How has a faithful city become like a whore? Full of justice, righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.

Zion will be redeemed by justice, and those of her who repent, by righteousness.

For you shall be like an oak withering its leaves, and like a garden where there is no water for her.

And her gates shall lament and mourn, and she shall be banished; she shall sit upon the ground.

when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the blood of Jerusalem from her midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.

Then Yahweh will create over all of the site of {Mount Zion} and over her assembly a cloud by day and smoke and the brightness of flaming fire [by] night. Indeed, over all [the] glory [there will be] a canopy,

Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat, and it has opened wide its mouth without limit, and her nobles will go down, and her multitude, her tumult and those who revel in her.

Then I heard [the] voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "I [am] here! Send me!"

And {even if only a tenth part remain}, {again she will be destroyed} like terebinth or like [an] oak, which although felled, a tree stump [remains] in them. [The] seed of holiness [will be] her tree stump."

"Let us go up against Judah and let us tear her apart, {and let us lay it open and so bring it unto ourselves}, and let us install the son of Tabeel [as] king in her midst."

And this shall happen: on that day, a young man will keep a young cow of [the] herd and two sheep alive.

shall I not do to Jerusalem and its idols what I have done to Samaria and her idols?"

"And I will make her a possession of [the] hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep her away with [the] broom of destruction," {declares} Yahweh of hosts.

For cry for help has encircled the territory of Moab, her wailing [is heard] as far as Eglaim, and her wailing [as far as] Beer Elim.

For Heshbon withers the fields, the vine of Sibmah; rulers of nations have broken down her tendrils, they reached up to Jazer, they wandered [to the] desert; her shoots spread abroad, they crossed over [the] sea.

And her weavers will be crushed; all [the] {hired workers} [will be] grieved of heart.

The princes of Zoan have become foolish; the princes of Memphis are deceived; the leaders of her tribes have led Egypt astray.

Yahweh has mixed a spirit of confusion into her midst, and they have caused Egypt to stagger in all of its doings, as {when a drunkard staggers} in his vomit.

On that day, there will be an altar for Yahweh [in] in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a stone pillar for Yahweh at her border.

A hard revelation is told to me; the treacherous deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; lay siege, Media! I put an end to all of her sighing.

And look [at] this! A man's a chariot [is] coming, a pair of horsemen!" Then he responded and said, "It has fallen! Babylon has fallen! And all the images of her gods are smashed on the ground!"

'What {business do you have} here, and who {do you have} here, that you have cut a grave cutting here for yourself, carving his grave [on] the height, a dwelling place for him in the rock?

On that day, {declares} Yahweh of hosts, the peg that was driven will move away into a secure place, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that [was] on her will be cut off. For Yahweh has spoken.'"

{Is this your exultant one}, her origin from the days of long ago? Her feet brought her to dwell afar as an alien.

Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants [were] princes, her traders [the] honored ones of [the] earth?

He has stretched his hand out over the sea; he has made kingdoms shake. Yahweh has commanded concerning Canaan to destroy her fortresses.

Look [at] the land of the Chaldeans! {This people no longer exists. Assyria destined} it for wild animals. They erected its siege towers; they demolished its citadel fortresses. It made her like a ruin.

And this shall happen: at [the] end of seventy years, Yahweh will visit Tyre, and she will return to her harlot's wages, and she will commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.

And this shall happen: her merchandise and her harlot's wages [will be] set apart for Yahweh; it will not be stored up, and it will not be hoarded, but her merchandise will be for those who live before the {presence} of Yahweh, for eating to satiation and for fine clothing.

Look! Yahweh [is] about to lay the earth waste and [is] about to devastate it, and he will twist her surface, and he will scatter her inhabitants.

And it shall be as [with] the people, so [with] the priest; as [with] the slave, so [with] his master; as [with] the female slave, so [with] her mistress; as [with] the buyer, so [with] the seller; as [with] the lender, so [with] the borrower; as [with] the creditor, so [with] [the one] to whom he lends.

For he has thrown down [the] inhabitants of [the] height, he lays low [the] lofty city. He lays it low to [the] ground; he throws her to [the] dust.

Like pregnant woman on the point of giving birth, she writhes; she cries in her labor pains. So we were because of your presence, Yahweh.

For look! Yahweh [is] about to come out from his place to punish the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth against him, and the earth will disclose her blood and will no longer cover her slain.

I, Yahweh, [am] her keeper; I water it {again and again}. Lest one afflict [harm] on it, I guard it night and day;

By expelling her, by her sending away, you argue with her. He removed [them] with his strong wind, in [the] day of [the] east wind.

For [it is] blah-blah upon blah-blah, blah-blah upon blah-blah, gah-gah upon gah-gah, gah-gah upon gah-gah, a little here, a little there.

And to them the word of Yahweh will be blah-blah upon blah-blah blah-blah upon blah-blah gah-gah upon gah-gah gah-gah upon gah-gah, a little here, a little there, so that they may go and stumble backward and be broken and ensnared and captured.

And the multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel, all those who fight [against] her and her stronghold, and those who inflict her shall be like dream, a vision of [the] night.

Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall be in ruins; forever and ever there will be no one who passes through her.

And thorns shall go up her citadel fortress, weeds and thistle plants in her fortresses; and it shall be [the] settlement of jackals, green grass for [the] daughters of an ostrich.

There [the] owl shall nest and lay and hatch and care for her chicks in her shadow; surely there [the] birds of prey shall be gathered, each one [with] her mate.

Seek from the book of Yahweh and {read}; none of these shall be missing; none shall miss her mate. For my mouth {is the one that} has commanded, and his spirit {is the one that} has gathered them.

And the parched ground shall become pool, and [the] thirsty ground springs of water. Her resting place [is] in a settlement of jackals; [the] grass [shall become] like reeds and rushes.

this [is] the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him: She shows contempt for you; she derides you, virgin daughter of Zion; she shakes [her] head behind you, daughter of Jerusalem.

Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the king of Assyria: 'He shall not come to this city, and he shall not shoot an arrow there, and he shall not meet it [with] a shield, and he shall not heap a siege ramp up against her.

"Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her, that her compulsory labor is fulfilled, that her sin is paid for, that she has {received} from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins."

{Get yourself} up to a high mountain, Zion, bringer of good news! Lift up your voice with strength, Jerusalem, bringer of good news! Lift [it] up; you must not fear! Say to the cities of Judah, "Here [is] your God!"

Look! [here is] my servant; I hold him, my chosen one, [in whom] my soul delights. I have {put} my spirit on him; he will bring justice forth to the nations.

Therefore now hear this, luxuriant [one] who sits in security, who says in her heart, "I [am], and besides me [there is] no one. I shall not sit [as] a widow, and I shall not know [the] loss of children."

And evil shall come upon you, you will not know; it will be on the lookout for her. And disaster shall fall upon you; you will not be able to {avert} it. And ruin shall come on you suddenly; you do not know.

Can a woman forget her suckling, [refrain] from having compassion on the child of her womb? Indeed, these may forget, but I, I will not forget you!

Thus says Yahweh: "Where [is] this divorce document of your mother's divorce, [with] which I dismissed her? or to whom of my creditors did I sell you? Look! you were sold because of your sin, and your mother was dismissed because of your transgressions.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look to the earth beneath, for [the] heavens will be torn to pieces like smoke, and the earth will be worn out like garment, and those who inhabit her will die like gnats. But my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will not be broken to pieces.

There is no one who guides her among all [the] children she has borne, and there is no one who grasps her by the hand among all [the] children she raised.

Two [things] here [have] happened to you--who will {show sympathy} for you?-- devastation and destruction, famine and sword--who will comfort you?

And now what do I have here?"{declares} Yahweh, "for my people is taken without cause. Its rulers howl," {declares} Yahweh--"and my name [is] reviled continually, all day.

Therefore my people shall know my name, therefore in that day, that I [am] the one who speaks. {Here am I}."

"But you, come near here, you children of a soothsayer, offspring [of] an adulterer and she [who] commits fornication.

Then you shall call, and Yahweh himself will answer. You shall cry for help, and he will say, 'Here I [am]!' If you remove from among you [the] yoke, the {finger-pointing} and {evil speech},

I will rejoice greatly in Yahweh; my being shall shout in exultation in my God. For he has clothed me [with] garments of salvation, he has covered me [with the] robe of righteousness, as bridegroom adorns [himself] [with] a head wrap like a priest, and as bride adorns herself [with] her jewelry.

For the sake of Zion I will not be silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not maintain a quiet attitude, until her righteousness goes out like the bright light, and her salvation burns like a torch.

It shall no longer be said of you, "Forsaken," and it shall no longer be said of your land, "Desolation!" but {you will} be called "My Delight [Is] In Her," and your land, "Married," for Yahweh delights in you, and your land shall be married.

"I let myself be sought by [those who] did not ask; I let myself be found by [those who] did not seek me. I said, 'Here I am; here I am!' to a nation [that] did not call on my name;

But rejoice and shout in exultation forever and ever [over] what I [am] about to create! For look! I [am] about to create Jerusalem [as a source of] rejoicing, and her people [as a source of] joy.

Before she was in labor she gave birth; before labor pains came to her, she gave birth to a son.

Who has heard [anything] like this? Who has seen [anything] like these [things]? Can a land be born in one day? Or can a nation be born in a moment? [Yet] when she was in labor, Zion indeed gave birth [to] her children.

"Rejoice with Jerusalem and shout in exultation with her, all those who love her! Rejoice with her [in] joy, all those who mourn over her,

so that you may suck and be satisfied from her {consoling breast}, so that you may drink deeply and refresh yourselves from her {heavy breast}."

For thus says Yahweh: "Look! I [am] about to spread prosperity out to her like a river, and [the] wealth of [the] nations like an overflowing stream, and you shall suck and be carried on the hip; and you shall you shall be played with on the knees.