An ox hath known its owner, And an ass the crib of its master, Israel hath not known, My people hath not understood.

From the sole of the foot -- unto the head, There is no soundness in it, Wound, and bruise, and fresh smiting! They have not been closed nor bound, Nor have they softened with ointment.

Why to Me the abundance of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah, I have been satiated with burnt-offerings of rams, And fat of fatlings; And blood of bullocks, and lambs, And he-goats I have not desired.

Add not to bring in a vain present, Incense -- an abomination it is to Me, New moon, and sabbath, calling of convocation! Rendure not iniquity -- and a restraint!

And in your spreading forth your hands, I hide mine eyes from you, Also when ye increase prayer, I do not hear, Your hands of blood have been full.

Thy princes are apostates, and companions of thieves, Every one loving a bribe, and pursuing rewards, The fatherless they judge not, And the plea of the widow cometh not to them.

And He hath judged between the nations, And hath given a decision to many peoples, And they have beat their swords to ploughshares, And their spears to pruning-hooks, Nation doth not lift up sword unto nation, Nor do they learn any more -- war.

And the low boweth down, and the high is humbled, And Thou acceptest them not.

He lifteth up, in that day, saying: 'I am not a binder up, And in my house is neither bread nor garment, Ye do not make me a ruler of the people.'

The appearance of their faces witnessed against them, And their sin, as Sodom, they declared, They have not hidden! Woe to their soul, For they have done to themselves evil.

Then hath Jehovah prepared Over every fixed place of Mount Zion, And over her convocations, A cloud by day, and smoke, And the shining of a flaming fire by night, That, over all honour a safe-guard,

What -- to do still to my vineyard, That I have not done in it! Wherefore, I waited to the yielding of grapes, And it yieldeth bad ones!

And I make it a waste, It is not pruned, nor arranged, And gone up have brier and thorn, And on the thick clouds I lay a charge, From raining upon it rain.

By the weapons of Jehovah of Hosts Do not many houses a desolation become? Great and good without inhabitant!

And harp, and psaltery, tabret, and pipe, And wine, have been their banquets, And the work of Jehovah they behold not, Yea, the work of His hands they have not seen.

Therefore hath the anger of Jehovah burned among His people, And He stretcheth out His hand against it, And smiteth it, and the mountains tremble, And their carcase is as filth in the midst of the out-places. With all this His anger did not turn back, And still His hand is stretched out!

There is none weary, nor stumbling in it, It doth not slumber, nor sleep, Nor opened hath been the girdle of its loins, Nor drawn away the latchet of its sandals.

And He saith, 'Go, and thou hast said to this people, Hear ye -- to hear, and ye do not understand, And see ye -- to see, and ye do not know.

And it cometh to pass in the days of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, gone up hath Rezin king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, to Jerusalem, to battle against it, and he is not able to fight against it.

and thou hast said unto him: 'Take heed, and be quiet, fear not, And let not thy heart be timid, Because of these two tails of smoking brands, For the fierceness of the anger of Rezin and Aram, And the son of Remaliah.

Thus said the Lord Jehovah: It doth not stand, nor shall it be!

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 Ahaz saith, 'I do not ask nor try Jehovah.'

Jehovah bringeth on thee, and on thy people, And on the house of thy father, Days that have not come, Even from the day of the turning aside of Ephraim from Judah, By the king of Asshur.

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!'

Take counsel, and it is broken, Speak a word, and it doth not stand, Because of Emmanu-El!'

'Ye do not say, A confederacy, To all to whom this people saith, A confederacy, And its fear ye do not fear, Nor declare fearful.

And when they say unto you, 'Seek unto those having familiar spirits, And unto wizards, who chatter and mutter, Doth not a people seek unto its God? -- For the living unto the dead!

To the law and to the testimony! If not, let them say after this manner, 'That there is no dawn to it.'

And unto the land it looketh attentively, And lo, adversity and darkness! -- Dimness, distress, and thick darkness is driven away, But not the dimness for which she is in distress!

Aram from before, and Philistia from behind, And they devour Israel with the whole mouth. With all this not turned back hath His anger, And still His hand is stretched out.

And the people hath not turned back unto Him who is smiting it, And Jehovah of Hosts they have not sought.

Therefore, over its young men the Lord rejoiceth not, And its orphans, and its widows He pitieth not, For every one is profane, and an evil doer, And every mouth is speaking folly. With all this not turned back hath His anger, And still His hand is stretched out.

And cutteth down on the right, and hath been hungry, And he devoureth on the left, And they have not been satisfied, Each the flesh of his own arm they devour.

Manasseh -- Ephraim, and Ephraim -- Manasseh, Together they are against Judah, With all this not turned back hath His anger. And still His hand is stretched out!

Without Me it hath bowed down In the place of a bound one, And in the place of the slain they fall. With all this not turned back hath His anger, And still His hand is stretched out.

And he -- he thinketh not so, And his heart reckoneth not so, For -- to destroy is in his heart, And to cut off nations not a few.

For he saith, 'Are not my princes altogether kings?

Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus?

Do I not -- as I have done to Samaria, And to her worthless things, So do to Jerusalem and to her grievous things?

And my hand as to a nest Getteth to the wealth of the peoples, And as a gathering of forsaken eggs All the earth I -- I have gathered, And there hath not been one moving wing, Or opening mouth, or whispering.'

-- Doth the axe glorify itself Against him who is hewing with it? Doth the saw magnify itself Against him who is shaking it? As a rod waving those lifting it up! As a staff lifting up that which is not wood!

And it hath come to pass, in that day, The remnant of Israel, And the escaped of the house of Jacob, Do not add any more to lean on its smiter, And have leant on Jehovah, The Holy One of Israel, in truth.

Therefore, thus said the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, 'Be not afraid, my people, inhabiting Zion, because of Asshur, With a rod he doth smite thee, And his staff lifteth up against thee, in the way of Egypt.

To refresh him in the fear of Jehovah, And by the sight of his eyes he judgeth not, Nor by the hearing of his ears decideth.

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.

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.

Lo, God is my salvation, I trust, and fear not, For my strength and song is Jah Jehovah, And He is to me for salvation.

For the stars of the heavens, and their constellations, Cause not their light to shine, Darkened hath been the sun in its going out, And the moon causeth not its light to come forth.

Lo, I am stirring up against them the Medes, Who silver esteem not, And gold -- they delight not in it.

And bows dash young men to pieces, And the fruit of the womb they pity not, On sons their eye hath no pity.

She doth not sit for ever, Nor continueth unto many generations, Nor doth Arab pitch tent there, And shepherds lie not down there.

And Aiim have responded in his forsaken habitations, And dragons in palaces of delight, And near to come is her time, And her days are not drawn out!

Even firs have rejoiced over thee, Cedars of Lebanon -- saying: Since thou hast lain down, The hewer cometh not up against us.

He hath made the world as a wilderness, And his cities he hath broken down, Of his bound ones he opened not the house.

Thou art not united with them in burial, For thy land thou hast destroyed, Thy people thou hast slain, Not named to the age is the seed of evil doers.

Prepare ye for his sons slaughter; Because of the iniquity of their fathers, They rise not, nor have possessed the land, Nor filled the face of the world with cities.

Sworn hath Jehovah of Hosts, saying, 'As I thought -- so hath it not been? And as I counselled -- it standeth;

Rejoice not thou, Philistia, all of thee, That broken hath been the rod of thy smiter, For from the root of a serpent cometh out a viper, And its fruit is a flying saraph.

The burden of Moab. Because in a night destroyed was Ar of Moab -- It hath been cut off, Because in a night destroyed was Kir of Moab -- It hath been cut off.

For, the waters of Nimrim are desolations, For, withered hath been the hay, Finished hath been the tender grass, A green thing there hath not been.

Bring ye in counsel, do judgment, Make as night thy shadow in the midst of noon, Hide outcasts, the wanderer reveal not.

We have heard of the pride of Moab -- very proud, His pride, and his arrogance, and his wrath, Not right are his devices.

And removed have been gladness and joy from the fruitful field, And in vineyards they sing not, nor shout, Wine in the presses treadeth not the treader, Shouting I have caused to cease.

And it hath come to pass, when it hath been seen, That weary hath been Moab on the high place, And he hath come unto his sanctuary to pray, And is not able.

And now hath Jehovah spoken, saying, 'In three years, as years of an hireling, Lightly esteemed is the honour of Moab, With all the great multitude, And the remnant is little, small, not mighty!'

And he looketh not unto the altars. The work of his own hands, And that which his own fingers made He seeth not -- the shrines and the images.

Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, And the rock of thy strength hast not remembered, Therefore thou plantest plants of pleasantness, And with a strange slip sowest it,

At even-time, lo, terror, before morning it is not, This is the portion of our spoilers, And the lot of our plunderers!

Exposed things by the brook, by the edge of the brook, And every sown thing of the brook, hath withered, It hath been driven away, and is not.

And ashamed have been makers of fine flax, And weavers of net-works.

The burden of Dumah. Unto me is one calling from Seir 'Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?'

The watchman hath said, 'Come hath morning, and also night, If ye inquire, inquire ye, turn back, come.'

Full of stirs -- a noisy city -- an exulting city, Thy pierced are not pierced of the sword, Nor dead in battle.

Therefore I said, 'Look ye from me, I am bitter in my weeping, Haste not to comfort me, For the destruction of the daughter of my people.'

And a ditch ye made between the two walls, For the waters of the old pool, And ye have not looked unto its Maker, And its Framer of old ye have not seen.

And revealed it hath been in mine ears, By Jehovah of Hosts: Not pardoned is this iniquity to you, Till ye die, said the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts.

Be ashamed, O Zidon; for the sea spake, The strength of the sea, saying: 'I have not been pained, nor have I brought forth, Nor have I nourished young men, nor brought up virgins.'

And He saith, 'Thou dost not add any more to exult, O oppressed one, virgin daughter of Zidon, To Chittim arise, pass over, Even there -- there is no rest for thee.'

Lo, the land of the Chaldeans -- this people was not, Asshur founded it for the Ziim, They raised its watch-towers, They lifted up her palaces, -- He hath appointed her for a ruin!

And her merchandise and her gift have been holy to Jehovah, Not treasured up nor stored, For to those sitting before Jehovah is her merchandise, To eat to satiety, and for a lasting covering!

With a song they drink not wine, Bitter is strong drink to those drinking it.

Stagger greatly doth the land as a drunkard, And it hath been moved as a lodge, And heavy on it hath been its transgression, And it hath fallen, and addeth not to rise.

For Thou didst make of a city a heap, Of a fenced city a ruin, A high place of strangers from being a city, To the age it is not built.

With my soul I desired Thee in the night, Also, with my spirit within me I seek Thee earnestly, For when Thy judgments are on the earth, The inhabitants of the world have learned righteousness.

The wicked findeth favour, He hath not learned righteousness, In a land of straightforwardness he dealeth perversely, And seeth not the excellency of Jehovah.

O Jehovah, high is Thy hand -- they see not, They see the zeal of the people, and are ashamed, Also, the fire -- Thine adversaries, consumeth them.

Dead -- they live not, Rephaim, they rise not, Therefore Thou hast inspected and dost destroy them, Yea, thou destroyest all their memory.

We have conceived, we have been pained. We have brought forth as it were wind, Salvation we do not work in the earth, Nor do the inhabitants of the world fall.

I, Jehovah, am its keeper, every moment I water it, Lest any lay a charge against it, Night and day I keep it!

Fury is not in Me; Who giveth Me a brier -- a thorn in battle? I step into it, I burn it at once.

Therefore by this is the iniquity of Jacob covered, And this is all the fruit -- To take away his sin, in His setting all the stones of an altar, As chalkstones beaten in pieces, They rise not -- shrines and images.

In the withering of its branch it is broken off, Women are coming in setting it on fire, For it is not a people of understanding, Therefore pity it not doth its Maker, And its Former doth not favour it.

Unto whom He hath said, 'This is the rest, give ye rest to the weary, And this -- the refreshing:' And they have not been willing to hear,

Because ye have said: 'We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a provision, An overflowing scourge, when it passeth over, Doth not meet us, Though we have made a lie our refuge, And in falsehood have been hidden.'

Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: 'Lo, I am laying a foundation in Zion, A stone -- a tried stone, a corner stone precious, a settled foundation, He who is believing doth not make haste.

And disannulled hath been your covenant with death, And your provision with Sheol doth not stand, An overflowing scourge, when it passeth over, Then ye have been to it for a treading-place.

From the fulness of its passing over it taketh you, For morning by morning it passeth over, By day and by night, And it hath been only a trembling to consider the report.

And now, show not yourselves scorners, Lest strong be your bands, For a consumption, that is determined, I have heard, by the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, Is for all the land.

Hath he not, if he have made level its face, Then scattered fitches, and cummin sprinkle, And hath placed the principal wheat, And the appointed barley, And the rie in its own border?