1 “ Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, And look now and take note. And seek in her open squares, If you can find a man, If there is one who does justice, who seeks truth, Then I will pardon her.

Go to and fro in streets of Jerusalem, And see, I pray you, and know, And seek in her broad places, if ye find a man, If there be one doing judgment, seeking stedfastness -- Then am I propitious to her.

2 “ And although they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ Surely they swear falsely.”

And if they say, `Jehovah liveth,' Surely to a falsehood they swear.

3 O Lord, do not Your eyes look for truth? You have smitten them, But they did not weaken; You have consumed them, But they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent.

Jehovah, Thine eyes, are they not on stedfastness? Thou hast smitten them, and they have not grieved, Thou hast consumed them, They have refused to receive instruction, They made their faces harder than a rock, They have refused to turn back.

4 T hen I said, “They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the Lord Or the ordinance of their God.

And I -- I said, `Surely these poor, They have been foolish, For they have not known the way of Jehovah, The judgment of their God.

5 “ I will go to the great And will speak to them, For they know the way of the Lord And the ordinance of their God.” But they too, with one accord, have broken the yoke And burst the bonds.

I get me to the great, and I speak with them, For they have known the way of Jehovah, The judgment of their God.' Surely they together have broken the yoke, They have drawn away the bands.

6 T herefore a lion from the forest will slay them, A wolf of the deserts will destroy them, A leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces, Because their transgressions are many, Their apostasies are numerous.

Therefore smitten them hath a lion out of the forest, A wolf of the deserts doth spoil them, A leopard is watching over their cities, Every one who is going out of them is torn, For many have been their transgressions, Mighty have been their backslidings.

7 “ Why should I pardon you? Your sons have forsaken Me And sworn by those who are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, They committed adultery And trooped to the harlot’s house.

For this I am not propitious to thee, Thy sons have forsaken Me, And are satisfied by that which is not god, I satisfy them, and they commit adultery, And at the house of a harlot They gather themselves together.

8 “ They were well-fed lusty horses, Each one neighing after his neighbor’s wife.

Fed horses -- they have been early risers, Each to the wife of his neighbour they neigh.

9 “ Shall I not punish these people,” declares the Lord, “And on a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself?

For these do I not lay a charge? An affirmation of Jehovah, And on a nation such as this, Doth not My soul avenge itself?

10 “ Go up through her vine rows and destroy, But do not execute a complete destruction; Strip away her branches, For they are not the Lord’s.

Go ye up on her walls, and destroy, And a completion make not, Turn aside her branches, for they not Jehovah's,

11 “ For the house of Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” declares the Lord.

For dealt treacherously against Me have the house of Israel, And the house of Judah, an affirmation of Jehovah.

12 T hey have lied about the Lord And said, “ Not He; Misfortune will not come on us, And we will not see sword or famine.

They have lied against Jehovah, And they say, ` not He, Nor come in against us doth evil, Yea, sword and famine we do not see.

13 “ The prophets are as wind, And the word is not in them. Thus it will be done to them!” Judgment Proclaimed

And the prophets become wind, And the word is not in them,' -- thus it is done by them.

14 T herefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, “Because you have spoken this word, Behold, I am making My words in your mouth fire And this people wood, and it will consume them.

Therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Hosts, Because of your speaking this word, Lo, I am making My words in thy mouth become fire, And this people wood, and it hath devoured them.

15 “ Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” declares the Lord. “It is an enduring nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say.

Lo, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, an affirmation of Jehovah, A nation -- strong it, a nation -- from of old it, A nation -- thou knowest not its tongue, Nor understandest what it speaketh.

16 “ Their quiver is like an open grave, All of them are mighty men.

Its quiver as an open sepulchre, All of them -- mighty ones.

17 “ They will devour your harvest and your food; They will devour your sons and your daughters; They will devour your flocks and your herds; They will devour your vines and your fig trees; They will demolish with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust.

And it hath consumed thy harvest and thy bread, They consume thy sons, and thy daughters, It consumeth thy flock, and thy herd, It consumeth thy vine, and thy fig-tree, It maketh poor thy fenced cities, In which thou art trusting -- by the sword.

18 “ Yet even in those days,” declares the Lord, “I will not make you a complete destruction.

And even in those days, an affirmation of Jehovah, I do not make you a completion.

19 I t shall come about when they say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’

And it hath come to pass, when ye say, `For what hath Jehovah our God done to us all these?' That thou hast said unto them, `As ye have forsaken Me, And serve the gods of a foreigner in your land, So do ye serve strangers in a land not yours.

20 “ Declare this in the house of Jacob And proclaim it in Judah, saying,

Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, And sound ye it in Judah, saying,

21 ‘ Now hear this, O foolish and senseless people, Who have eyes but do not see; Who have ears but do not hear.

Hear ye, I pray you, this, O people, foolish and without heart, Eyes they have, and they see not, Ears they have, and they hear not.

22 ‘ Do you not fear Me?’ declares the Lord. ‘Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, An eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.

Me do ye not fear, an affirmation of Jehovah? From My presence are ye not pained? Who hath made sand the border of the sea, A limit age-during, and it passeth not over it, They shake themselves, and they are not able, Yea, sounded have its billows, and they pass not over.

23 ‘ But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; They have turned aside and departed.

And this people hath an apostate and rebellious heart, They have turned aside, and they go on.

24 ‘ They do not say in their heart, “Let us now fear the Lord our God, Who gives rain in its season, Both the autumn rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us The appointed weeks of the harvest.”

And they have not said in their heart, `Let us fear, we pray you, Jehovah our God, who is giving rain, The sprinkling and the gathered, in its season, The appointed weeks of harvest He keepeth for us.'

25 ‘ Your iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have withheld good from you.

Your iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have kept the good from you.

26 ‘ For wicked men are found among My people, They watch like fowlers lying in wait; They set a trap, They catch men.

For the wicked have been found among My people. It looketh about the covering of snares, They have set up a trap -- men they capture.

27 ‘ Like a cage full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit; Therefore they have become great and rich.

As a cage full of fowls, So their houses are full of deceit, Therefore they have been great, and are rich.

28 ‘ They are fat, they are sleek, They also excel in deeds of wickedness; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the orphan, that they may prosper; And they do not defend the rights of the poor.

They have been fat, they have shone, Yea, they have overpassed the acts of the evil, Judgment they have not judged, The judgment of the fatherless -- and they prosper, And the judgment of the needy they have not judged.

29 ‘ Shall I not punish these people ?’ declares the Lord, ‘On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself?’

For these do not I inspect, an affirmation of Jehovah, On a nation such as this, Doth not My soul avenge itself?

30 “ An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land:

An astonishing and horrible thing hath been in the land.

31 T he prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?

The prophets have prophesied falsely, And the priests bear rule by their means, And My people have loved so, And what do they at its latter end?