1 D ISCURRID por las plazas de Jerusalem, y mirad ahora, y sabed, y buscad en sus plazas si halláis hombre, si hay alguno que haga juicio, que busque verdad; y yo la perdonaré.

“Go up and down through the streets of Jerusalem, and look and learn. Look in her open places to see if you can find just one man who does what is right and looks for the truth. Then I will forgive this city.

2 Y si dijeren: Vive Jehová; por tanto jurarán mentira.

Even if they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ for sure their promises are false.”

3 O h Jehová, ¿no miran tus ojos á la verdad? Azotástelos, y no les dolió; consumístelos, y no quisieron recibir corrección; endurecieron sus rostros más que la piedra, no quisieron tornarse.

O Lord, do not Your eyes look for truth? You have punished them, but they were not sorry. You have destroyed them, but they would not change. They have made their faces harder than rock. They would not be sorry for their sins and turn from them.

4 Y o empero dije: Por cierto ellos son pobres, enloquecido han, pues no conocen el camino de Jehová, el juicio de su Dios.

Then I said, “They are only the poor. They are foolish. For they do not know the way of the Lord or the Law of their God.

5 I rme he á los grandes, y hablaréles; porque ellos conocen el camino de Jehová, el juicio de su Dios. Ciertamente ellos también quebraron el yugo, rompieron las coyundas.

I will go to the great men and will speak to them, for they know the way of the Lord, and the Law of their God.” But they too have broken the load from their neck and have broken the chains.

6 P or tanto, león del monte los herirá, destruirálos lobo del desierto, tigre acechará sobre sus ciudades; cualquiera que de ellas saliere, será arrebatado: porque sus rebeliones se han multiplicado, hanse aumentado sus deslealtades.

So a lion from among the trees will kill them. A wolf of the deserts will destroy them. A leopard is watching their cities. Every one who goes out of them will be torn in pieces, because they have done many sins. They have turned away from the Lord in many ways.

7 ¿ Cómo te he de perdonar por esto? Sus hijos me dejaron, y juraron por lo que no es Dios. Saciélos, y adulteraron, y en casa de ramera se juntaron en compañías.

“Why should I forgive you? Your sons have left Me and have sworn by those who are not gods. When I gave them everything they needed, they did sex sins and met at the house of the woman who sells the use of her body.

8 C omo caballos bien hartos fueron á la mañana, cada cual relinchaba á la mujer de su prójimo.

They were like well-fed horses full of sinful desire, each one wanting his neighbor’s wife.

9 ¿ No había de hacer visitación sobre esto? dijo Jehová. De una gente como ésta ¿no se había de vengar mi alma?

Should I not punish these people?” says the Lord. “Should I not make a nation such as this pay for its sins?

10 E scalad sus muros, y destruid; mas no hagáis consumación: quitad las almenas de sus muros, porque no son de Jehová.

“Go up through her grape-fields and destroy, but do not destroy all of them. Cut away her branches, for they are not the Lord’s.

11 P orque resueltamente se rebelaron contra mí la casa de Israel y la casa de Judá, dice Jehová.

For the people of Israel and the people of Judah have not been faithful to Me,” says the Lord. Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed

12 N egaron á Jehová, y dijeron: El no es, y no vendrá mal sobre nosotros, ni veremos cuchillo ni hambre;

“They have lied about the Lord and said, ‘He will do nothing. Nothing bad will happen to us, and we will not see sword or hunger.

13 A ntes los profetas serán como viento, y no hay en ellos palabra; así se hará á ellos.

The men who speak for God are only wind. The word is not in them. So let what they say be done to them!’”

14 P or tanto, así ha dicho Jehová Dios de los ejércitos: Porque hablasteis esta palabra, he aquí yo pongo en tu boca mis palabras por fuego, y á este pueblo por leños, y los consumirá.

So the Lord, the God of All, says, “Because you have said this, I am making My words in your mouth a fire and I am making these people wood so they will be burned up.

15 H e aquí yo traigo sobre vosotros gente de lejos, oh casa de Israel, dice Jehová; gente robusta, gente antigua, gente cuya lengua ignorarás, y no entenderás lo que hablare.

See, I am bringing a nation that is far away against you, O people of Israel,” says the Lord. “It is a strong nation and an old nation, a nation whose language you do not know. You cannot understand what they say.

16 S u aljaba como sepulcro abierto, todos valientes.

Their arrow-holder is like an open grave. All of them are powerful men.

17 Y comerá tu mies y tu pan, que habían de comer tus hijos y tus hijas; comerá tus ovejas y tus vacas, comerá tus viñas y tus higueras; y tus ciudades fuertes en que tú confías, tornará en nada á cuchillo.

They will eat up your food that you gather from your fields. They will eat the food your sons and your daughters should eat. They will eat up your flocks and your cattle. They will destroy your grape-fields and your fig trees. They will destroy with the sword your strong cities in which you trust.

18 E mpero en aquellos días, dice Jehová, no os acabaré del todo.

“Yet even in those days I will not make a complete end of you,” says the Lord.

19 Y será que cuando dijereis: ¿Por qué hizo Jehová el Dios nuestro con nosotros todas estas cosas? entonces les dirás: De la manera que me dejasteis á mí, y servisteis á dioses ajenos en vuestra tierra así serviréis á extraños en tierra ajena.

“When your people say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ then you will say to them, ‘As you have left Me and served strange gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’

20 D enunciad esto en la casa de Jacob, y haced que esto se oiga en Judá, diciendo:

“Make this known in the family of Jacob and in Judah, saying,

21 O id ahora esto, pueblo necio y sin corazón, que tienen ojos y no ven, que tienen oídos y no oyen:

‘Hear this, O foolish people without understanding, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.

22 ¿ A mí no temeréis? dice Jehová; ¿no os amedrentaréis á mi presencia, que al mar por ordenación eterna, la cual no quebrantará, puse arena por término? Se levantarán tempestades, mas no prevalecerán; bramarán sus ondas, mas no lo pasarán.

Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord. ‘Do you not shake in fear before Me? For I have placed the sand to be on one side of the sea, a lasting wall that it cannot cross. Even if there are waves, they cannot pass. Even if they make much noise, they cannot cross over it.

23 E mpero este pueblo tiene corazón falso y rebelde; tornáronse y fuéronse.

But these people have a strong-will and a heart that has turned against Me. They have turned aside and gone away.

24 Y no dijeron en su corazón: Temamos ahora á Jehová Dios nuestro, que da lluvia temprana y tardía en su tiempo; los tiempos establecidos de la siega nos guarda.

They do not say in their heart, “Let us fear the Lord our God, Who gives rain in its time, both the fall rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us the weeks for gathering food.”

25 V uestras iniquidades han estorbado estas cosas; y vuestros pecados apartaron de vosotros el bien.

Your wrong-doing has kept these good things away. Your sins have kept good from you.

26 P orque fueron hallados en mi pueblo impíos; acechaban como quien pone lazos; pusieron trampa para tomar hombres.

For sinful men are found among My people. They watch like men lying in wait watching for birds. They set a trap, and they catch men.

27 C omo jaula llena de pájaros, así están sus casas llenas de engaño: así se hicieron grandes y ricos.

Like a basket full of birds, their houses are full of lies and false ways. So they have become important and rich.

28 E ngordaron y pusiéronse lustrosos, y sobrepujaron los hechos del malo: no juzgaron la causa, la causa del huérfano; con todo hiciéronse prósperos, y la causa de los pobres no juzgaron.

They are fat and smooth, and have done many sinful acts. They do not do what is right for those whose parents have died so that they may do well. And they do not help fight for the rights of the poor.

29 ¿ No tengo de visitar sobre esto? dice Jehová; ¿y de tal gente no se vengará mi alma?

“Should I not punish these people?” says the Lord. “Should I not punish a nation such as this?”

30 C osa espantosa y fea es hecha en la tierra:

A very bad and surprising thing has happened in the land.

31 L os profetas profetizaron mentira, y los sacerdotes dirigían por manos de ellos; y mi pueblo así lo quiso. ¿Qué pues haréis á su fin?

The men of God say things that are not true, and the religious leaders rule by their own thoughts. And My people love to have it this way! But what will you do in the end?