Old/New Testament

3 It is said commonly, If a man forsaketh his wife, and she go away from him, and be wedded to another husband, whether he shall turn again [any] more to her? whether that woman shall not be defouled, and made unclean? (shall he return to her again? shall that woman not be defiled, and made unclean?) Forsooth thou hast done fornication with many lovers; nevertheless turn thou again to me, saith the Lord, and I shall receive thee.

² Raise thine eyes into straight, and see, where thou art not cast down. Thou hast sat in ways, abiding them as a thief in wilderness, and thou hast defouled the earth in thy fornications and in thy malices. (Raise up thine eyes into the high places, and see, if there is any place where thou hast not laid down. Thou hast sat in ways, waiting for them like a thief in the wilderness, and thou hast defiled the earth with thy fornications and thy malices.)

³ Wherefore the drops of rains were forbidden, and no late rain was. The forehead of a woman whore is made to thee; thou wouldest not be ashamed. (And so the drops of rain were forbidden, and there was no late rain for thee. Thou haddest the forehead, or the face, of a whorewoman, but thou wouldest not be ashamed.)

⁴ Namely from this time forth call thou me, Thou art my father, the leader of my virginity. (Yet now thou sayest to me, Thou art my father, my guide in my younger years.)

⁵ (And,) Whether thou shalt be wroth without end, either shalt continue (to feel so) into the end? Lo! thou hast spoken, and hast done evils, and thou were mighty (in them). And for words of penance thou blasphemedest by words of pride; and thou filledest thine evil thought(s), and showedest thy strength against thy husband, (so) that thou mayest do that thing that thou treatedest by word.

⁶ And the Lord said to me, in the days of Josiah, the king, Whether thou hast seen what thing the adversary, Israel, hath done? She went [away] to herself on each high hill, and under each tree full of boughs, and did fornication there. (And the Lord said to me, in the days of King Josiah, Hast thou seen what my adversary, Israel, hath done? She went upon each high hill, and under each tree full of branches, and she did fornication there.)

⁷ And I said, when she had done all these things, Turn thou again to me; and she turned not again. And her sister, Judah, breaker of the law, saw, (And I said to her, when she had done all these things, Return thou again to me; but she did not return. And her sister, Judah, the law-breaker, saw,)

⁸ that for the adversary, Israel, did adultery, I had let go her, and I had given to her a libel, (or a little book,) of forsaking; and Judah, her sister, breaker of the law, dreaded not, but also she went, and did fornication. (that my adversary, Israel, had done adultery, and that I had let her go, and that I had given her a note of divorce; and her sister Judah, the law-breaker, did not fear, but she also went, and did fornication.)

⁹ And by lightness of her fornication she defouled the earth, and did adultery with a stone, and with a tree. (And with the indifference of her fornication she defiled the land, and did idolatry with a stone, and with a piece of wood.)

¹⁰ And in all these things her sister, Judah, breaker of the law, turned not again to me, in all her heart, but in a leasing, saith the Lord God. (And in all these things her sister, Judah, the law-breaker, did not return to me, with all her heart, but in a lie, or falsely, saith the Lord God.)

¹¹ And the Lord said to me, The adversary, Israel, hath justified her soul, in comparison of Judah, breaker of the law. (And the Lord said to me, My adversary, Israel, hath justified her soul, in comparison to Judah, the law-breaker.)

¹² Go thou, and cry these words against the north; and thou shalt say, Thou adversary, Israel, turn again, saith the Lord, and I shall not turn away my face from you; for I am holy, saith the Lord, and I shall not be wroth without end. (Go thou, and cry out these words against the north; and thou shalt say, O my adversary, Israel, return to me, saith the Lord, and I shall not turn away my face from you; for I am holy, saith the Lord, and I shall not be angry forever.)

¹³ Nevertheless know thou thy wickedness; for thou hast trespassed against thy Lord God, and thou hast spread abroad thy ways to aliens under each tree full of boughs; and thou heardest not my voice, saith the Lord. (Nevertheless know thou thy wickedness; for thou hast trespassed against the Lord thy God, and thou hast spread abroad thy ways to strangers, or to foreigners, under each tree full of branches; and thou hast not listened to, or obeyed, my voice, saith the Lord.)

¹⁴ Be ye converted, sons, turning again, saith the Lord, for I am your husband; and I shall take you, one of a city, and twain of a kindred, and I shall lead you into Zion; (Come back to me/Return to me, ye people who be turned away, saith the Lord, for I am your husband; and I shall take you, one from a city, and two from a tribe, and I shall lead you unto Mount Zion;)

¹⁵ and I shall give to you shepherds after mine heart, and they shall feed you with knowing and teaching.

¹⁶ And when ye shall be multiplied, and increase(d) in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall no more say, The ark of [the] testament of the Lord (they shall no more speak of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord); neither it shall ascend on the heart, neither they shall think on it, neither it shall be visited, neither it shall be further (needed).

¹⁷ In that time they shall call Jerusalem The seat of the Lord, and all heathen men shall be gathered together to it, in the name of the Lord, in Jerusalem; and they shall not go after the shrewdness of their worst heart. (At that time they shall call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all the heathen shall be gathered together to it, in the name of the Lord, in Jerusalem; and they shall not go after the depravity of the worst desires of their hearts.)

¹⁸ In those days the house of Judah shall go to the house of Israel; and they shall come together from the land of the north to the land which I gave to your fathers.

¹⁹ Forsooth I said, How shall I set thee among (my) sons, and shall give to thee a desirable land, a full clear heritage of the hosts of heathen men? And I said, Thou shalt call me, Father, and thou shalt not cease to enter after me. (And I said, Yea, I shall put thee among my sons and daughters, and I shall give thee a desirable land, an inheritance better than anything of the heathen! And I said, Thou shalt call me Father, and thou shalt not cease to follow me.)

²⁰ But as if a woman despiseth her lover (But like a woman can despise her lover), so the house of Israel despised me, saith the Lord.

²¹ A voice is heard in (the) ways, the weeping and yelling of the sons of Israel; for they made wicked their way, they forgat their Lord God. (A sound is heard on the way, the weeping and yelling of the Israelites; for they made their way wicked, they forgot the Lord their God.)

²² Be ye converted, sons, turning again, and I shall heal your turnings away. Lo! we come to thee; for thou art our Lord God. (Come back to me/Return to me, ye people who be turned away, and I shall heal your turnings away. And ye shall say, Lo! we come to thee; for thou art the Lord our God.)

²³ Verily the little hills were liars, the multitude of mountains was false; verily in our Lord God is the health of Israel. (Truly there was no help from our worship on the little hills, or on the mountains; truly in the Lord our God is Israel’s only salvation, or deliverance.)

²⁴ Shame ate the travail of our fathers, from our youth; shame ate the flocks of them, and the droves of them, the sons of them, and the daughters of them. (From our early days, Baal, the god of shame ate the fruits of our forefathers’ labours; yea, the god of shame ate their flocks, and their herds, and their sons, and their daughters.)

²⁵ We shall sleep in our shame, and our shame shall cover us; for we sinned to our Lord God, both we and our fathers, from our youth unto this day; and we have not heard the voice of our Lord God. (We shall sleep in our shame, and our shame shall cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, both we and our forefathers, from our early days until this day; and we have not heard the voice of the Lord our God.)

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?)

4 But the Spirit saith openly, that in the last times some men shall depart from the faith [Forsooth the Spirit saith openly, for in the last times some shall depart from the faith], giving attention to spirits of error, and to teachings of devils;

² that speak lying in hypocrisy, and have their conscience corrupted. [in hypocrisy speaking lying, and having their conscience burnt, or corrupted.]

³ forbidding to be wedded [forbidding to wed], and to abstain from meats, which God made to take with doing of thankings, to faithful men, and them that have known the truth.

⁴ For each creature of God is good, and nothing is to be cast away, which is taken with doing of thankings;

⁵ for it is hallowed by the word of God, and by prayer. [forsooth it is hallowed by the word of God, and prayer.]

⁶ Thou putting forth these things to brethren, shalt be a good minister of Christ Jesus; nourished with words of faith and of good doctrine, which thou hast gotten [in following].

⁷ But eschew thou unsuitable fables [Forsooth shun thou uncovenable fables], and old women's fables; haunt thyself to piety.

⁸ For bodily exercitation is profitable to little thing; but piety is profitable to all things, that hath a promise of life that now is [having promise of life that now is], and that is to come.

⁹ A true word, and worthy all acceptation [and worthy all acception].

¹⁰ And in this thing we travail, and be cursed, for we hope in living God, that is Saviour of all men, most(ly) of faithful men.

¹¹ Command thou this thing, and teach.

¹² No man despise thy youth, but be thou ensample of faithful men in word [but be thou example of faithful men in word], in living, in charity, in faith, in chastity.

¹³ Till I come, take attention to reading, to exhortation and teaching.

¹⁴ Do not thou little care (for) the grace which is in thee [Do not thou despise, or little charge, the grace that is in thee], that is given to thee by prophecy, with putting on of the hands of [the] priesthood.

¹⁵ Think thou (on) these things, in these be thou, that thy profiting be showed to all men.

¹⁶ Take attention to thyself and to doctrine; be busy in them. For thou doing these things, shalt make both thyself safe, and them that hear thee.