For behold me! calling for all the families of the kingdoms of the North, Declareth Yahweh, - and they shall come, and set every one his throne at the opening of the gates of Jerusalem and against all her walls round about, and against all the cities of Judah!

Then will I pronounce my judgments against them, concerning all their wickedness, - in that they have forsaken me and have burned incense unto other gods, and have bowed down to the works of their own hands,

And they will fight against thee but shall not prevail against thee, - for with thee, am I, Declareth Yahweh, to deliver thee.

Thus, saith Yahweh, - What did your fathers find in me by way of perversity, that they removed far from me, - and went after vanity, and became vain?

Neither said they, Where is Yahweh, Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, - Who led us Through the desert, Through a land of wastes and clefts, Through a land of parched places and of death-shade, Through a land, Along which no man had passed, And in which no son of earth dwelt?

The priests, said not Where is Yahweh? And, they who handled the law, did not acknowledge me, And the shepherds transgressed against me, - And the prophets, prophesied by Baal, And so after things that could not profit, did they walk.

Hath a nation, changed gods, although they were No-gods? Yet my people have changed my glory for that which could not profit!

For two wicked things, have my people committed, - Me, have they forsaken a fountain of living water, To hew out for themselves cisterns broken cisterns, that cannot hold water.

Against him, have been roaring wild lions, They have uttered their voice, - and have made his land a desolation, His cities, have been burned, so as to have no inhabitant.

A wild ass, taught of the desert, In the desire of her soul, she snuffeth the wind, In her occasion, who can turn her back? None who seek her, will weary themselves, In her month, they shall find her!

As the shame of a thief when he is found, So, hath been put to shame, the house of Israel, - They, their kings their princes, and their priests and their prophets:

Saying, to a tree, My father, art thou! And to a stone, Thou, didst give us birth, For they have turned unto me the back and not the face, - But in the time of their calamity, they will say, Arise, and save us!

Where then are thy gods which thou hast made for thyself? Let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy calamity, - For according to the number of thy cities, have become thy gods O Judah.

In vain, have I smitten your children, Correction, have they not accepted, - Your sword hath devoured your prophets, as a lion that destroyeth.

And it shall come to pass when ye shall be multiplied and become fruitful in the land, in those days, Declareth Yahweh, They shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of Yahweh, Neither shall it come up on the heart, Neither shall they remember it, Neither shall they miss it, Neither shall it be made any more.

At that time, shall they call Jerusalem, The throne of Yahweh, and there shall be gathered unto her all the nations - to the Name of Yahweh, to Jerusalem; and they shall walk no more after the stubbornness of their own wicked heart.

In those days, shall the house of Judah go unto the house of Israel, - that they may enter together out of the land of the North, upon the land which I gave as an inheritance unto your fathers.

A voice on the bare heights, is heard, The weeping of the supplications of the sons of Israel, - Because they have perverted their way, Have forgotten Yahweh their God.

If thou wilt swear, By the life of Yahweh! in faithfulness in justice and in righteousness, Then shall the nations bless themselves in him, And, in him, shall they glory.

As the keepers of a field, have they come against her round about, - For against me, hath she rebelled, Declareth Yahweh.

Breach upon breach, they cry, For ruined, is all the land, - Suddenly, are ruined my tents, In a moment, my curtains!

Surely, perverse, is my people Me, have they not known, Foolish sons, they are, Yea without understanding, they are: Wise, they are to commit wickedness, But how to do well, they know not!

I beheld, The mountains, and lo! they were trembling, - And all the hills, had been violently moved:

At the noise of horseman and archer, The whole city is in flight, They have entered dark thickets, Yea unto the crags, have they gone up, - Every city, is forsaken, There remaineth not in them a man!

And when, thou, art laid waste, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothe thyself with crimson Though thou deck thyself with ornaments of gold Though thou enlarge with antimony thine eyes, In vain, shalt thou make thyself fair, - Paramours have rejected thee, Thy life, will they seek!

Even though they say By the life of Yahweh, Yet in fact falsely, do they swear.

O Yahweh! thine own eyes, are they not directed to fidelity? Thou hast smitten them Yet have they not grieved, Thou hast consumed them - They have refused to receive correction, - They have made their faces bolder than a cliff, They have refused to return.

And, I, said, - Only, poor people, are they, - They act foolishly, For they know not the way of Yahweh, the justice of their God!

I will betake me unto the great men, and will speak, with them! For, they, know the way of Yahweh, the justice of their God! Yea but, they, with one accord have broken the yoke, torn off the bands.

For this cause, hath the lion out of the forest smitten them, The wolf of the waste plains, preyeth upon them, The leopard, is keeping watch over their cities, Every one that goeth out from thence, is torn in pieces, - For they have multiplied their transgressions, Numerous are their apostasies.

How, for this, can I pardon thee? Thine own sons, have forsaken me, And have sworn by No-gods, - When I had fed them to the full, Then committed they adultery, And the house of the unchaste woman, they used to throng:

Lusty, well-fed horses, had they become, Every man unto his neighbours wife, would neigh!

Scale ye her walls and destroy, But a full end, do not make, - Remove her tendrils, For not to Yahweh, do, they, belong!

They have acted deceptively against Yahweh, And have said, Not He! Neither shall there come upon us, calamity, Nor sword nor famine, shall we see;

Its quiver, is like an open sepulchre, - They all, are heroes:

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

Even for me, will ye have no reverence? Enquireth Yahweh, And because of me, will ye not he pained? In that though I placed the sand as a bound to the sea, A decree age-abiding, and it should not pass beyond it, - When they would toss themselves Then should they not prevail, When the waves thereof would roar Then should they not pass beyond it,

Yet, this people hath an obstinate and rebellious heart, - They have turned aside, and gone their way;

Neither have they said in their heart, - Let us we pray you, revere Yahweh our God, Who giveth rain, even the early and the latter, in its season, - The appointed weeks of harvest, he reserveth for us.

For there have been found among my people lawless men, - One lieth in wait, as with the stooping of fowlers, They have set a trap, they capture men:

As, a cage, is full of birds, So, are, their houses, full of unrighteous gain, - For this cause, have they become great and waxen rich:

They have waxed fat, they shine Yea they have overpassed the records of wickedness. The right, have they not determined, the right of the fatherless that they might prosper, - Yea justice to the helpless, have they not decreed.

Against her, shall come shepherds with their flocks; They have pitched against her their tents, round about, They tend their flocks every one near at hand.

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel - Turn back thy hand, as a grape gatherer over the tendrils.

Unto whom, can I speak - and bear witness, that they may hear? Lo! uncircumcised, is their ear, that they cannot attend, - Lo! the word of Yahweh, hath become to them a reproach, they take no delight therein.

And so they have healed the grievous wound of my people, slightly, Saying, Peace, peace, when there was no peace,

Were they led to turn pale because an abominable thing, they had done! Nay! they did not, at all turn pale, Nay! they did not so much as know how, to exhibit shame, Therefore, shall they fall among them who are falling, In the time when I punish them, shall they be overthrown, Saith Yahweh.

Thus saith Yahweh - Stand ye at the ways - and see, And ask for the paths of age-past times, Where is the good way? And walk therein, And ye shall find rest to your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein !

Therefore will I raise up over you, watchmen, Give ye heed to the sound of a horn, - But they said, We will not give heed!

Hear thou - O earth, Lo! I, am bringing in Calamity against this people the fruit of their own devices, - For unto my words, have they not given heed, And as for my law, they have rejected it.

Bow and javelin, shall they grasp, Cruel, is he! So they will not have compassion, Their voice, like the sea, will roar, And on horses, will they ride, - Arrayed each one, like a man for battle, Against thee, O daughter of Zion!

They all, are rebels of rebels, Slander-walkers They are bronze and iron! As for them all, corrupters, they are!

Rejected silver, are they called, For, Yahweh, hath rejected them.

Do not, on your part trust in false words, saying, - The temple of Yahweh The temple of Yahweh, The temple of Yahweh they are!

Dost thou not see what, they, are doing In the cities of Judah, - and In the streets of Jerusalem?

Is it me, they are provoking? Enquireth Yahweh, - Is it not themselves, - unto the shame of their own faces?

Yet they hearkened not Neither inclined their ear, But walked, In the counsels - In the stubbornness of their own wicked heart; And went backward, and not forward.

Yet they hearkened not unto me, Neither inclined their ear, - But stiffened their neck, They did more wickedly than their fathers.

Therefore shalt thou speak unto them all these words, Though they do not hearken unto thee, - And thou shalt cry aloud unto them Though they do not answer thee; -

But thou shalt say unto them, - This, is the nation that hearkened not unto the voice of Yahweh its God, Neither accepted they correction, - Perished is fidelity, And is cut off out of their mouth.

For the sons of Judah, have done, that which was wicked in mine eyes, Declareth Yahweh, - They have set their abominations in the house whereon my Name hath been called to defile it;

And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, To burn up their sons and their daughters in the fire, - Which I commanded not, Neither came it up on my heart,

Therefore, lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, When it shall not be called any more - The Topheth, nor The valley of Ben-hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter, - And they shall bury in Topheth, for want of place;

At that time, Declareth Yahweh, Shall they bring forth, The bones of the kings of Judah, and The bones of his princes, and The bones of the priests, and The bones of the prophets, and The bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Out of their graves,

And shall spread them out - To the sun, and To the moon, and To all the host of the heavens, Whom they have loved, And whom they have served, And after whom they have walked, And whom they have sought, And to whom they have bowed themselves down, - They shall not be gathered, Neither shall they be buried, As heaps of dung on the face of the ground, shall they be.

I hearkened and heard - Not aright, did they speak, - Not a man, repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done! They have every one, turned to their course again, Like a horse sweeping on through the battle.

Ashamed are the wise, dismayed and captured! Lo! the word of Yahweh, have they rejected, And, what wisdom, have, they?

And so they have healed the grievous wound of the daughter of my people, slightly, - Saying, Peace! peace! when there was no peace!

Were they led to turn pale because an abominable thing, they had done? Nay! they did not, at all turn pale Nay! they did not so much as know how to exhibit shame! Therefore, shall they fall among them who are falling, In the time when they are punished, shall they be overthrown, Saith Yahweh:

I will, surely remove, them, declareth Yahweh: There shall be no grapes on the vine Nor figs on the fig-tree, Even the leaf, hath faded, Though I have given them these things, they shall pass away from them.

From Dan, was heard the snorting of his horses At the sound of the neighing of his chargers, the whole land trembled, - Yea they came in and did sat up The land and the fulness thereof, The city, and them who were dwelling therein.

For behold me! sending among you serpents - vipers which there is no charming, - And they shall fatally bite you declareth Yahweh.

Lo! the voice of the cry for help of the daughter of my people from a land far away, Is, Yahweh, not in Zion? Is, her King, not within her? Why, have they provoked me with their carved images, with their foreign vanities?

Oh that I had in the wilderness, a wayfarers lodge, That I might leave my people, and go from them, - For they all, are Adulterers, An assemblage of traitors;

Who have prepared e their tongue as their bow of falsehood, And, not by faithfulness, have they become mighty in the land, - For from wickedness unto wickedness, have they gone forth, But me, have they not known, Declareth Yahweh.

Yea, every one, of his neighbour, maketh a dupe, And, truth, they do not speak, - They have taught their tongue to speak falsehood, In acting perversely, they have wearied themselves.

Thy dwelling, is in the midst of deceit, - Through deceit, have they rejected the knowledge of, me, Declareth Yahweh.

Over the mountains, will I take up a weeping and wailing, And over the oases of the desert, a dirge, For they have been burned, so that no man passeth through, Neither have men heard the lowing of cattle, - Both the bird of the heavens and the beast have fled, have gone their way:

Then said Yahweh, - Because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them, - And have not hearkened to hay voice neither walked therein;

And will scatter them among the nations, which neither they nor their fathers, have known, - And will send after them the sword, until I have consumed them.

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Consider ye diligently and call for the wailing women that they may come, - And unto the wise women, send ye, that they may come;

Yea, a voice of wailing, hath been heard out of Zion How are we ruined! We have turned very pale For we have left the land, For they have cast down our habitations.

For as for the prescribed customs of the peoples, vanity, they are, - For a tree out of the forest, one cutteth down, Work for the hands of a skilled workman with the axe:

With silver and with gold, he decketh it, - With nails and with hammers, they fasten them, that it may not totter.

Mere palm-trunks turned, they are and cannot speak, They must needs be, carried, for they cannot take a step, Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do harm, And even to do good, is not in their power.

But at once, do they become brutish and stupid, - An example of utmost vanity, is, a tree!

Silver spread into plates, from Tarshish is brought, And gold, from Uphaz, Work for the craftsman and for the hands of the smith, - Blue and purple, is their clothing, Work for the skilled, are they all.

Vanity, they are, the handiwork of mockeries, - In the time of their visitation, shall they perish.

For, thus, saith Yahweh, Behold me! slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this throw, - And I will distress them that they may discover it.

My tent, is laid waste, And all my tent-cords, are broken, - My children, are gone forth from me and they, are not. There is none, To stretch out any more my tent, Or to set up my curtains.

For the shepherds, have become brutish, And Yahweh, have they not sought, - For this cause, have they not prospered, And, all their flock, is scattered.

Pour out thy wrath - Upon the nations that know thee not, and Upon the families that, upon thy Name, have not called, - For they have devoured Jacob Yea they have devoured him and consumed him, And, his habitation, have they made desolate.

Howbeit they hearkened not neither inclined their ear, but walked severally in the stubbornness of their wicked heart, - so then I brought upon them all the words of this covenant which I commanded them to do, but they did them not.

They have turned back unto the iniquities of their first fathers who refused to hear my words, yea, they themselves, have walked after other gods to serve them, - the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I solemnised with their fathers.

Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh, Behold me! bringing upon them calamity, which they shall not be able to escape, - and though they make outcry unto me, yet will I not hearken unto them.

Then shall the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, go and make outcry unto the gods to whom they have been burning incense, - but they will not at all, save, them in the time of their calamity;

Thou, therefore do not pray for this people, Neither lift thou up for them cry or prayer, - For I am not going to hear in the time that they cry unto me concerning their calamity.

But, Yahweh of hosts, who planted thee hath pronounced against thee calamity, - on account of the wickedness of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah which they have wrought for themselves, provoking me to anger by burning incense to Baal.

But, I, was as a gentle lamb that is to be led to the slaughter, - and I knew not that against me, they had devised devices saying - Let us destroy the tree with its fruit Yea let us cut him off out of the land of the living, And, his name, shall be remembered no more!

And remnant, shall they have none, - For I will bring calamity against the men of Anathoth, in the year of their visitation.