Hear O heaven, and hearken O earth, for the LORD hath spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, and they are fallen away from me.

Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that corrupt themselves! They have forsaken Jehovah; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; they are turned away backward.

Wherefore are ye stricken any more? Ye do add apostasy! Every head is become diseased, and every heart is sick.

From the soles of your feet to your head, there is no spot that is unharmed. There are only bruises, cuts, and open wounds. They have not been cleansed or bandaged, nor have they been treated with olive oil.

Your country is desolate; your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers eat it up in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

What use to me is the number of the offerings which you give me? says the Lord; your burned offerings of sheep, and the best parts of fat cattle, are a weariness to me; I take no pleasure in the blood of oxen, or of lambs, or of he-goats.

Give me no more false offerings; the smoke of burning flesh is disgusting to me, so are your new moons and Sabbaths and your holy meetings.

Your new moons and your set feasts my soul hateth: they are a burden to me; I am wearied of bearing them.

And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

Come now, and let us have an argument together, says the Lord: how may your sins which are red like blood be white as snow? how may their dark purple seem like wool?

If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land:

But if your hearts are turned against me, I will send destruction on you by the sword; so the Lord has said.

How was the faithful city for a harlot! I filled with judgment; justice will lodge in her; and now they are killing

thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth presents, and hunteth after rewards; they judge not the fatherless, and the cause of the widow cometh not unto them.

For this reason the Lord, the Lord of armies, the Strong One of Israel, has said, I will put an end to my haters, and send punishment on those who are against me;

And the destruction of transgressors and sinners is together, And those forsaking Jehovah are consumed.

For men are ashamed because of the oaks That ye have desired, And ye are confounded because of the gardens That ye have chosen.

For you will become like an oak
whose leaves are withered,
and like a garden without water.

For thou hast cast off thy people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with what comes from the east, and use auguries like the Philistines, and ally themselves with the children of foreigners.

For the day of the Lord of armies is coming on all the pride of men, and on all who are high and lifted up;

and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,

and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,

"Stop trusting in human beings, whose life breath is in their nostrils, for what are they really worth?"

For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen; because their tongue and their doings are against Jehovah, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they that lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

By what right are you crushing my people, and putting a bitter yoke on the necks of the poor? This is the word of the Lord, the Lord of armies.

Moreover Jehovah said, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet;

In that day shall the branch of Jehovah be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.

Whoever remains in Zion and whoever is left in Jerusalem will be called holy—all in Jerusalem who are destined to live—

then the Lord will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy.

For the vine-garden of the Lord of armies is the people of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of his delight: and he was looking for upright judging, and there was blood; for righteousness, and there was a cry for help.

Cursed are those who are joining house to house, and putting field to field, till there is no more living-space for any but themselves in all the land!

Cursed are those who get up early in the morning to give themselves up to strong drink; who keep on drinking far into the night till they are heated with wine!

And the harp and the lute, the tabret and the pipe, and wine, are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of Jehovah, neither have they considered the operation of his hands.

Therefore my people are gone into captivity for lack of knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude are parched with thirst.

And the mean man is bowed down, and the great man is humbled, and the eyes of the lofty are humbled:

Cursed are those who make use of ox-cords for pulling the evil thing, and the bands of a young ox for their sin!

Who are saying, 'Let Him hurry, Let Him hasten His work, that we may see, And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel Draw near and come, and we know.'

Cursed are those who give the name of good to evil, and of evil to what is good: who make light dark, and dark light: who make bitter sweet, and sweet bitter!

Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink;

Who justify the wicked for a bribe,
And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!

Therefore is the anger of Jehovah kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them; and 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 stretched out still.

He will lift up a flag to [call] the distant nations [to bring His judgment on Judah],
And will whistle for them from the ends of the earth;
And indeed, they will come with great speed swiftly.

whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses hoofs shall be accounted as flint, and their wheels as a whirlwind:

And his voice will be loud over him in that day like the sounding of the sea: and if a man's eyes are turned to the earth, it is all dark and full of trouble; and the light is made dark by thick clouds.

Seraphs are standing above it: six wings hath each one; with two each covereth its face, and with two each covereth its feet, and with two each flieth.

And the posts of the thresholds are moved by the voice of him who is calling, and the house is full of smoke.

I said, "Too bad for me! I am destroyed, for my lips are contaminated by sin, and I live among people whose lips are contaminated by sin. My eyes have seen the king, the Lord who commands armies."

And after touching my mouth with it, he said, See, your lips have been touched with this; and your evil is taken away, and you are made clean from sin.

Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities are wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land is utterly desolate,

And the LORD has removed men far away, and there are many forsaken places in the midst of the land.

And if there be yet a tenth in it, it also shall in turn be eaten up: as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stock remaineth, when they are felled; so the holy seed is the stock thereof.

And it was told the house of David saying, Syria is allied with Ephraim. Then his heart and the heart of his people shook, as the trees of the forest are shaken with the wind.

And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, And the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If ye do not give credence, Surely ye are not stedfast.'

And he said, Give ear now, O family of David: is it not enough that you are driving men to disgust? will you do the same to my God?

For before the child is old enough to make a decision between evil and good, the land whose two kings you are now fearing will have become waste.

For at the same time shall the LORD whistle for the flies that are about the water of Egypt, and for the bees in the Assyrian land.

And they will give so much milk that he will be able to have butter for his food: for butter and honey will be the food of all who are still living in the land.

And it hath come to pass, in that day, Every place where there are a thousand vines, At a thousand silverlings, Is for briers and for thorns.

And all the hills that with a mattock are kept in order, Thither cometh not the fear of brier and thorn, And it hath been for the sending forth of ox, And for the treading of sheep!'

Because this people hath refused the waters of Shiloah which flow softly, - and are rejoicing with Rezin and the son of Remaliah,

And it will come on into Judah; rushing on and overflowing, till the waters are up to the neck; *** and his outstretched wings will be covering the land from side to side: for God is with us.

"Round with none of them, whosoever say, 'Yonder people are bound together.' Nevertheless fear them not, neither be afraid of them,

You are to regard only the Lord of Hosts as holy.
Only He should be feared;
only He should be held in awe.

Behold, I and the children whom Jehovah hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Jehovah of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Zion.

And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that are mediums, and unto wizards that whisper, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? rather than the dead on behalf of the living?

Then you must recall the Lord's instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen. Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened.

They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God.

And they shall look to the land; and behold, trouble and darkness and gloom of anguish! And they are driven away into darkness.

The people who are walking in darkness Have seen a great light, Dwellers in a land of death-shade, Light hath shone upon them.

You have made them very glad, increasing their joy. They are glad before you as men are glad in the time of getting in the grain, or when they make division of the goods taken in war.

and the people shall all of them know it - Ephraim and the dweller in Samaria - Who in pride and insolence of heart, are saying:

The bricks are fallen, but we will build with hewn stone; the sycomores are cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.

Elders and {the respectable} [are] the head, and prophets who teach lies [are] the tail.

For they that lead this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.

For this cause the Lord will have no pleasure in their young men, and no pity on their widows and the children without fathers: for they are all haters of God and evil-doers, and foolish words come from every mouth. For all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Through the wrath of Jehovah of hosts is the land burnt up; and the people are as the fuel of fire: no man spareth his brother.

They carve meat on the right,
but they are still hungry;
they have eaten on the left,
but they are still not satisfied.
Each one eats the flesh of his own arm.

Manasseh is with Ephraim,
and Ephraim with Manasseh;
together, both are against Judah.
In all this, His anger is not removed,
and His hand is still raised to strike.

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Cursed are those who make evil decisions, and the writers who make the records of their cruel acts:

wherethrough the poor are oppressed on every side, and the innocents of my people are therewith robbed of judgment: that widows may be your prey, and that ye may rob the fatherless.

For he saith, Are not my princes all of them kings?

and my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the peoples; and as one gathereth eggs that are forsaken, have I gathered all the earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or that opened the mouth, or chirped.

And the rest of the trees of his forest are few, And a youth doth write them.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and they that are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again lean upon him that smote them, but shall lean upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

For though your people, O Israel, are as the sand of the sea, only a small number will come back: for the destruction is fixed, overflowing in righteousness.

they are gone over the pass; they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah trembleth; Gibeah of Saul is fled.

Madmenah has gone; the men of Gebim are putting their goods in a safe place.

See, the Lord, the Lord of armies, is cutting off his branches with a great noise, and his strong ones are falling and his high ones are coming down.

But he will do right in the cause of the poor, and give wise decisions for those in the land who are in need; and the rod of his mouth will come down on the cruel, and with the breath of his lips he will put an end to the evil-doer.

And a wolf hath sojourned with a lamb, And a leopard with a kid doth lie down, And calf, and young lion, and fatling are together, And a little youth is leader over them.

And the cow and the bear will be friends while their young ones are sleeping together.

Evil they do not, nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For full hath been the earth with the knowledge of Jehovah, As the waters are covering the sea.

At the same time shall the LORD take in hand again, to conquer the remnant of his people which are left alive: From the Assyrians, Egyptians, Arabians, Ethiopians, Elamites, Chaldeans, Antiochians and Islands of the sea.

And turned aside hath the envy of Ephraim, And the adversaries of Judah are cut off, Ephraim doth not envy Judah, And Judah doth not distress Ephraim.

I [the Lord] have commanded My consecrated ones,
I have even called My great warriors,
My proudly exulting ones [the Medes and the Persians who triumph for My honor]—
To execute My anger.

A voice of a multitude in the mountains, A likeness of a numerous people, A voice of noise from the kingdoms of nations who are gathered, Jehovah of Hosts inspecting a host of battle!

They are coming from a far land,
from the distant horizon—
the Lord and the weapons of His wrath—
to destroy the whole country.

And they have been troubled, Pains and pangs they take, As a travailing woman they are pained, A man at his friend they marvel, The appearance of flames -- their faces!