1Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broadways thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that doeth justice, that seeketh fidelity; and I will pardon it.
2And if they say, As Jehovah liveth! surely they swear falsely.
3Jehovah, are not thine eyes upon fidelity? Thou hast smitten them, but they are not sore; thou hast consumed them, they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
4And I said, Surely these are the wretched ones, they are foolish; for they know not the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God.
5I will go unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they know the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God; but these have altogether broken the yoke, have burst the bonds.
6Therefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the evenings shall waste them; the leopard lurketh against their cities, every one that goeth out thence is torn in pieces: for their transgressions are multiplied, their backslidings are increased.
7Wherefore should I pardon thee? Thy children have forsaken me, and swear by them that are not God. I have satiated them, and they have committed adultery, and they troop to the harlots' house.
8As well fed horses, they roam about, every one neigheth after his neighbour's wife.
9Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah, and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10Go up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end; take away her battlements, for they are not Jehovah's.
11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith Jehovah.
12They have denied Jehovah, and say, He is not; and evil shall not come upon us, nor shall we see sword nor famine;
13and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
14Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts: Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
15Behold, I bring a nation upon you from afar, house of Israel, saith Jehovah: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest thou what they say.
16Their quiver is as an open sepulchre; they are all mighty men.
17And they shall eat up thy harvest and thy bread, they shall eat up thy sons and thy daughters, they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds, they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees; they shall destroy with the sword thy strong cities, wherein thou trustedst.
18Nevertheless in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you.
19And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah our God done all these things unto us? then shalt thou say to them, As ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
20Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
21Hear now this, O foolish and heartless people, who have eyes and see not; who have ears, and hear not.
22Will ye not fear me? saith Jehovah. Will ye not tremble at my presence, who have set the sand a bound for the sea by a perpetual decree, and it shall not pass it? and its waves toss themselves, but they do not prevail; and they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
23But this people hath a stubborn and a rebellious heart; they have turned aside and are gone.
24And they say not in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, that giveth rain, both the early and the latter, in its season; who preserveth unto us the appointed weeks of harvest.
25Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden from you what is good.
26For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as fowlers stoop down; they set a trap, they catch men.
27As a cage full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and have enriched themselves.
28They are become fat, they shine, yea, they surpass in deeds of wickedness; they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, and they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not adjudge.
29Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30An appalling and horrible thing is committed in the land:
31the prophets prophesy falsehood, and the priests rule by their means; and my people love to have it so. But what will ye do in the end thereof?