"They do not know [how] to do right," {declares Yahweh}, "those who store up violence and destruction in their citadel fortresses."

This is what the LORD says: "Just as a shepherd might save from the lion's mouth only two leg bones or a scrap of an ear, the Israelis will be saved in a similar manner those in Samaria who sit on the remains of their broken beds, and those in Damascus who lie on the edge of their couches."

Give ear to this word, you cows of Bashan, who are in the hill of Samaria, by whom the poor are kept down, and those in need are crushed; who say to their lords, Get out the wine and give us drink.

I sent plagues like those of Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword,
along with your captured horses.
I caused the stench of your camp
to fill your nostrils,
yet you did not return to Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Those who turn justice into wormwood
throw righteousness to the ground.

They have hated those who are presenting their cases in court, detesting the one who speaks truthfully.

For I know your transgressions [are] many and your sins [are] numerous, [you] foes of [the] righteous, those who take a bribe, and {those who} push aside [the] poor [ones] in the gate!

Hate what is wrong, love what is right! Promote justice at the city gate! Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on those who are left from Joseph.

Therefore, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, my Lord, "In all [of] the public squares [there will be] wailing, and in all [of] the streets [they will say], 'Alas, alas, alas!' They shall call [the] farmers to mourning and [to] wailing, to those who are skilled [in] lamentation.

Alas, those who desire the day of Yahweh, why [is] this for you the day of Yahweh? It [will be] darkness and not light!

“Did you bring Me sacrifices and grain offerings during those forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? [Certainly not!]

Woe to those secure in Zion, And those confident in the mount of Samaria, The marked of the chief of the nations, And come to them have the house of Israel.

Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;

Those who lie on [luxurious] beds of ivory
And lounge around out on their couches,
And eat lambs from the flock
And calves from the midst of the stall,

[Alas for those] who sing to the tune of the harp; like David they improvise on instruments of music.

[Alas for those] who drink from sprinkling bowls of wine and anoint themselves with the best of olive oils and are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph.

Therefore, they will now go into exile with the first of the captives,
And the cultic revelry and banqueting of those who lounge around [on their luxurious couches] will pass away.

Hear this, those who trample on [the] poor and who annihilate the afflicted of [the] land,

Those swearing by the guilt of Samaria, And have said, Live doth thy god, O Dan, And, Live doth the way of Beer-Sheba, And they have fallen -- and rise not again!'

I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said:

Strike the capitals of the pillars
so that the thresholds shake;
knock them down on the heads of all the people.
Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword.
None of those who flee will get away;
none of the fugitives will escape.

And [thus will do] the Lord Yahweh of hosts, who touches the earth and it melts, and all of those living in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile and it sinks down like [the] Nile of Egypt,

All those sinners among my people will be put to the sword who say, Evil will not overtake us or come face to face with us.

As a result they will conquer those left in Edom and all the nations subject to my rule." The Lord, who is about to do this, is speaking!

If thieves came to thee, if those laying waste by night, (how thou wert destroyed!) will not they steal their sufficiency? If the grape gatherers came to thee will they not leave gleanings?

All of your {allies} have driven you up to the boundary; your {confederates} have deceived you and have prevailed against you. [Those who eat] your bread have set an ambush for you, there is no understanding of it.

In that day—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
will I not eliminate the wise ones of Edom
and those who understand
from the hill country of Esau?

Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.

But in mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

And the children of Jacob will be a fire and those of Joseph a flame, and the children of Esau dry stems of grass, burned up by them till all is gone: and there will be no people living in Esau; for the Lord has said it.

Those of the Negev will take possession of the mountain of Esau, and those of the Shephelah [will possess the land of] the Philistines, and they shall take possession of the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria, and Benjamin [will take possession of] Gilead.

And those of the children of Israel who were the first to be taken away as prisoners, will have their heritage among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath; and those who were taken away from Jerusalem, who are in Sepharad, will have the towns of the South.

And those who have been saved will go up on Mount Zion to rule the mountain of Esau. And the kingdom {will belong to} Yahweh.

Those observing lying vanities their own mercy forsake.

Woe to those devising iniquity, And working evil on their beds, In the light of the morning they do it, For their hand is -- to God.

In that day this saying will be said about you, and this song of grief will be made: The heritage of my people is measured out, and there is no one to give it back; those who have made us prisoners have taken our fields from us, and complete destruction has come to us.

To those who speak out, they will declare, "Don't prophesy to anyone!' so their shame won't go away.

"It is said, house of Jacob, "The Spirit of the LORD is limited, if he acts this way, is he not?' "But my words benefit those who live righteously, do they not?

“But lately My people have stood up as an enemy [and have made Me their antagonist].
You strip the ornaments off the garment
Of those unsuspecting passers-by,
Like those returned from war.

I will certainly gather all of you, O Jacob, I will certainly assemble those Israelites who remain. I will bring them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in the middle of a pasture; they will be so numerous that they will make a lot of noise.

[Those of you who are] haters of good and lovers of evil, [who] tear their skin from them and their flesh from their bones,

who also eat the flesh of My people, and strip their skin off them. And they break their bones and chop them in pieces, like that in the pot, like those in the middle of the kettle.

Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who lead my people astray; for those who feed their teeth, they proclaim, "Peace!" and whoever doesn't provide for their mouths, they prepare war against him:

Therefore your vision shall be turned to night, and your prophesying to darkness. The Sun shall go down over those prophets, and the day shall be dark unto them.

Then the seers will be disgraced, and those practicing divination will be put to shame. All of them will cover their lips, for there is no reply from God.

Hear this, O rulers of the house of Jacob and leaders of the house of Israel, those detesting justice and perverting all that [is] right,

O ye judges, ye give sentence for gifts; O ye priests, ye teach for lucre; O ye prophets, ye prophesy for money. Yet will they be taken as those that hold upon God, and say, "Is not the LORD among us? Tush, there can no misfortune happen us."

And it will be [that] at the end of those days, the mountain of Yahweh will be established as the highest of the mountains, and it will be lifted up above the hills, and people will stream to it.

“In that day,” says the Lord,
“I shall assemble the lame,
And gather the outcasts [from foreign captivity],
Even those whom I have caused pain.

“I shall make the lame a [godly] remnant
And the outcasts a strong nation;
And the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion
From this time on and forever.

Those survivors from Jacob will live in the midst of many nations. They will be like the dew the Lord sends, like the rain on the grass, that does not hope for men to come or wait around for humans to arrive.

Those survivors from Jacob will live among the nations, in the midst of many peoples. They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, which attacks when it passes through; it rips its prey and there is no one to stop it.

Your hand is lifted up against those who are against you, and all your haters will be cut off.

Listen! The Lord is calling to the city! It is wise to respect your authority, O Lord! Listen, O nation, and those assembled in the city!

Will I tolerate those who maintain deceptive standards and who use deceitful weights in their business?

among those that be full of riches unrighteously gotten: where the citizens deal with falsity, speak lies, and have deceitful tongues in their mouths?

“You shall eat, but you will not be satisfied,
And your emptiness shall be among you;
You will [try to] remove [your goods and those you love] for safekeeping
But you will fail to save anything,
And what you do save I shall give to the sword.

Poor me! I feel like those who harvest summer fruit, or like those who pick grapes there are no clusters to eat or any fresh fruit that I want.

For the son puts shame on his father, the daughter goes against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's haters are those of his family.

Yet the earth [beyond the land of Israel] shall become desolate because of those who dwell in it,
Because of the fruit of their deeds.

Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, those dwelling alone [in] a forest in the midst of Carmel. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as [in] the days of old.

There is no other God like you! You forgive sin and pardon the rebellion of those who remain among your people. You do not remain angry forever, but delight in showing loyal love.

The Lord is a God who takes care of his honour and gives punishment for wrong; the Lord gives punishment and is angry; the Lord sends punishment on those who are against him, being angry with his haters.

Good is Jehovah for a strong place in a day of distress. And He knoweth those trusting in Him.

But like water overflowing he will take them away; he will put an end to those who come up against him, driving his haters into the dark.

Like tangled thorns,
And like those who are drunken with their drink,
They are consumed
As stubble completely withered.

Yet, as for Nineveh, like a reservoir of waters, are her waters, - but, those men, are in flight! Stand! stand but no one is turning.

It will happen that all those who look at you will flee from you, and say, 'Nineveh is laid waste! Who will mourn for her?' Where will I seek comforters for you?"

And you will be overcome with wine, you will become feeble; you will be looking for a safe place from those who are fighting against you.

Your pain may not be made better; you are wounded to death: all those hearing the news about you will be waving their hands in joy over you: for who has not undergone the weight of your evil-doing again and again?

Why do you show me iniquity, and cause me to behold trouble? for plundering and violence are before me: and there are those that raise up strife and contention.

They make fun of kings, deriding those who rule. They laugh at all of the fortified places, constructing ramps to seize them.

Your eyes are too pure to look on evil,
and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
So why do You tolerate those who are treacherous?
Why are You silent
while one who is wicked swallows up
one who is more righteous than himself?

Do not thy usurers instantly rise up, And those shaking thee awake up, And thou hast been for a spoil to them?

Because you robbed many countries, all who are left among the nations will rob you. You have shed human blood and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them.

For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of the animals, which made them afraid; because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to every city and to those who dwell in them.

Lord, I have heard the report of what you did; I am awed, Lord, by what you accomplished. In our time repeat those deeds; in our time reveal them again. But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy!

You pierced with his own spears
The head of his throngs.
They stormed in to scatter us;
Their exultation was like those
Who devour the oppressed in secret.

Yahweh my Lord is my strength;
He makes my feet like those of a deer
and enables me to walk on mountain heights!

For the choir director: on stringed instruments.

And those bowing themselves On the roofs to the host of the heavens, And those bowing themselves, Swearing to Jehovah, and swearing by Malcham,

And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor inquired for him.

[Hush!] Be silent before the Lord God [there is no acceptable excuse to offer]!
For the day [of the vengeance] of the Lord is near,
For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice (Judah),
He has set apart [for His use] those who have accepted His invitation [the Chaldeans who rule Babylon].

And it shall be [that] on the day of the sacrifice of Yahweh, I will punish the officials and the sons of the king and those who dress in foreign clothing.

In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit.

“Wail [in anguish], you inhabitants of the Mortar (Valley of Siloam),
For all the merchants of Canaan will be silenced and destroyed;
All who weigh out silver will be cut off.

At that time I will search through Jerusalem with lamps. I will punish the people who are entrenched in their sin, those who think to themselves, 'The Lord neither rewards nor punishes.'

Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh's wrath, but the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he will make an end, yes, a terrible end, of all those who dwell in the land.

Woe to those who live along the coast, the people of Philistia! This message from the LORD is being spoken against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines: "I'll destroy you until no one lives there!'

Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah will take possession of it. By the sea they will graze, in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening, for the Lord their God will intervene for them and restore their prosperity.

"I've heard Moab's insults and the curses from those Ammonites by which they defame my people and boast about their territory.

Therefore as I'm alive and living," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, "Moab will surely become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a place overrun by weeds and salty marshes, unpopulated forever. The survivors of my people will confiscate their property, and those who remain of my nation will inherit what was theirs.

“From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
My worshipers, [the descendants of] My dispersed ones,
Will bring My offerings.

“On that day you [Israel] will feel no shame
Because of all your acts
By which you have rebelled and sinned against Me;
Then I will remove from among you
Your rejoicing ones who delight in their pride;
And you will never again behave arrogantly
On My holy mountain [Mount Zion].

The Lord has taken away those who were judging you, he has sent your haters far away: the King of Israel, even the Lord, is among you: you will have no more fear of evil.

“I will gather those [Israelites in captivity] who grieve about the appointed feasts—
They came from you, [O Zion];
On whom the reproach [of exile] is a burden.

“Behold, at that time I am going to deal
With all your oppressors;
I will save the lame
And gather the scattered,
And I will turn their shame into praise and renown
In every land [where they have suffered].

You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but are never filled. You drink, but are still thirsty. You put on clothes, but are not warm. Those who earn wages end up with holes in their money bags.'"

Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.

And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.

And the man standing between the myrtle shrubs answered and said, "These [are] those whom Yahweh has sent to patrol [the] earth."

I asked the angel who was talking to me, "What are those?" So he answered me, "Those are the forces that have dispersed Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem."