Beginning

¹ If you return, O Israel, says the Lord,
    if you return to me,
if you banish your loathsome idols from my sight
    and do not go astray,
² and if you swear, “As the Lord lives!”
    in truth, in justice, and in uprightness,
then the nations will bless themselves by him
    and will glory in him.

Break up your unplowed ground
    and do not sow among thorns.
⁴ For the sake of the Lord be circumcised
    and remove the foreskin of your hearts,
    O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
or my wrath will leap forth like fire
    and burn with no one to quench it
    because of your evil deeds.

⁵ Announce it in Judah;
    proclaim it in Jerusalem.
Blow the trumpet throughout the land;
    shout aloud the command,
“Gather together!
    Let us flee to the fortified cities!”
⁶ Raise the signal to proceed toward Zion!
    Flee for safety! Do not delay!
For I am bringing disaster from the north
    as well as immense destruction.
⁷ A lion has come forth from its lair
    the destroyer of nations has set forth.
He has left his lair
    to make your towns a wasteland;
    they will be in ruins and uninhabited.
⁸ Therefore, wrap yourselves in sackcloth,
    beat your breasts and wail,
because the blazing anger of the Lord
    has not turned away from us.
⁹ On that day, says the Lord,
    the courage of the kings and the princes will fail;
the priests will be horrified
    and the prophets will be astounded.
¹⁰ Then I said, “Alas, Lord God,
    you completely deceived the people and Jerusalem
when you promised that we would have peace,
    for now the sword is held at our throats.”

A scorching wind comes forth from the desert heights
    and sweeps down on my people,
    although not to winnow or to cleanse.
¹² A wind far too strong for that
    will come forth at my bidding,
    and I myself will pass judgment on them.
¹³ Behold, he advances
    like storm clouds;
    like a whirlwind are his chariots.
His horses are swifter than eagles.
    Disaster threatens us. We are lost.
¹⁴ Cleanse your heart of all wickedness
    so that you may be saved.
How long will you allow evil thoughts to lodge within you?
¹⁵ A voice from Dan^[b] declares the news
    proclaiming disaster from Mount Ephraim.
¹⁶ Announce this to the nations,
    make it known to Jerusalem:
Besiegers are coming from a distant land,
    shouting their war cry against the cities of Judah.
¹⁷ They surround her like watchmen guarding a field
    because she has rebelled against me, says the Lord.
¹⁸ Your conduct and your evil deeds
    have brought this upon you.
How bitter is your punishment!
    It has pierced the depths of your heart.
¹⁹ How great is my anguish
    that causes me to writhe in pain!
I cannot keep silent in my agony
    as my heart beats wildly.
For I have heard the sound of the trumpet
    and that of the battle cry.
²⁰ One disaster follows upon another;
    the entire land lies in ruins.
My tents are suddenly destroyed,
    everything that offered me shelter.
²¹ How long must I see the standard raised
    and hear the sound of the trumpet?
²² My people are fools;
    they do not know me.
They are senseless children
    who have no semblance of understanding.
They are skilled in the practice of evil
    but they do not know how to do good.
²³ I looked at the earth,
    and it was a formless wasteland;
I gazed at the heavens,
    but I could not discern any light.
²⁴ I looked at the mountains,
    and they were quaking,
    while all the hills moved back and forth.
²⁵ I looked, but I could not see anyone;
    even the birds of the air had flown away.
²⁶ I looked, and the fertile land had become a desert;
    all of its towns lay in ruins
    before the Lord, before his blazing anger.

The entire land will be a desolate waste,
    but I will not destroy it completely.
²⁸ Because of this the earth will mourn
    and the heavens above will grow dark.
For I have spoken and made clear my intention,
    and I will not relent or turn back.
²⁹ At the shouts of horsemen and archers
    every city takes to flight.
Some people crawl into the thickets
    while others scale the rocks.
All the cities are abandoned,
    with no one to live in them.
³⁰ What are you doing, you who are doomed,
    by clothing yourself in purple,
adorning yourself with ornaments of gold
    and shading your eyes with cosmetics?
You are beautifying yourself in vain,
    for your lovers despise you,
    and they only seek your life.
³¹ I hear cries like those of a woman in labor,
    the anguished groans of one bearing her first child.
They are the screams of daughter Zion gasping for breath
    as she stretches forth her hands and cries out,
“Woe is me; I am dying.
    I sink exhausted before my murderers.”

¹ Roam through the streets of Jerusalem,
    look around and take careful note;
    search through the public squares.
If you can find even one person
    who acts justly and seeks the truth,
    I will pardon this city.
² Even though they say, “As the Lord lives,”
    they are in fact swearing falsely.
³ Do your eyes not search for truth, O Lord?
    When you struck them, they felt no anguish;
    when you brought them down, they refused correction.
They have made their faces harder than stone
    and refused to repent.
⁴ Then I thought, “These are only the poor;
    they tend to act foolishly.
For they do not know the way of the Lord
    or the ordinances of their God.
⁵ Therefore, I will go to their leaders
    and speak to them.
Surely they will know the way of the Lord
    and their responsibilities to their God.”
But those, too, had broken the yoke
    and torn away from their bonds.
⁶ Therefore, lions from the forest will tear them to pieces,
    and wolves from the desert will ravage them.
Leopards will be on the prowl around their cities;
    all those who depart from them
    will be torn to pieces
because of their many crimes
    and their apostasies
    without number.
⁷ Why should I forgive you?
    Your children have forsaken me to swear by gods
    that are not gods in any way.
When I gave them everything they needed,
    they committed adultery
    and hastened to the houses of prostitutes.
⁸ They are well-fed and lusty stallions,
    each one neighing for his neighbor’s wife.
⁹ Shall I not punish them for these things?
    asks the Lord.
Shall I not take vengeance on a nation such as this?
¹⁰ Ascend to her vineyards and ravage them
    but do not totally destroy them.
Strip off her branches,
    for these people no longer belong to the Lord.
¹¹ Both the house of Israel and the house of Judah
    have been completely unfaithful to me, says the Lord.
¹² They have denied the Lord,
    boldly asserting, “He will do nothing.
No harm will come to us;
    we will not endure either sword or famine.
¹³ The prophets are nothing but wind;
    the word is not in them.
    Their dire predictions will redound upon them.”
¹⁴ Therefore, the Lord, the God of hosts, has this to say:
Because you have said these things,
    my words will become a fire in your mouth,
and I will make this people like wood
    that the fire will consume.
¹⁵ Be forewarned that I will bring against you
    a nation from a great distance,
    O house of Israel, says the Lord—
a long-existent nation,
    a nation founded long ago,
a people whose language you do not know
    and whose speech you cannot understand.
¹⁶ The quivers of these people are like open graves;
    all of them are mighty warriors.
¹⁷ They will devour 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 vines and your fig trees;
with their swords they will destroy
    your fortified towns in which you place your trust.

²⁰ Announce this in the house of Jacob,
    proclaim it in Judah:
²¹ Pay attention to this,
    you foolish and senseless people,
who have eyes but do not see,
    who have ears but do not hear.
²² Do you have no fear of me? asks the Lord.
    Do you not tremble before me?
I was the one who established the sand
    as the boundary for the sea,
    a perpetual barrier that it can never pass.
Its waves may rise up but cannot prevail;
    they may roar but cannot cross the limits.
²³ But this people has a rebellious and stubborn heart;
    they have risen up in defiance and gone away.
²⁴ Nor do they say to themselves,
    “Let us fear the Lord, our God,
who gives us in their proper season
    the autumn and spring rains
and unfailingly provides for us
    the weeks designated for the harvest.”
²⁵ Your iniquities have upset the order of nature,
    and your sins have deprived you of its bounty.
²⁶ For there are wicked scoundrels among my people
    who, like fowlers, set traps,
    but with men as their quarry.
²⁷ Like a cage full of birds,
    their houses are full of treachery.
As a result, they have grown rich and powerful,
²⁸     well fed and well groomed.
Their wickedness knows no bounds,
    and they do not practice justice in their dealings.
They do not uphold the rights of the orphan
    or defend the cause of the needy.
²⁹ How can I fail to punish such things?
    says the Lord.
How can I refuse to exact vengeance on a nation such as this?
³⁰ An appalling and outrageous situation
    has occurred in the land.
³¹ The prophets prophesy falsely,
    the priests are in league with them,
and the people are delighted with this situation.
    But when the end comes, what will you do?

¹ O people of Jerusalem, flee for safety!
    Depart immediately from Jerusalem!
Sound the trumpet in Tekoa!^[f]
    Raise a signal over Beth-haccherem!
For disaster looms from the north,
    immense destruction will ensue.
² The beautiful and delicate daughter Zion
    faces imminent destruction.
³ Shepherds will advance against her with their flocks;
    they will pitch their tents all around her,
    each one grazing his own portion of the pasture.
⁴ “Prepare for war against her!
    Arise! We will attack at noon.”
“It is now too late.
    The daylight is fading,
    and the evening shadows have begun to lengthen.”
⁵ “On your feet! Let us attack by night
    and destroy her palaces.”
⁶ These are the words of the Lord of hosts:
    Cut down her trees
    and raise up siege-ramps against Jerusalem.
This city must be punished,
    for oppression is rampant within her.
⁷ As a well keeps its water fresh,
    so she keeps fresh her wickedness.
Sounds of violence and destruction resound within her;
    sickness and wounds are never out of my sight.
⁸ Heed my warning, O Jerusalem,
    or I will turn away from you in revulsion
and reduce you to a desert,
    a desolate land where no man dwells.
⁹ These are the words of the Lord of hosts:
    Glean thoroughly like a vine
    the remnant of Israel.
Like one who picks the grapes,
    pass your hand once again over its branches.
¹⁰ To whom should I speak and issue warning
    so that they may hear?
See, their ears are closed,
    and so they cannot pay heed
They regard the word of the Lord as offensive
    and they take no pleasure in it.
¹¹ However, I am filled with the wrath of the Lord,
    and I am weary of holding it in.
I will pour it out on the children in the street
    as well as on the gatherings of young men.
Both husband and wife will be taken,
    the elderly and those far advanced in years.
¹² Their houses will be turned over to others,
    together with their fields and their wives,
when I stretch out my hand
    against those who dwell in the land,
    says the Lord.
¹³ For from the least to the greatest,
    all are greedy for gain.
All of them practice fraud,
    prophets and priests alike.
¹⁴ They treat the wound of my people
    as though it were a minor bruise,
saying, “All is well,”
    when in reality, disaster looms on the horizon.
¹⁵ They should be ashamed
    because of their abominable deeds.
Yet they are never ashamed
    they do not know how to blush.
Therefore, they will fall along with the others;
    they will be cast down when I punish them,
    says the Lord.
¹⁶ These are the words of the Lord of hosts:
    Stand at the crossroads and look around;
    ask for the ancient paths.
When you are shown where the good way lies,
    walk along it and your souls will find rest.
    However, they said, “We will not take it.”
¹⁷ I also posted sentinels for you and said,
    “Listen to the sound of the trumpet!”
    But they said, “We will not give it any heed.”
¹⁸ Therefore, hear, you nations,
    and come to understand, you people,
    the fate that will befall them.
¹⁹ Let all on earth come to understand
    the extent of the disaster I will inflict on this people,
    the inescapable fruit of their schemes,
because they have not given heed to my words
    and have rejected my law.
²⁰ What use do I have for incense imported from Sheba
    or fragrant cane from a distant land?
I do not regard your burnt offerings as acceptable,
    nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me.
²¹ Therefore, thus says the Lord:
    Behold, I will now place obstacles before this people
    that will cause them to stumble.
Fathers and sons, friends and neighbors,
    will all perish together.
²² These are the words of the Lord of hosts:
    Behold, a people is approaching
    from the land of the north;
a great nation is coming forth
    from the ends of the earth.
²³ Armed with bow and javelin,
    they are cruel and lack any semblance of mercy.
Their sound is like the thunder of the sea
    as they ride forth on their horses;
they approach in battle formation
    to fight against you, O daughter of Zion.
²⁴ As news about them reaches us,
    our hands become limp.
Anguish has gripped us,
    pain like that of a woman in labor.
²⁵ Do not venture forth into the countryside
    or walk along the roads.
Terror lurks on every side
    from the swords of the enemy.
²⁶ O daughter of my people,
    wrap yourselves in sackcloth
    and roll in the ashes.
Mourn as you would for an only child
    with bitter lamentation.
For suddenly approaching us,
    we will behold the destroyer.
^27 [g]I have designated you as a tester of my people
    so that you may learn and test their ways.
²⁸ All of then are unrepentant rebels,
    comfortable in slander and corrupt without exception,
    hard as bronze and iron.
²⁹ The bellows roar
    and the lead is consumed by the fire.
In vain does the smelter do his work,
    for the wicked are not purged out.^[h]
30 They are called “rejected silver,”
    for the Lord has indeed rejected them.