² For my fond people knew not me; they be unwise sons, and cowards; they be wise to do evils, but they know not (how) to do well. (For my foolish people knew me not; they be unwise sons and daughters, and cowards; they be wise in doing evil, but they do not know how to do good.)

²³ I beheld the land, and lo! it was void, and nought; and I beheld heavens, and no light there was in them (and I beheld the heavens, and there was no light in them).

²⁴ I saw (the) mountains, and lo! they were moved (they were shaken), and all (the) little hills were troubled.

²⁵ I looked, and no man there was, and each bird of heaven was gone away. (I looked, and there was no one, and each bird of the heavens had gone away.)

²⁶ I beheld, and lo! Carmel is forsaken, and all cities thereof be destroyed from the face of the Lord, and from the face of the ire of his strong vengeance. (I beheld, and lo! the plentiful land was deserted, and all its cities were destroyed before the Lord, yea, before the anger of his strong vengeance.)

²⁷ For the Lord saith these things, All the land shall be forsaken, but nevertheless, I shall not make a [full] ending.

²⁸ The earth shall mourn, and (the) heavens above shall make sorrow, for that I spake; I thought, and it repented not me (I thought, and I shall not repent), neither I am turned away from it.

²⁹ Each city fled from the voice of a knight, and a man shooting an arrow (Each city fled from the shouts of the horsemen, and the men shooting arrows); they entered into hard places, and ascended into rocks of stone; all [the] cities be forsaken, and no man dwelleth in them.

³⁰ But what shalt thou (that art to be) destroyed, do? When thou shalt clothe thee with red scarlet, when thou shalt be adorned with a golden brooch, and shalt anoint thine eyes with woman’s ointment, thou shalt be arrayed in vain; thy lovers have despised thee, they shall seek thy soul. (But thou who art doomed, what shalt thou do? Even though thou shalt clothe thyself with red scarlet, and be adorned with a gold brooch, and shalt anoint thine eyes with woman’s ointment, thou shalt be arrayed in vain; for thy lovers despise thee, and they shall seek thy soul/and they shall seek thy life.)

³¹ For I heard a voice as a woman travailing of child, the anguishes as of a woman childing; the voice of the daughter of Zion among them that die, and spread abroad her hands; Woe to me, for my soul failed for them that be slain. (For I heard a sound like a woman in labour, like the anguishes of a woman giving birth; the voice of the daughter of Zion among those who die, spreading abroad her hands, and saying, Woe to me, for my soul, or my life, failed over those who be killed.)

5 Compass ye the ways of Jerusalem, and look, and behold ye, and seek ye in the streets thereof, whether ye find a man doing doom, and seeking faith; and I shall be merciful to them. (Go ye about the ways of Jerusalem, and look, and behold ye, and seek ye in its streets, whether ye can find anyone doing justice, and seeking faith; and I shall be merciful to them.)

² That if also they say, The Lord liveth, yea, they shall swear this falsely. (But even if they say, As the Lord liveth, yea, they shall swear this falsely.)

³ Lord, thine eyes behold faith; thou hast smitten them, and they made not sorrow; thou hast all-broken them, and they forsook to take chastising; they made their faces harder than a stone, and would not turn again. (Lord, thine eyes look for faithfulness; thou hast struck them, but they did not have sorrow; thou hast all-broken them, but they refused to accept their discipline, or their correction; they made their faces harder than a stone, and would not return to thee.)

⁴ Forsooth I said, In hap they be poor men, and fools, that know not the way of the Lord, and the doom of their God. (And I said, Perhaps they be the poor, and the foolish, and they do not know the way of the Lord, and the judgement, or the justice, of their God.)

⁵ Therefore I shall go to the principal men, and I shall speak to them; for they knew the way of the Lord, and the doom of their God. And lo! they have more broken together the yoke, and have broken [the] bonds. (And so I shall go to the principal men, or to the leaders, and I shall speak to them; for they knew the way of the Lord, and the judgement, or the justice, of their God. But lo! they also have altogether broken the yoke, and have broken their bonds.)

⁶ Therefore a lion of the wood smote them; a wolf at eventide wasted them, a leopard watching on the cities of them. Each man that goeth out of them, shall be taken; for the trespassings of them be multiplied, the turnings away of them be comforted (Each person who goeth out of them, shall be taken, or shall be torn apart; for their trespassings be multiplied, their turnings away be increased).

⁷ On what thing may I be merciful to thee? Thy sons have forsaken me, and swear by them that be not gods. I [full-]filled them, and they did adultery, and in the house of an whore they did lechery. (For what thing can I be merciful to thee? Thy children have deserted me, and swear by those that be not gods. I filled them full, and they still did adultery, that is, idolatry, yea, they still did lechery in a whorehouse.)

⁸ They be made horses, and stallions, lovers to women (lovers of women); each man neighed to the wife of his neighbour.

⁹ Whether I shall not visit on these things, saith the Lord, and shall not my soul take vengeance on such a folk? (Shall I not punish them for these things? saith the Lord, and shall not my soul take vengeance on such a nation?)

¹⁰ Go ye up on the walls thereof, and destroy ye; but do not ye make an ending. Do ye away the scions thereof, for they be not servants of the Lord.

¹¹ For why the house of Israel and the house of Judah hath trespassed by trespassing against me, saith the Lord; (Because the house of Israel and the house of Judah have trespassed by trespassing against me, saith the Lord;)

¹² they denied the Lord, and said, He is not, neither evil shall come [up]on us; we shall not see sword and hunger (we shall not see the sword and hunger).

¹³ The prophets spake against the wind, and none answer was in them; therefore these things shall come to them. (The prophets spoke nothing but wind, and there was no word of God in them; and so these things shall come to them.)

¹⁴ The Lord God of hosts saith these things, For ye spake this word, lo! I give my words in thy mouth into fire, and this people into trees, and it shall devour them. (The Lord God of hosts saith these things, Because ye spoke these words, lo! I shall make my words in thy mouth into fire, and this people into wood, and it shall devour them.)

¹⁵ Lo! thou house of Israel, saith the Lord, I shall bring on you a folk from [a]far; a strong folk, an old folk, a folk whose language thou shalt not know, neither shalt understand what it speaketh. (Lo! O house of Israel, saith the Lord, I shall bring upon you a nation from far away; a strong nation, an old nation, a nation whose language thou shalt not know, nor shalt thou understand what they say.)

¹⁶ The arrow case thereof is as an open sepulchre; all be strong men. (Its arrow case, or its quiver, is an open grave, or an empty tomb; they all be strong men.)

¹⁷ And it shall eat thy corns, and it shall devour thy bread, thy sons and thy daughters; it shall eat thy flock, and thy droves, it shall eat also thy vinery, and thy fig tree; it shall all-break thy strong cities with sword, in which thou hast trusted. (And they shall eat thy corn, or thy harvest, and shall devour thy bread, or thy food, and thy sons and thy daughters; they shall eat thy flocks, and thy herds, and they shall eat thy vines, and thy fig trees; and they shall all-break with the sword thy strong cities, in which thou hast trusted.)

¹⁸ Nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I shall not make you into (a) [full] ending. (Nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I shall not make an end of you.)

¹⁹ That if ye say, Why hath our Lord God done all these things to us? thou shalt say to them, As ye forsook me, and served an alien god in your land, so ye shall serve alien gods in a land not yours. (And when they ask, Why hath the Lord our God done all these things to us? thou shalt say to them, As ye deserted me, and served a strange, or a foreign, god in your own land, so now ye shall serve strange, or foreign, gods in a land not your own.)

²⁰ Tell ye this to the house of Jacob, and make ye (it) heard in Judah, and say ye,

²¹ Hear, thou fond people, that hast none heart; which have eyes, and see not, and ears, and hear not. (Listen, O foolish people, ye who have no heart; yea, ye who have eyes, but cannot see, and ears, but cannot hear.)

²² Therefore shall not ye dread me, saith the Lord, and shall not ye make sorrow for my face? Which have set gravel to be a term, either end, to the sea, an everlasting commandment, which it shall not pass; and the waves thereof shall be moved, and shall not have power; and shall wax great, and shall not pass it. (And so shall ye not fear me, saith the Lord, and shall ye not tremble before my face? Yea, before I, who hath set the sand to be the term, or the boundary, of the sea, by an everlasting commandment, which it shall not pass over; and its waves shall be moved, but they shall not have the power to pass over it; yea, they shall grow great, but they shall not pass over it.)

²³ Forsooth an heart unbelieveful and stirring (me) to wrath is made to this people; they departed, and went away, (But this people hath an unbelieving heart, and stirreth me to anger; they departed, and went away,)

²⁴ and they said not in their heart, Dread we our Lord God, that giveth to us rain timeful, and lateful in his time; that keepeth to us the plenty of harvest of the year. (and they did not say in their hearts, Let us fear the Lord our God/Let us revere the Lord our God, who giveth us timely rain, and late rain in its time; and who giveth us the plenty of the harvest every year.)

²⁵ Your wickednesses did away these things, and your sins forbidded good from (coming to) you.

²⁶ For there be found wicked men in my people, setting treason, as fowlers setting snares and traps, to take men. (For the wicked be found among my people, setting treason, like fowlers settings snares and traps, to take hold of, or to catch, people.)

²⁷ As a net, either a trap, (is) full of birds, so the houses of them be full of guile. (Like a net, or a trap, is full of birds, so their houses be full of deceit.)

²⁸ Therefore they be magnified, and made rich, made fat within, and made fat withoutforth, and they passed worst my words; they deemed not the cause of a widow, they (ad)dressed not the cause of a fatherless child, and they deemed not the doom of poor men. (And so they be magnified, or enlarged, and made rich, made fat within, and made fat outside, and their deeds surpassed even those of the very worst; they judged not justly a widow’s case, they did not even address the case of a fatherless child, and they judged not justly for the poor.)

²⁹ Whether I shall not visit on these things, saith the Lord, either shall not my soul take vengeance on such a folk? (Shall I not punish them for these things? saith the Lord, or shall I not take vengeance upon such a nation?)

³⁰ Wonder and marvelous things be made in the land; (A horrible and terrible thing is done in the land;)

³¹ prophets prophesied leasing, and priests joyed with their hands, and my people loved such things. What therefore shall be done in the last thing thereof? (prophets prophesied lies, and the priests clapped their hands, and my people loved such things. And so what shall be done in its last things, or at the end of it all?)

6 Sons of Benjamin, be ye comforted in the middle of Jerusalem, and make ye noise with a clarion in Tekoa, and raise ye a banner on Bethhaccerem; for why evil and great sorrow is seen from the north. (Sons of Benjamin, escape ye from the midst of Jerusalem, and make ye a sound with a trumpet in Tekoa, and raise ye up a banner over Bethhaccerem; for evil and great sorrow is seen coming from the north.)

² I have likened the daughter of Zion to a fair woman and delicate. (I have likened, or compared, the daughter of Zion to a beautiful and delicate woman.)

³ Shepherds and their flocks shall come to it; they have pitched tents in it in compass; each man shall feed them, that be under his hand. (Shepherds and their flocks shall come to her; they shall pitch their tents all around her; each one shall feed his beasts there, that be under his hand.)

⁴ Hallow ye battle on it. Rise ye together, and ascend we in midday (Prepare ye battle against her. Rise ye up together, and go we up at midday). Woe to us, for the day hath bowed down, for shadows be made longer in the eventide.

⁵ Rise ye, and ascend we in the night, and destroy we the houses thereof. (Rise ye, and go we up in the night, and let us destroy its houses.)

⁶ For the Lord of hosts saith these things, Cut ye down the tree(s) thereof, and shed ye earth about Jerusalem; this is the city of visitation; all false challenge is in the midst thereof. (For the Lord of hosts saith these things, Cut ye down its trees, and heap ye earth all around Jerusalem; this is the city to be punished; for oppression is widespread in its midst.)

⁷ As a cistern maketh his water cold, so it made his malice cold; wickedness and destroying shall ever be heard therein before me, sickness and wound. (Like a cistern maketh its water cold, so Jerusalem made its malice cold; wickedness and destruction be heard there, sickness and wounds be ever before me.)

⁸ Jerusalem, be thou taught, lest peradventure my soul go away from thee; lest peradventure I set thee forsaken, a land unhabitable. (Jerusalem, make thyself able to be taught, lest perhaps my soul go away from thee; lest perhaps I make thee deserted, yea, a land uninhabited/yea, an uninhabitable land.)

⁹ The Lord of hosts saith these things, They shall gather till to a raisin, they shall gather the remnants of Israel as in a vinery (they shall gather the remnants of Israel like in a vineyard); turn thine hand, as a gatherer of grapes to the basket.

¹⁰ To whom shall I speak, and to whom shall I say witnessing, that he hear? Lo! the ears of them be uncircumcised, and they be not able to hear; lo! the word of the Lord is made to them into despite, and they shall not receive it (lo! the word of the Lord is taken as a rebuke to them, and they shall not accept it).

¹¹ Therefore I am full of the strong vengeance of the Lord, and I travailed suffering. Shed thou out vengeance on a little child withoutforth, and on the counsel(s) of young men together (Pour thou out vengeance upon a little child outside, and upon young men who make plans together); for a man with his wife shall be taken, and an eld man with him that is full of days.

¹² And the houses of them, (with) the fields and wives together, shall go to other men; for I shall stretch forth mine hand on the dwellers of the land, saith the Lord.

¹³ For from the less unto the greater, all study to avarice; and all do guile, from the prophet unto the priest. (For from the least unto the greatest, all work hard to do avarice, or to fulfill their greed; and all be deceitful, from the prophet unto the priest.)

¹⁴ And they healed the sorrow of the daughter of my people with evil fame, saying, Peace, peace, and no peace was. (And they tried to heal the sorrow of the daughter of my people with shallow words, by simply saying, Peace, peace, when there was no peace.)

¹⁵ They be shamed, that did abomination; yea, rather they were not shamed by confusion, and they could not be ashamed. Wherefore they shall fall down among them that shall fall down; they shall fall down in the time of their visitation, saith the Lord. (Were they ashamed, who did these abominations? nay, they were not ashamed, and they could not be ashamed. And so they shall fall among the fallen; they shall fall down at the time of their punishment, saith the Lord.)

¹⁶ The Lord saith these things, Stand ye on ways, and see ye, and ask ye of [the] eld paths, which is the good way; and go ye therein, and ye shall find refreshing to your souls. And they said, We shall not go. (The Lord saith these things, Stand ye at the crossways, and see ye, and ask ye for the old paths, and where is the good way; and go ye on it, and ye shall find refreshing for your souls. But they said, We shall not go on it.)

¹⁷ And I ordained espyers, either beholders, on you, and I said, Hear ye the voice of a trump. And they said, We shall not hear (it).

¹⁸ Therefore, heathen men, hear ye, and, thou congregation, know, how great things I shall do to them. (And so, ye heathen, listen, and, thou congregation, know, what mighty things I shall do to them.)

¹⁹ Thou earth, hear, lo! I shall bring evils on this people, the fruit of their thoughts; for they heard not my words, and casted away my law (and cast away my Law).

²⁰ Whereto bring ye to me incense from Sheba, and a tree of spicery smelling sweetly from a far land? Your burnt sacrifices be not accepted, and your slain sacrifices pleased not me (I will not accept your burnt sacrifices, and your slain sacrifices do not please me).

²¹ Therefore the Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall give (causes of) fallings into this people, and fathers and sons together, (and) a neighbour and (a) kinsman, shall fall in them, and shall perish.

²² The Lord God saith these things, Lo! a people cometh from the land of the north, and a great folk shall rise together from the ends of [the] earth (and a great nation shall altogether rise from the ends of the earth).

²³ It shall take arrow and shield; it is cruel, and shall not have mercy; the voice thereof shall sound as the sea, and they made ready as a man to battle shall ascend on horses against thee, thou daughter of Zion. (They shall take up arrows and shields; they be cruel, and shall not have mercy; their thunder shall sound like the sea, and like a man prepared for battle, they shall go upon horses against thee, O daughter of Zion.)

²⁴ We [have] heard the fame thereof, our hands be aclumsid; tribulation hath taken us, sorrows have taken us as a woman travailing of child. (And ye shall say, We have heard of their reputation, and our hands be benumbed; tribulation hath taken hold of us, yea, sorrows have taken hold of us like a woman in labour.)

²⁵ Do not ye go out to the fields, and go ye not in the way, for the sword of the enemy, dread in compass (Do not ye go out to the fields, and go ye not on the way, for the sword of the enemy, and fear all around.)

²⁶ The daughter of my people, be thou girded with hair-shirt, and be thou sprinkled together with ashes; make to thee mourning of [the] one alone begotten son, a bitter wailing, for why a waster shall come suddenly [up]on you. (The daughter of my people, be thou girded with a hair-shirt, and be thou altogether sprinkled with ashes; make thyself as if mourning for thy only begotten son, yea, a bitter wailing, for a destroyer shall suddenly come upon you.)

²⁷ I gave thee to be a strong prover in my people, and thou shalt know, and prove the way of them. (I gave thee to be a strong assayer, or a strong tester, of my people, and thou shalt know, and prove their ways.)

²⁸ All these princes bowing away, going guilefully, be (like) metal and iron; all be corrupt. (All these people turning away, doing deceitfully, be made hard like metal and iron; they all be corrupt.)

²⁹ The bellow failed, lead is wasted in the fire, the weller welled in vain (the welder welded in vain); for the malices of them be not wasted.

³⁰ Call ye them reprovable silver (Call ye them worthless silver), for the Lord hath cast them away.