MLV(i)
1 Run you* to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem and see now and know and seek in the broad places of it, if you* can find a man, if there is any who does justly, who seeks truth and I will pardon her.
2 And though they say, As Jehovah lives, surely they swear falsely.
3 O Jehovah, do not your eyes look upon truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return.
4 Then I said, Surely these are poor, they are foolish, for they do not know the way of Jehovah, nor the law of their God. 5 I will go to the great men and will speak to them, for they know the way of Jehovah and the law of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke and burst the bonds.
6 Therefore a lion out of the forest will kill them; a wolf of the evenings will destroy them; a leopard will watch against their cities. Everyone who goes out from there will be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many and their backslidings are increased. 7 How can I pardon you? Your sons have forsaken me and sworn by those who are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes' houses. 8 They were as fed horses roaming at large; everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife.
9 Shall I not visit for these things? says Jehovah. And will not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 Go up upon her walls and destroy, but make not 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 dealt very treacherously against me, says Jehovah.
12 They have denied Jehovah and said, It is not he. Neither will evil come upon us, nor will we see sword nor famine. 13 And the prophets will become wind and the word is not in them. Thus will it be done to them.
14 Therefore Jehovah says thus, the God of hosts: Because you* speak this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth fire and this people wood and it will devour them.
15 Behold, I will bring a nation upon you* from far, O house of Israel, says Jehovah. It is a mighty nation. It is an nation of old, a nation whose language you do not know, nor understand what they say. 16 Their quiver is an open sepulcher. They are all mighty men.
17 And they will eat up your harvest and your bread, which your sons and your daughters should eat. They will eat up your flocks and your herds. They will eat up your vines and your fig trees. They will beat down your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.
18 But even in those days, says Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you*. 19 And it will happen, when you* will say, Why has Jehovah our God done all these things to us? Then you will say to them, Just as you* have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your* land, so you* will serve strangers in a land that is not yours*.
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah, saying, 21 Hear now this, O foolish people and without understanding, who have eyes and do not see, who have ears and do not hear: 22 Do you* not fear me? says Jehovah. Will you* not tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a everlasting decree, that it cannot pass it? And though the waves of it toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail, though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.
23 But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart. They have revolted and gone. 24 Neither do they say in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season, who preserves to 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 men. They watch as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap; they catch men. 27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great and grown rich. 28 They have grown fat. They shine. Yes, they overflow in deeds of wickedness. They do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper. And they do not judge the right of the needy.
29 Shall I not visit for these things? says Jehovah. Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30 An astonishing and horrible thing has happen in the land. 31 The prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means. And my people love to have it so. And what will you* do in the end of it?
3 O Jehovah, do not your eyes look upon truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return.
4 Then I said, Surely these are poor, they are foolish, for they do not know the way of Jehovah, nor the law of their God. 5 I will go to the great men and will speak to them, for they know the way of Jehovah and the law of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke and burst the bonds.
6 Therefore a lion out of the forest will kill them; a wolf of the evenings will destroy them; a leopard will watch against their cities. Everyone who goes out from there will be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many and their backslidings are increased. 7 How can I pardon you? Your sons have forsaken me and sworn by those who are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes' houses. 8 They were as fed horses roaming at large; everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife.
9 Shall I not visit for these things? says Jehovah. And will not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 Go up upon her walls and destroy, but make not 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 dealt very treacherously against me, says Jehovah.
12 They have denied Jehovah and said, It is not he. Neither will evil come upon us, nor will we see sword nor famine. 13 And the prophets will become wind and the word is not in them. Thus will it be done to them.
14 Therefore Jehovah says thus, the God of hosts: Because you* speak this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth fire and this people wood and it will devour them.
15 Behold, I will bring a nation upon you* from far, O house of Israel, says Jehovah. It is a mighty nation. It is an nation of old, a nation whose language you do not know, nor understand what they say. 16 Their quiver is an open sepulcher. They are all mighty men.
17 And they will eat up your harvest and your bread, which your sons and your daughters should eat. They will eat up your flocks and your herds. They will eat up your vines and your fig trees. They will beat down your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.
18 But even in those days, says Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you*. 19 And it will happen, when you* will say, Why has Jehovah our God done all these things to us? Then you will say to them, Just as you* have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your* land, so you* will serve strangers in a land that is not yours*.
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah, saying, 21 Hear now this, O foolish people and without understanding, who have eyes and do not see, who have ears and do not hear: 22 Do you* not fear me? says Jehovah. Will you* not tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a everlasting decree, that it cannot pass it? And though the waves of it toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail, though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.
23 But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart. They have revolted and gone. 24 Neither do they say in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season, who preserves to 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 men. They watch as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap; they catch men. 27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great and grown rich. 28 They have grown fat. They shine. Yes, they overflow in deeds of wickedness. They do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper. And they do not judge the right of the needy.
29 Shall I not visit for these things? says Jehovah. Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30 An astonishing and horrible thing has happen in the land. 31 The prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means. And my people love to have it so. And what will you* do in the end of it?