For man also doesn't know his time. As the fish that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly on them.

Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

If the spirit of the ruler rises up against you, do not leave your place; for gentleness lays great offenses to rest.

Blessed are you, land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness.

Do not curse the king, no, not in your thoughts; and do not curse the rich in your bedchamber: for a bird of the sky may carry your voice, and that which has wings may tell the matter.

Give a portion to seven, yes, even to eight; for you do not know what evil will be on the earth.

As you do not know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you do not know the work of God who does all.

In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which will prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both will be equally good.

Do not stare at me because I am dark, because the sun has scorched me. My mother's sons were angry with me. They made me keeper of the vineyards. I haven't kept my own vineyard.

If you do not know, most beautiful among women, follow the tracks of the sheep. Graze your young goats beside the shepherds' tents.

I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, or by the hinds of the field, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires.

By night on my bed, I sought him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but I did not find him.

I will get up now, and go about the city; in the streets and in the squares I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but I did not find him.

I had scarcely passed from them, when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, into the chamber of her who conceived me.

I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, or by the hinds of the field, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires.

They all handle the sword, and are expert in war. Every man has his sword on his thigh, because of fear in the night.

I was asleep, but my heart was awake. It is the voice of my beloved who knocks: "Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled; for my head is filled with dew, and my hair with the dampness of the night."

I opened to my beloved; but my beloved left; and had gone away. My heart went out when he spoke. I looked for him, but I did not find him. I called him, but he did not answer.

I went down into the nut tree grove, to see the green plants of the valley, to see whether the vine budded, and the pomegranates were in flower.

I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires.

The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master's crib; but Israel doesn't know, my people do not consider.

"What are the multitude of your sacrifices to me?," says the LORD. "I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed animals. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats.

When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.

Your rulers are rebellious, and companions of thieves. Everyone loves bribes, and follows after rewards. They do not judge the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come to them.

He will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Man is brought low, and mankind is humbled; therefore do not forgive them.

In that day he will cry out, saying, I will not be a healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing. You shall not make me ruler of the people.

The look of their faces testify against them. They parade their sin like Sodom. They do not hide it. Woe to their soul. For they have brought disaster upon themselves.

The LORD will create over the whole habitation of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy.

What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes?

Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them.

The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts; but they do not regard the work of the LORD, neither have they considered the operation of his hands.

Therefore the LORD's anger burns against his people, and he has stretched out his hand against them, and has struck them. The mountains tremble, and their dead bodies are as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is still stretched out.

He said, "Go, and tell this people, 'You hear indeed, but do not understand; and you see indeed, but do not perceive.'

It happened in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.

Tell him, 'Be careful, and keep calm. Do not be afraid, neither let your heart be faint because of these two tails of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

This is what the Lord GOD says: "It shall not stand, neither shall it happen."

For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people;

and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.'"

But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD."

He said, "Listen now, house of David: Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God also?

The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

All the hills that were cultivated with the hoe, you shall not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of sheep."

Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand: for God is with us."

For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

"Do not say, 'A conspiracy.' concerning all about which this people say, 'A conspiracy.' neither fear their threats, nor be in dread.

Turn to the law and to the testimony. If they do not speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

The Syrians in front, and the Philistines behind; and they will devour Israel with open mouth. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Yet the people have not turned to him who struck them, neither have they sought the LORD of hosts.

Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is profane and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

One will devour on the right hand, and be hungry; and he will eat on the left hand, and they will not be satisfied. Everyone will eat the flesh of his own arm:

Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

They will only bow down under the prisoners, and will fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

However he doesn't mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations.

shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

Should an axe brag against him who chops with it? Should a saw exalt itself above him who saws with it? As if a rod should lift those who lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up someone who is not wood.

Therefore the Lord, the LORD of hosts, says "My people who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian, though he strike you with the rod, and lift up his staff against you, as Egypt did.

His delight will be in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by the sight of his eyes, neither decide by the hearing of his ears;

They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD, the LORD, is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation."

For the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.

Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not value silver, and as for gold, they will not delight in it.

Their bows will dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb. Their eyes will not spare children.

It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.

Wolves will cry in their fortresses, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.

who made the world like a wilderness, and overthrew its cities; who did not release his prisoners to their home?"

You will not join them in burial, because you have destroyed your land. You have killed your people. The seed of evildoers will not be named forever.

Prepare for slaughter of his children because of the iniquity of their fathers, that they not rise up and possess the earth, and fill the surface of the world with cities.

Do not rejoice, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod that struck you is broken; for out of the serpent's root an adder will emerge, and his fruit will be a fiery flying serpent.

The burden of Moab: for in a night, Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing; for in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing.

Give counsel. Execute justice. Make your shade like the night in the midst of the noonday. Hide the outcasts. Do not betray the fugitive.

Ah, let not Moab wail; let everyone wail for Moab. You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth, utterly stricken.

It will happen that when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, and comes to his sanctuary to pray, that he will not prevail.

They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands; neither shall they respect that which their fingers have made, either the Asherim, or the incense altars.

For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the rock of your strength. Therefore you plant pleasant plants, and set out foreign seedlings.

Then the lookout shouted: "Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post.

The burden of Dumah. One calls to me out of Seir, "Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?"

The watchman said, "The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire. Come back again."

You that are full of shouting, a tumultuous city, a joyous town; your slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle.

Therefore I said, "Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Do not labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.

You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who had done this, neither did you have respect for him who purposed it long ago.

The LORD of hosts revealed himself in my ears, "Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die," says the Lord, the LORD of hosts.

Be ashamed, Sidon; for the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, "I have not travailed, nor brought forth, neither have I nourished young men, nor brought up virgins."

Behold, the land of the Chaldeans. This people was not. The Assyrians founded it for those who dwell in the wilderness. They set up their towers. They overthrew its palaces. They made it a ruin.

Her merchandise and her wages will be holiness to the LORD. It will not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise will be for those who dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

They will not drink wine with a song. Strong drink will be bitter to those who drink it.

The earth will stagger like a drunken man, and will sway back and forth like a hammock. Its disobedience will be heavy on it, and it will fall and not rise again.

With my soul have I desired you in the night. Yes, with my spirit within me will I seek you earnestly; for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

Let favor be shown to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness. In the land of uprightness he will deal wrongfully, and will not see the LORD's majesty.

The LORD, your hand is lifted up, yet they do not see; but they will see your zeal for the people, and be disappointed. Yes, fire will consume your adversaries.

The dead shall not live, and the departed spirits shall not rise. Therefore have you visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish.

We have been with child. We have been in pain. We gave birth, it seems, only to wind. We have not worked any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

I, the LORD, am its keeper. I will water it every moment. Lest anyone damage it, I will keep it night and day.

Wrath is not in me, but if I should find briers and thorns, I would do battle. I would march on them and I would burn them together.

When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off. The women will come and set them on fire, for they are a people of no understanding. Therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them, and he who formed them will show them no favor.

to whom he said, "This is the resting place. Give rest to weary;" and "This is the refreshing;" yet they would not hear.

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone of a sure foundation. He who believes shall not be put to shame.

Your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it.

As often as it passes through, it will seize you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be nothing but terror to understand the message."

And as for you, do not be scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the LORD of hosts, on the whole earth.