1. Roam around in Jerusalem's streets and see now, and know, and seek in her plazas if you can find a man, if there is one who does justice, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her.
2. And though they say, As Jehovah lives, surely they swear falsely.
3. O Jehovah, are not Your eyes for the truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You consumed them, yet they refused to take correction. They made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return.
4. So I said, Surely they are poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God.
5. I will go up for myself to the great men and will speak to them. For they have known the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God. Surely these have joined in breaking the yoke; they have torn off the bonds.
6. On account of this a lion out of the forest shall strike them; a wolf of the desert shall destroy them; a leopard is watching over their cities. Everyone who goes out from them shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many; their rebellions are multiplied.
7. Why should I pardon you for this? Your sons have forsaken Me and have sworn by No-gods. When I adjured them, they then committed adultery and gathered themselves by troops in a harlot's house.
8. They were like lusty, well fed stallions in the morning, everyone neighing after the wife of his neighbor.
9. Shall I not judge for these things, says Jehovah? And shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10. Go up on her vine rows and destroy, but do not make a full end. Take away her branches, for they are not Jehovah's.
11. For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been very devious with Me, declares Jehovah.
12. They have lied against Jehovah and said, It is not He; and, No evil shall come on us; and, We shall not see sword or famine.
13. And the prophets shall become wind, and the Word is not in them; so it shall be done to them.
14. So Jehovah God of Hosts says this: Because you spoke this word, behold! I will make My Words fire in your mouth, and these people wood; and it shall consume them.
15. Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far away, O house of Israel, declares Jehovah. It is an enduring nation; it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor understand what they say.
16. Their quiver is as an open grave; they are all mighty men.
17. And they will eat up your harvest and your food, and they will devour your sons and your daughters. They will eat up your flocks and your herds; they will eat up your vines and your fig trees. One shall beat down your fortified cities with the sword, those in which you trust.
18. Yet even in those days, declares Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you.
19. And it will be when you shall say, Why does Jehovah our God do all these things to us? Then you shall answer them, Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
20. Declare this in the house of Jacob and cry it in Judah, saying,
21. Now hear this, O foolish people, even you without heart, who have eyes and do not see, who have ears and do not hear.
22. Do you not fear Me, declares Jehovah? Will you not tremble before My face, that I have placed the sand as the limit for the sea by an eternal decree, so that it cannot cross over it? And though they toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail; though its waves roar, yet they cannot cross over it.
23. But to this people there is a revolting and a rebellious heart; they have turned and are gone.
24. And they do not say in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God who gives both the former and the latter rain in its season; He keeps for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
25. Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you.
26. For among My people are found wicked ones. They lie in wait, as one who sets snares. They set a trap, they catch men.
27. Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of treachery. On account of this they have become great and grown rich.
28. They have become fat; they shine. Yes, they pass over the deeds of the evil; they do not judge the cause of the orphan, that they may prosper. And they do not vindicate the right of the needy.
29. Shall I not visit for these things, declares Jehovah? Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30. An astounding and horrible thing has happened in the land.
31. The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their hands; and My people love it so. And what will you do at the end of it?