Beginning

28 Hoy (woe, doom) to the ateret ge’ut (crown of pride), to the shikkorei Ephrayim (drunkards of Ephrayim), whose glorious beauty is a fading tzitz (flower), which are on the rosh of the verdant gey (valley) of them that are overcome with yayin!

² Hinei, Adonoi hath one, chazak and strong, which as a tempest of barad (hail) and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty mayim overflowing, shall cast them down to ha’aretz with the yad.

³ The ateret ge’ut (crown of pride), the shikkorei Ephrayim, shall be trodden under foot;

⁴ And the glorious beauty, which is at the rosh of the verdant gey, shall be a fading tzitz, and as the bikkurah (first ripe fruit) before kayitz (summer); which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his palm he eateth it up.

⁵ In that day shall Hashem Tzva’os be for an ateret of glory, and for a wreath tiferet, unto the remnant of His people,

⁶ And for a ruach mishpat to him that sitteth in mishpat, and for gevurah to them that turn back the milchamah at the gate.

⁷ But they also have gone astray through yayin, and through strong drink are out of the way; the kohen and the navi have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up with yayin, they are out of the way through strong drink; they go astray from the vision, they stumble in rendering decisions.

⁸ For all shulchanot are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no makom (place) clean.

⁹ Whom shall He teach da’as? And whom shall He make to understand doctrine? Them that are just weaned from cholov, and just drawn from the breasts.

¹⁰ For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; sham (here) a little, and sham (there) a little;

¹¹ For with stammering safah (lips) and with lashon acheret (another tongue, different tongue) will He speak to HaAm Hazeh.

¹² To whom He said, This is the menuchah (rest) wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing; yet they would not hear.

¹³ But the Devar Hashem was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; sham a little, and sham a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken [captive].

¹⁴ Therefore hear the Devar Hashem, ye scoffing anashim, that rule HaAm Hazeh which is in Yerushalayim.

¹⁵ Because ye have said, We have cut a brit with mavet, and with Sheol are we in agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made kazav our refuge, and under sheker have we hid ourselves;

¹⁶ Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem, Hineni, I lay in Tziyon for a foundation an even (stone), an even bochan (a tried stone), a pinnat yikrat (precious cornerstone), a sure foundation; the ma’amin (believer) shall not panic.

¹⁷ Mishpat also will I make as the measuring line, and tzedakah to be the plumbline; and the barad shall sweep away the refuge of kazav, and the mayim shall overflow the hiding place.

¹⁸ And your brit (covenant) with mavet shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

¹⁹ As often as it goeth forth it shall seize you; for boker by boker shall it pass over, by day and by night; and it shall be a terror just to understand the message.

²⁰ For the matztza (bed, mattress) is shorter than one can stretch himself on it; and the blanket narrower than that he can wrap himself in.

²¹ For Hashem shall rise up as in Har Peratzim, He shall be in wrath as in the valley of Giveon, that He may do His ma’aseh, His zar ma’aseh (strange work, foreign work); and bring to pass His avodah, His nochriyah avodah.

²² Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your chains be made chazak; for I have heard from Adonoi Hashem Tzva’os a destruction, even determined upon kol ha’aretz (the whole earth).

²³ Give ye ozen, and hear my voice; pay heed, and hear my speech.

²⁴ Doth the plowman plow kol hayom to sow? Doth he keep turning and breaking the clods of his adamah?

²⁵ When he hath made level the surface thereof, doth he not sow the dill, and scatter the cumin, and plant in rows the chittah (wheat) and the se’orah (barley) in the appointed place, and the spelt in their place?

²⁶ For Elohav doth instruct him, and doth teach him properly.

²⁷ For the dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, neither is an ofan agalah (cart wheel) rolled about upon the cumin; but the dill is beaten out with a rod, and the cumin with a club.

²⁸ Grain for lechem must be ground; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the gilgal (wheel) of his agalah (cart, wagon), nor grind it with his parash.

²⁹ This also cometh forth from Hashem Tzva’os, Who is wonderful in etzah, and excellent in wisdom.

29 Hoy (woe, doom) to Ariel [i.e., Yerushalayim], to Ariel, the city where Dovid dwelt! Add ye shanah to shanah; let chaggim (feasts) cycle around.

² Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow; and it shall be unto me as ariel (altar hearth) [see Ezekiel 43:15]).

³ And I will besiege thee all around, and will lay siege against thee with towers, and I will raise metzurot (siegeworks) against thee.

⁴ And thou shalt be brought low, and shalt speak me’eretz (out of the ground), and thy speech shall whisper out of the aphar, and thy voice shall be, like an ov (medium’s that has a familiar spirit), out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the aphar.

⁵ Moreover the multitude of thy foes shall be like fine dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as motz (chaff) that in passing bloweth away; indeed, it shall be at an instant suddenly.

⁶ Thou shalt be visited [in punishment] by Hashem Tzva’os with ra’am (thunder), and with earthquake, and a kol gadol, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring eish.

⁷ And the multitude of kol HaGoyim that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her metzadah, and that besiege her, shall be as a chalom (dream) of a chazon lailah (night vision).

⁸ It shall even be as when a hungry man hath a chalom, and, hinei, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his nefesh is empty; or as when a thirsty man hath a chalom, and, hinei, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, hinei, he is faint, and his nefesh still thirsts; so shall the multitude of kol HaGoyim be, that fight against Har Tziyon.

⁹ Pause, and wonder? Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunken, but not with yayin; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

¹⁰ For Hashem hath poured out upon you the ruach tardemah (spirit of deep sleep), and hath closed your eynayim; namely, that of the nevi’im and your heads, you seers, hath He covered.

¹¹ And the whole vision is become unto you as the devarim of a sefer that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, now; and he saith, I am not able; for it is sealed;

¹² And the sefer is delivered to him that with the sefer has no da’as, saying, Read this, now; and he saith, I cannot read this. With sefer I have no da’as.

¹³ Therefore Adonoi says, Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their peh, and with their sfatayim do honor Me, but have removed their lev far from Me, and their fear toward Me is mitzvat anashim melummadah (human commandments taught by rote);

¹⁴ Therefore, hineni, I will again do an astonishing work among this people, even a marvellous work and a peleh (wonder); for the chochmah of their chachamim shall perish, and the binah (understanding) of their sages shall vanish.

¹⁵ Hoy (woe, doom) unto them that go to great depths to hide their etzah (plan) from Hashem, and their ma’asim are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? And who knoweth us?

¹⁶ Surely you have things turned around. Shall the Yotzer be esteemed as equal with the khomer (clay); for shall the ma’aseh say of him that made it, He made me not? Or shall the thing formed say of Him that formed it, He had no understanding?

¹⁷ Is it not yet a very little while, and Levanon shall be turned into a carmel, and the carmel shall be esteemed as a ya’ar (forest)?

¹⁸ And in that day shall the chereshim (deaf persons) hear the devarim of the sefer, and the eynayim of the ivrim shall see out of obscurity, and out of choshech.

¹⁹ The anaviyim also shall increase their simchah in Hashem, and the evyonei adam (needy of humankind) shall rejoice in the Kadosh Yisroel.

²⁰ For the terrifying one is brought to naught, and the scoffer is consumed, and all that strive for avon are cut off;

²¹ That make an adam an offender with a devar, and lay a snare for the mokhiach (reprover, defender) in the sha’ar (gate, court), and turn aside the tzaddik from justice.

²² Therefore thus saith Hashem, who redeemed Avraham, concerning Bais Ya’akov, Ya’akov shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now grow fearfully pale.

²³ But when he seeth his banim, the ma’aseh of Mine hands, in his midst, they shall set apart as kodesh Shmi (My Name), and set apart as kodesh the Kadosh Ya’akov, and shall fear the Elohei Yisroel.

²⁴ They also that erred in ruach shall know binah (understanding), and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.

30 Hoy (woe, doom) to the banim sorerim (obstinately rebellious children), saith Hashem, that take etzah, but not from Me; and in their plans weave a web, but not of My Ruach, that they may heap up chattat upon chattat;

² That walk to go down into Mitzrayim, and have not inquired at My mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the tzel (shadow) of Mitzrayim!

³ Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the refuge in the tzel of Mitzrayim your humiliation.

⁴ For his sarim were at Tzoan, and his malachim (envoys) came to Chanes.

⁵ They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an ezer (help) nor profit, but a shame, and also a cherpah.

⁶ The massa (burden) of the beasts of the Negev; into the eretz tzarah and anguish, from which come the lion and lioness, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young donkeys, and their otzarot (treasures) upon the humps of gemalim (camels), to a people that shall not profit them.

⁷ For the Mitzrayim shall be hevel (vain) in help, and to no purpose; therefore have I called her concerning this, Rahab Sits Idle.

⁸ Now go, write it before them on a luach (tablet), and inscribe it on a sefer, that it may be for a yom acharon l’ad ad olam;

⁹ That this is a rebellious people, deceitful banim, banim that will not hear the torah of Hashem;

¹⁰ Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us nekhochot (right things), speak unto us chalakot (smooth things), prophesy machatallot (deceits, illusions);

¹¹ Get you off the derech, turn aside out of the orach (path), cause Kadosh Yisroel to cease from before us.

¹² Therefore thus saith Kadosh Yisroel, Because ye despise this davar, and trust in oshek (oppression) and waywardness, and rely thereon;

¹³ Therefore this avon shall be to you as a cracking breach ready to fall, a bulge in a high chomah (wall), whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant.

¹⁴ And whose collapse is as the breaking of the clay jar of yotzerim (pottery makers) that is broken in pieces; it shall not be spared; so that there shall not be found among its fragments a shard to take eish from the fire, or to take mayim therewith out of the cistern.

¹⁵ For thus saith Adonoi Hashem Kadosh Yisroel; In shuvah (returning) and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your gevurah (strength); but ye would not.

¹⁶ But ye said, No; for we will flee upon sus; therefore shall ye flee; and, We will ride off upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.

¹⁷ Elef echad shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five shall ye flee; until ye be left as a pole upon the top of the har, and as a nes (banner, flag) on a hill.

¹⁸ And therefore will Hashem wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have rachamim upon you; for Hashem is Elohei Mishpat; Ashrei are all they that wait for Him.

¹⁹ For a people shall dwell in Tziyon at Yerushalayim; thou shalt weep no more; He will be very gracious unto thee at the sound of thy cry; when He shall hear it, He will answer thee.

²⁰ And though Adonoi give you the lechem tzar (bread of trouble), and the mayim lachatz (waters of affliction), yet shall not thy morim (teachers) hide themselves any more, but thine eynayim shall see thy morim;

²¹ And thine oznayim shall hear a davar behind thee, saying, This is the derech (road), walk ye on it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

²² Ye shall defile also the covering of thy peselim of kesef, and the clothing of thy massekhot (cast idols) of zahav; thou shalt throw them away like a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee from here.

²³ Then shall He send the matar of thy zera (seed), that thou shalt sow the adamah therewith; and lechem of the increase of the adamah, and it shall be rich and plenteous; in that day shall thy mikneh feed in broad pastures.

²⁴ The oxen likewise and the young donkeys that work the adamah shall eat mash fodder, which hath been spread with the winnowing fork and with the winnowing fan.

²⁵ And there shall be upon every high har, and upon every soaring hill, springs and streams of mayim in the day of the great slaughter, when the migdalim (towers) fall.

²⁶ Moreover the ohr of the levanah (moon) shall be as the ohr of the chamah (sun), and the ohr of the chamah shall be sevenfold, as the ohr of shivat hayamim (seven days), in the day that Hashem bindeth up the hurt of His people, and healeth the stroke of His wound.

²⁷ Hinei, the Shem of Hashem cometh from afar, burning is His anger, and heavy is His cloud; His safatayim (lips) are full of indignation, and His lashon is like a devouring eish;

²⁸ And His Ruach, like an overflowing stream, shall reach half-way to the tzavar (neck), to sift the Goyim with the sieve of shav (vanity, futility); and there shall be a misleading bridle bit in the jaws of the people.

²⁹ Ye shall have the shir (song), as in the night when the chag is set apart as kodesh; and simchat levav, as when one goeth with a chalil (flute) to come to the Har Hashem, to the Tzur Yisroel.

³⁰ And Hashem shall cause His glorious voice to be heard, and shall cause the lowering of His zero’a to be seen, with the indignation of His anger, and with the flame of a devouring eish, with smashing, and tempest, and even barad (stones of hail, hailstones).

³¹ For through the voice of Hashem shall the Assyrian be crushed, which struck with a shevet (rod).

³² And in every place where the matteh (rod) of punishment shall pass, which Hashem shall lay upon him [Ashur], it shall be with tambourines and kinnorot; and in milchamot (battles) of brandishing will He fight against them.

³³ For Tophet [i.e., the place where humans are sacrificed to Molech in Gey Hinnom] is ordained of old; indeed, for Melech [Molech] it is prepared. He hath made it deep and wide; the fire pit thereof is eish and much wood; the nishmat Hashem (breath of Hashem), like a stream of gofrit (brimstone, burning sulfur), doth kindle it [see Isa 66:24].