Verse 1
If thou dost turn back, O Israel, An affirmation of Jehovah, unto Me turn back, And if thou dost turn aside Thine abominations from My face, Then thou dost not bemoan.
Verse 2
And thou hast sworn -- Jehovah liveth, In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness, And blessed themselves in Him have nations, And in Him they boast themselves.
Verse 3
For thus said Jehovah, To the man of Judah, and to Jerusalem: Till for yourselves tillage, And do not sow unto the thorns.
Verse 4
Be circumcised to Jehovah, And turn aside the foreskins of your heart, O man of Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, Lest My fury go out as fire, and hath burned, And there is none quenching, Because of the evil of your doings.
Verse 5
Declare in Judah, and in Jerusalem sound, And say ye, `Blow a trumpet in the land,' Call ye fully, and say ye: `Be gathered, and we go in to the fenced city.'
Verse 6
Lift up an ensign Zionward, Strengthen yourselves, stand not still, For evil I am bringing in from the north, And a great destruction.
Verse 7
Gone up hath a lion from his thicket, And a destroyer of nations hath journeyed, He hath come forth from his place To make thy land become a desolation, Thy cities are laid waste, without inhabitant.
Verse 8
For this, gird on sackcloth, lament and howl, For the fierce anger of Jehovah hath not turned back from us.
Verse 9
And it hath come to pass, in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah: `Perish doth the heart of the king, And the heart of the princes, And astonished have been the priests, And the prophets do wonder.'
Verse 10
And I say, `Ah, Lord Jehovah, Surely thou hast entirely forgotten this people and Jerusalem, saying, Peace is for you, And struck hath a sword unto the soul!'
Verse 11
At that time it is said of this people, And of Jerusalem: `A dry wind of high places in the wilderness,' The way of the daughter of My people, (Not for winnowing, nor for cleansing,)
Verse 12
A full wind from these doth come for Me, Now, also, I speak judgments with them.
Verse 13
Lo, as clouds he cometh up, And as a hurricane his chariots, Lighter than eagles have been his horses, Wo to us, for we have been spoiled.
Verse 14
Wash from evil thy heart, O Jerusalem, That thou mayest be saved, Till when dost thou lodge in thy heart Thoughts of thy strength?
Verse 15
For a voice is declaring from Dan, And sounding sorrow from mount Ephraim.
Verse 16
Make ye mention to the nations, Lo, sound ye to Jerusalem: `Besiegers are coming from the land afar off, And they give forth against cities of Judah their voice.
Verse 17
As the keepers of a field They have been against her round about, For with Me she hath been rebellious, An affirmation of Jehovah.'
Verse 18
Thy way and thy doings have done these to thee, This `is' thy vexation, for `it is' bitter, For it hath struck unto thy heart.
Verse 19
My bowels, my bowels! I am pained `at' the walls of my heart, Make a noise for me doth My heart, I am not silent, For the voice of a trumpet I have heard, O my soul -- a shout of battle!
Verse 20
Destruction on destruction is proclaimed, For spoiled hath been all the land, Suddenly spoiled have been my tents, In a moment -- my curtains.
Verse 21
Till when do I see an ensign? Do I hear the voice of a trumpet?
Verse 22
For my people `are' foolish, me they have not known, Foolish sons `are' they, yea, they `are' not intelligent, Wise `are' they to do evil, And to do good they have not known.
Verse 23
I looked `to' the land, and lo, waste and void, And unto the heavens, and their light is not.
Verse 24
I have looked `to' the mountains, And lo, they are trembling. And all the hills moved themselves lightly.
Verse 25
I have looked, and lo, man is not, And all fowls of the heavens have fled.
Verse 26
I have looked, and lo, The fruitful place `is' a wilderness, And all its cities have been broken down, Because of Jehovah, Because of the fierceness of His anger.
Verse 27
For thus said Jehovah: All the land is a desolation, but a completion I make not.
Verse 28
For this doth the land mourn, And black have been the heavens above, because I have spoken -- I have purposed, And I have not repented, Nor do I turn back from it.
Verse 29
From the voice of the horseman, And of him shooting with the bow, all the city is fleeing, They have come into thickets, And on cliffs they have gone up, All the city is forsaken, And there is no one dwelling in them.
Verse 30
And thou, O spoiled one, what dost thou? For thou puttest on scarlet, For thou adornest thyself `with' ornaments of gold. For thou rendest with pain thine eyes, In vain thou dost make thyself fair, Kicked against thee have doting ones, Thy life they do seek.
Verse 31
For a voice as of a sick woman I have heard, Distress, as of one bringing forth a first-born, The voice of the daughter of Zion, She bewaileth herself, she spreadeth out her hands, `Wo to me now, for weary is my soul of slayers!'