1 If you will return, Israel, says Yahweh, if you will return to me,
and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight; then you shall
not be removed; 2 and you shall swear, As Yahweh lives, in truth, in
justice, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him,
and in him shall they glory. 3 For thus says Yahweh to the men of Judah
and to Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and don’t sow among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and take away the foreskins of your
heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go
forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of
your doings. 5 Declare you in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and
say, Blow you the trumpet in the land: cry aloud and say, Assemble
yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities. 6 Set up a standard
toward Zion: flee for safety, don’t stay; for I will bring evil from the
north, and a great destruction. 7 A lion is gone up from his thicket, and
a destroyer of nations; he is on his way, he is gone forth from his place, to
make your land desolate, that your cities be laid waste, without inhabitant.
8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger
of Yahweh hasn’t turned back from us. 9 It shall happen at that day, says
Yahweh, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the
princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
10 Then said I, Ah, Lord Yahweh! surely you have greatly deceived this
people and Jerusalem, saying, You shall have peace; whereas the sword
reaches to the life. 11 At that time shall it be said to this people and
to Jerusalem, A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the
daughter of my people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse; 12 a full wind from
these shall come for me: now will I also utter judgments against them.
13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be
as the whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! for we are
ruined. 14 Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be
saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you? 15 For a voice
declares from Dan, and publishes evil from the hills of Ephraim: 16 make
you mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem,
that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice
against the cities of Judah. 17 As keepers of a field are they against her
round about, because she has been rebellious against me, says Yahweh.
18 Your way and your doings have procured these things to you; this is
your wickedness; for it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart. 19 My
anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in
me; I can’t hold my peace; because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of
the trumpet, the alarm of war. 20 Destruction on destruction is cried; for
the whole land is laid waste: suddenly are my tents destroyed, and my
curtains in a moment. 21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the
sound of the trumpet? 22 For my people are foolish, they don’t know me;
they are foolish children, and they have no understanding; they are wise to
do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. 23 I saw the earth, and,
behold, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I saw the mountains, and, behold, they trembled, and all the hills
moved back and forth. 25 I saw, and, behold, there was no man, and all the
birds of the sky were fled. 26 I saw, and, behold, the fruitful field was
a wilderness, and all the cities of it were broken down at the presence of
Yahweh, and before his fierce anger. 27 For thus says Yahweh, The
whole land shall be a desolation; yet will I not make a full end. 28 For
this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have
spoken it, I have purposed it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn
back from it. 29 Every city flees for the noise of the horsemen and
archers; they go into the thickets, and climb up on the rocks: every city is
forsaken, and not a man dwells therein. 30 You, when you are made
desolate, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with scarlet, though
you deck you with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your eyes with paint,
in vain do you make yourself beautiful; your lovers despise you, they
seek your life. 31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the
anguish as of her who brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter
of Zion, who gasps for breath, who spreads her hands, saying, Woe is
me now! for my soul faints before the murderers.
World English Bible - Public Domain |
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