Historical
Yahweh Calls Israel to Return to Him
4 “If you will (A)return, O Israel,” declares Yahweh,
“Then you should return to Me.
And (B)if you will put away your detested things from My presence
And will not waver
2 And you will (C)swear, ‘As Yahweh lives,’
(D)In truth, in justice, and in righteousness;
Then the (E)nations will [a]be blessed in Him,
And (F)in Him they will boast.”
3 For thus says Yahweh to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem,
“[b](G)Break up your fallow ground,
And (H)do not sow among thorns.
4 (I)Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh
And remove the foreskins of your heart,
Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Lest My (J)wrath go forth like fire
And burn with (K)none 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,
“(L)Blow the trumpet in the land;
Call out, make your voice full, and say,
‘(M)Gather yourselves, and let us go
Into the fortified cities.’
6 Lift up a (N)standard toward Zion!
Seek safety, do not stand still,
For I am bringing (O)evil from the north,
And great destruction.
7 A (P)lion has gone up from his thicket,
And a (Q)destroyer of nations has set out;
He has gone out from his place
To (R)make your land a desolation.
Your cities will be turned into ruins
Without inhabitant.
8 For this, (S)I gird myself with sackcloth,
Lament and wail;
For the (T)burning anger of Yahweh
Has not turned back from us.”
9 “It will be in that day,” declares Yahweh, “that the (U)heart of the king and the heart of the princes will perish; and the priests will be appalled, and the (V)prophets will be astonished.”
10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Surely You have utterly (W)deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘(X)You will have peace’; whereas a sword touches the [c]throat.”
11 In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A [d](Y)scorching 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 [e]for My purpose; now I will also speak judgments against them.
13 Behold, he (Z)goes up like clouds,
And his (AA)chariots like the whirlwind;
His horses are (AB)swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for (AC)we are devastated!”
14 Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem,
That you may be saved.
How long will your (AD)wicked thoughts
Lodge within you?
15 For a voice declares from (AE)Dan,
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 (AF)far country,
And (AG)give forth their voices against the cities of Judah.
17 Like watchmen of a field they are (AH)against her round about
Because she has (AI)rebelled against Me,’ declares Yahweh.
18 Your (AJ)ways and your deeds
Have done these things to you.
This is your evil. How (AK)bitter!
How it has touched your heart!”
Anguish over Judah’s Desolation
19 (AL)My [f]soul, my [g]soul! I am in anguish! [h]Oh, my heart!
My (AM)heart is pounding in me;
I cannot be silent
Because [i]you have heard, O my soul,
The (AN)sound of the trumpet,
The shout of war.
20 (AO)Destruction upon destruction is called out,
For the (AP)whole land is devastated;
Suddenly my (AQ)tents are devastated,
My curtains in an instant.
21 How long must I see the standard
And hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “(AR)For My people are ignorant fools,
They know Me not;
They are simpleminded children
And have no understanding.
They are wise to (AS)do evil,
But to do good they do not know.”
23 I saw on the earth, and behold, it was [j](AT)formless and void;
And to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I saw on the mountains, and behold, they were (AU)quaking,
And all the hills [k]moved to and fro.
25 I saw, and behold, there was no man,
And all the (AV)birds of the sky had fled.
26 I saw, and behold, [l]the (AW)fruitful orchard was a wilderness,
And all its cities were torn down
Before Yahweh, before His burning anger.
27 For thus says Yahweh,
“The (AX)whole land shall be a desolation,
Yet I will (AY)not execute a complete destruction.
28 For this the (AZ)earth shall mourn
And the (BA)heavens above be dark
Because I have (BB)spoken; I have purposed,
And I will not [m]relent, nor will I turn from it.”
29 At the sound of the horseman and bowman (BC)every city flees;
They (BD)go into the thickets and climb up among the rocks;
(BE)Every city is forsaken,
And no man inhabits them.
30 And you, O devastated one, (BF)what will you do?
Although you dress in scarlet,
Although you decorate yourself with ornaments of gold,
Although you (BG)enlarge your eyes with paint,
In vain you make yourself beautiful.
Your [n](BH)lovers 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 (BI)gasping for breath,
(BJ)Stretching out her [o]hands, saying,
“Ah, woe is me, for my soul faints before murderers.”
Jerusalem Refuses to Repent
5 “(BK)Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
And see now and know,
And seek in her open squares,
If you can (BL)find a man,
(BM)If there is one who does justice, who seeks faithfulness,
Then I will pardon her.
2 And (BN)if they say, ‘As Yahweh lives,’
Then they swear to a lie.”
3 O Yahweh, do not (BO)Your eyes look for faithfulness?
You have (BP)struck them,
But they did not [p]weaken;
You have consumed them,
But they (BQ)refused to receive discipline.
They have (BR)made their faces stronger than rock;
They have refused to [q]repent.
4 Then I said, “They are only the poor;
They are foolish;
For they (BS)do 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 (BT)they know the way of Yahweh
And the legal judgment of their God.”
But they too, altogether, have (BU)broken the yoke
And torn apart the bonds.
6 Therefore (BV)a lion from the forest will strike them down;
A (BW)wolf of the deserts will devastate them;
A (BX)leopard is watching their cities.
Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces
Because their (BY)transgressions are many;
Their acts of faithlessness are mighty.
7 “Why should I pardon you?
Your sons have forsaken Me
And (BZ)sworn by those who are (CA)not gods.
I had satisfied them to the full,
Then they (CB)committed adultery
And trooped to the harlot’s house.
8 They were well-fed lusty horses,
Each one neighing after his (CC)neighbor’s wife.
9 Shall I not punish [r]these people,” declares Yahweh,
“And on a nation such as this
(CD)Shall 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 (CE)house of Israel and the house of Judah
Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” declares Yahweh.
12 They have (CF)dealt falsely about Yahweh
And said, “[s](CG)Not He;
Calamity will (CH)not come on us,
And we (CI)will not see sword or famine.
13 The (CJ)prophets 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 (CK)making My words in your mouth fire
And this people wood, and it will devour them.
15 Behold, I am (CL)bringing 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 (CM)tongue you do not know,
Nor can you [t]understand what they say.
16 Their (CN)quiver is like an (CO)open grave;
All of them are mighty men.
17 They will (CP)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 (CQ)vines and your fig trees;
They will demolish with the sword your (CR)fortified 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 (CS)when [u]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 (CT)serve 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 (CU)eyes but do not see,
Who have ears but do not hear.
22 Do you not (CV)fear Me?’ declares Yahweh.
‘Do you not tremble in My presence?
For I have (CW)placed 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 (CX)stubborn 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 (CY)gives rain in its season,
Both (CZ)the [v]early rain and the [w]late rain,
Who keeps for us
The (DA)appointed weeks of the harvest.”
25 Your (DB)iniquities have turned these away,
And your sins have withheld good from you.
26 For wicked men are found among My people;
They (DC)watch like fowlers [x]lying in wait;
They set a [y]trap;
They catch men.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
So their houses are full of (DD)deceit;
Therefore they have become great and rich.
28 They are (DE)fat, they are sleek;
They also [z]excel in deeds of evil;
They do not plead the cause,
The cause of the [aa](DF)orphan, that they may succeed;
And they do not [ab]render justice for the poor.
29 (DG)Shall I not punish [ac]these people?’ declares Yahweh,
‘On a nation such as this
Shall I not avenge Myself?’
30 “A horrible and (DH)appalling thing
Has happened in the land:
31 The (DI)prophets prophesy with lying,
And the priests have dominion [ad]by their own hand;
And My people (DJ)love it so!
But what will you do at the end of it?
Yahweh Disciplines Israel
6 “Flee for safety, O sons of (DK)Benjamin,
From the midst of Jerusalem!
Now blow a trumpet in Tekoa
And raise a signal over [ae](DL)Beth-haccerem,
For evil looks down from the (DM)north,
As well as great destruction.
2 The comely and (DN)delicate one, (DO)the daughter of Zion, I will ruin.
3 (DP)Shepherds and their flocks will come to her;
They will (DQ)pitch their tents [af]around her;
They will pasture each in his [ag]place.
4 (DR)Set yourselves apart for war against her;
Arise, and let us go up at (DS)noon.
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 [ah](DT)destroy her [ai]palaces!”
6 For thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“(DU)Cut down her trees
And cast up a (DV)siege against Jerusalem.
This is the city to be punished,
In whose midst there is only (DW)oppression.
7 (DX)Like a well [aj]keeps its waters fresh,
So she [ak]keeps fresh her evil.
(DY)Violence and devastation are heard in her;
(DZ)Sickness and wounds are continually before Me.
8 (EA)Heed discipline, O Jerusalem,
Lest (EB)My soul become disgusted at you,
Lest I make you a desolation,
A land not inhabited.”
9 Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“They will (EC)thoroughly glean as the vine the (ED)remnant 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 (EE)ears are uncircumcised,
And they cannot give heed.
Behold, (EF)the word of Yahweh has become a reproach to them;
They have no delight in it.
11 But I am (EG)full of the wrath of Yahweh;
I am (EH)weary of holding it in.
“(EI)Pour it out on the infants in the street
And on the [al]gathering of choice men together;
For both husband and wife shall be captured,
The aged with the one full of days.
12 Their (EJ)houses shall be turned over to others,
Their fields and their wives together,
For I will (EK)stretch out My hand
Against the inhabitants of the land,” declares Yahweh.
13 “For (EL)from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is (EM)greedy for gain,
And from the prophet even to the priest
Everyone practices lying.
14 They have (EN)healed the brokenness of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
But there is no peace.
15 Were they (EO)ashamed 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 (EP)ancient paths,
Where the good way is, and walk in it;
And (EQ)you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 And I set (ER)watchmen 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 (ES)Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing evil on this people,
The (ET)fruit of their [am]plans,
Because they have not given heed to My words,
And as for My law, they have (EU)rejected it also.
20 (EV)For what purpose does (EW)frankincense come to Me from Sheba
And the [an](EX)sweet cane from a distant land?
(EY)Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.”
21 Therefore, thus says Yahweh,
“Behold, (EZ)I am [ao]laying stumbling blocks before this people.
And they will stumble against them,
(FA)Fathers and sons together;
Neighbor and [ap]friend will perish.”
Mourn the Coming Destroyer
22 Thus says Yahweh,
“Behold, (FB)a people is coming from the land of the north,
And a great nation will be aroused from the (FC)remote parts of the earth.
23 They take hold of (FD)bow and spear;
They are (FE)cruel and have no compassion;
Their voice (FF)roars like the sea,
And they ride on horses,
Arranged as a man for the battle
Against you, O daughter of Zion!”
24 We have (FG)heard the report of it;
Our hands are limp.
(FH)Distress has taken hold of us,
Pain as of a woman in childbirth.
25 (FI)Do not go out into the field
And (FJ)do not walk on the road,
For the enemy has a sword;
(FK)Terror is on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, (FL)gird yourself with sackcloth
And (FM)roll in ashes;
[aq](FN)Mourn as for an only son,
A lamentation most bitter.
For suddenly the destroyer
Will come upon us.
27 “I have (FO)made you a tester of metals and [ar]an assayer among My people,
That you may know and test their way.”
28 All of them are rebelliously stubborn,
(FP)Going about as a slanderer.
They are (FQ)bronze and iron;
They, all of them, are corrupt.
29 The bellows blow fiercely;
The lead [as]is consumed by the fire;
In vain the refining goes on,
But the (FR)evil ones are not [at]separated.
30 (FS)They call them rejected silver
Because (FT)Yahweh has rejected them.
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