11And the LORD said to me: Rebel Israel has shown herself more in the right than Faithless Judah. 12Go, make this proclamation toward the north, and say: Turn back, O Rebel Israel—declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am compassionate—declares the LORD; I do not bear a grudge for all time. 13Only recognize your sin; for you have transgressed against the LORD your God, and scattered your favorsg among strangers under every leafy tree, and you have not heeded Me—declares the LORD.
14Turn back, rebellious children—declares the LORD. Since I have espousedh you, I will take you, one from a town and two from a clan, and bring you to Zion. 15And I will give you shepherdse after My own heart, who will pasture you with knowledge and skill.
16And when you increase and are fertile in the land, in those days— declares the LORD—men shall no longer speak of the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD, nor shall it come to mind. They shall not mention it, or miss it, or make another. 17At that time, they shall call Jerusalem “Throne of the LORD,” and all nations shall assemble there, in the name of the LORD, at Jerusalem. Theyi shall no longer follow the willfulness of their evil hearts. 18In those days, the House of Judah shall go with the House of Israel; they shall come together from the land of the north to the land I gave your fathers as a possession.
19I had resolved to adopt you as My child, and I gave you a desirable land—the fairest heritage of all the nations; and I thought you would surely call Me “Father,” and never cease to be loyal to Me. 20Instead, you have broken faith with Me, as a woman breaks faith with a paramour, O House of Israel—declares the LORD.
21Hark! On the bare heights is heard
The suppliant weeping of the people of Israel,
For they have gone a crooked way,
Ignoring the LORD their God.
22Turn back, O rebellious children,
I will heal your afflictions!
“Here we are, we come to You,
For You, O LORD, are our God!
23 j-Surely, futility comes from the hills,
Confusion from the mountains.-j
Only through the LORD our God
Is there deliverance for Israel.
24But the Shameful Thingk has consumed
The possessions of our fathers ever since our youth—
Their flocks and herds,
Their sons and daughters.
25Let us lie down in our shame,
Let our disgrace cover us;
For we have sinned against the LORD our God,
We and our fathers from our youth to this day,
And we have not heeded the LORD our God.”
4
If you return, O Israel
—declares the LORD—
If you return to Me,
If you remove your abominations from My presence
And do not waver,
2And a-swear, “As the LORD lives,”-a
In sincerity, justice, and righteousness—
Nations shall bless themselves by youb
And praise themselves by you.b
3For thus said the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem:
Break up the untilled ground,
And do not sow among thorns.
4Openc your hearts to the LORD,
Remove the thickening about your hearts—
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem—
Lest My wrath break forth like fire,
And burn, with none to quench it,
Because of your wicked acts.
5Proclaim in Judah,
Announce in Jerusalem,
And say:
“Blow the horn in the land!”
Shout aloud and say:
“Assemble, and let us go
Into the fortified cities!”
6Set up a signpost: To Zion.
Take refuge, do not delay!
For I bring evil from the north,
And great disaster.
7The lion has come up from his thicket:
The destroyer of nations has set out,
Has departed from his place,
To make your land a desolation;
Your cities shall be ruined,
Without inhabitants.
8For this, put on sackcloth,
Mourn and wail;
For the blazing anger of the LORD
Has not turned away from us.
9And in that day
—declares the LORD—
The mind of the king
And the mind of the nobles shall fail,
The priests shall be appalled,
And the prophets shall stand aghast.
10d-And I said:-d Ah, Lord GOD! Surely You have deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying:
It shall be well with you—
Yet the sword threatens the very life!
11At that time, it shall be said concerning this people and Jerusalem:
The conduct of e-My poor people-e is like searing wind
From the bare heights of the desert—
It will not serve to winnow or to fan.
12A full blast from them comes against Me:
Now I in turn will bring charges against them.
13Lo, hef ascends like clouds,
His chariots are like a whirlwind,
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, we are ruined!
14Wash your heart clean of wickedness,
O Jerusalem, that you may be rescued.
How long will you harbor within you
Your evil designs?
15Hark, one proclaims from Dan
And announces calamity from Mount Ephraim!
16Tell the nations: Here they are!
Announce concerning Jerusalem:
Watchersf are coming from a distant land,
They raise their voices against the towns of Judah.
17Like guards of fields, they surround her on every side.
For she has rebelled against Me
—declares the LORD.
18Your conduct and your acts
Have brought this upon you;
This is your bitter punishment;
It pierces your very heart.
19Oh, my suffering,g my suffering!
How I writhe!
Oh, the walls of my heart!
My heart moans within me,
I cannot be silent;
For h-I hear-h the blare of horns,
Alarms of war.
20Disaster overtakes disaster,
For all the land has been ravaged.
Suddenly my tents have been ravaged,
In a moment, my tent cloths.
21How long must I see standards
And hear the blare of horns?
22For My people are stupid,
They give Me no heed;
They are foolish children,
They are not intelligent.
They are clever at doing wrong,
But unable to do right.
23I look at the earth,
It is unformed and void;
At the skies,
And their light is gone.
24I look at the mountains,
They are quaking;
And all the hills are rocking.
25I look: no man is left,
And all the birds of the sky have fled.
26I look: the farm land is desert,
And all its towns are in ruin—
Because of the LORD,
Because of His blazing anger.
(27For thus said the LORD:
The whole land shall be desolate,
But I will not make an end of it.)
28For this the earth mourns,
And skies are dark above—
Because I have spoken, I have planned,
And I will not relent or turn back from it.
29At the shout of horseman and bowman
The whole city flees.
They enter the thickets,
They clamber up the rocks.
The whole city is deserted,
Not a man remains there.
30And you, who are dommed to ruin,
What do you accomplish by wearing crimson,
By decking yourself in jewels of gold,
By enlarging your eyes with kohl?
You beautify yourself in vain:
Lovers despise you,
They seek your life!
31I hear a voice as of one in travail,
Anguish as of a woman bearing her first child,
The voice of Fair Zion
Panting, stretching out her hands:
“Alas for me! I faint
Before the killers!”
5
Roam the streets of Jerusalem,
Search its squares,
Look about and take note:
You will not find a man,
There is none who acts justly,
Who seeks integrity—
That I should pardon her.
2Even when they say, “As the LORD lives,”
They are sure to be swearing falsely.
3O LORD, Your eyes look for integrity.
You have struck them, but they sensed no pain;
You have consumed them, but they would accept
no discipline.
They made their faces harder than rock,
They refused to turn back.
4Then I thought: These are just poor folk;
They act foolishly;
For they do not know the way of the LORD,
The rules of their God.
5So I will go to the wealthy
And speak with them:
Surely they know the way of the LORD,
The rules of their God.
But they as well had broken the yoke,
Had snapped the bonds.
6Therefore,
The lion of the forest strikes them down,
The wolf of the desert ravages them.
A leopard lies in wait by their towns;
Whoever leaves them will be torn in pieces.
For their transgressions are many,
Their rebellious acts unnumbered.
7Why should I forgive you?
Your children have forsaken Me
And sworn by no-gods.
When I fed them their fill,
They committed adultery
And went trooping to the harlot’s house.
8They were a-well-fed, lusty-a stallions,
Each neighing at another’s wife.
9Shall I not punish such deeds?
—says the LORD—
Shall I not bring retribution
On a nation such as this?
10Go up among her vinesb and destroy;
Lop off her trailing branches,
For they are not of the LORD.
(But do not make an end.)
11For the House of Israel and the House of Judah
Have betrayed Me
—declares the LORD.
12They have been false to the LORD
And said: “c-It is not so!-c
No trouble shall come upon us,
We shall not see sword or famine.
13The prophets shall prove mere wind
For the Word is not in them;
Thus-and-thus shall be done to them!”
14Assuredly, thus said the LORD,
The God of Hosts:
Because theyd said that,
I am putting My words into your mouth as fire,
And this people shall be firewood,
Which it will consume.
15Lo, I am bringing against you, O House of Israel,
A nation from afar
—declares the LORD;
It is an enduring nation,
It is an ancient nation;
A nation whose language you do not know—
You will not understand what they say.
16e-Their quivers-e are like a yawning grave—
They are all mighty men.
17They will devour your harvest and food,
They will devour your sons and daughters,
They will devour your flocks and herds,
They will devour your vines and fig trees.
They will batter down with the sword
The fortified towns on which you rely.
18But even in those days—declares the LORD—I will not make an end of you. 19And when theyd ask, “Because of what did the LORD our God do all these things?” you shall answer them, “Because you forsook Me and served alien gods on your own land, you will have to serve foreigners in a land not your own.”
20Proclaim this to the House of Jacob
And announce it in Judah:
21Hear this, O foolish people,
Devoid of intelligence,
That have eyes but
