All this [is] for the rebellion of Jacob, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What [is] the rebellion of Jacob? [Is it] not Samaria? And what [are] the high places of Judah? [Are they] not Jerusalem?

For her wounds [are] incurable, because it has come to Judah. It has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.

Harness the chariot to the team of horses, O inhabitants of Lachish; it [is] the beginning of sin for the daughter of Zion, for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.

Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair for the children of your pleasure. Expand your baldness as the eagle, for they will go into exile away from you.

Therefore, thus says Yahweh: Look! I am planning disaster against this family from which you will not be able to remove your necks. You will not walk proudly, for it [is] a time of disaster.

In that day they will raise a proverb against you, and will wail a bitter wailing, saying, "We are utterly ruined; he exchanges [the] portion of my people. How he removes [it] from me; he apportions our field to an apostate."

"Do not preach!" they are preaching. They should not preach to these; disgrace will not overtake us.

Should [this] be said, O house of Jacob? Is the patience of Yahweh shortened? [Are] these his deeds? Are my words not pleasing to him who walks upright?

But {recently} my people have risen up as an enemy; from before the cloak you strip off the robe from those passing by [in] confidence, returning [from] war.

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

Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who are leading my people astray, who are biting with their teeth and proclaim, "Peace," but whoever puts nothing into their mouths they declare war against.

Its rulers judge for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money. But they lean on Yahweh, saying, "[Is] not Yahweh in our midst? Disaster will not come upon us."

And he will judge between many peoples and will arbitrate for strong nations far away; and they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift up a sword against a nation, and they will no longer learn war.

For all the nations walk, each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of Yahweh our God, forever and ever.

So then, why do you shout a loud shout? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished that pangs like a woman in labor have seized you?

Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor. For now you will go forth from the city, and you will camp in the field; you will go to Babylon. There you will be rescued; there Yahweh will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.

And now, many nations are gathered against you who are saying, 'Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.'

Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for your horn I will make [as] iron and your hooves [as] bronze. And you will break many peoples in pieces, and their gain you will devote to destruction to Yahweh, and their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth."

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, [too] small to be among the clans of Judah, from you one will go out for me, to be ruler in Israel; and his origins [are] from of old, from ancient days.

And this one will be peace. [As for] the Assyrian, when he comes into our land and when he treads on our fortresses, then we will raise up against him seven shepherds and eight leaders of men.

And they will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances. And he will rescue [us] from the Assyrian when he comes into our land, and when they tread upon our border.

Your hand will be lifted high over your enemies, and all your foes will be cut off.

"And it will happen [that] in that day," {declares} Yahweh, "then I will cut off your horses from among you, and I will destroy your chariots.

And I will cut off the cities of your land, and I will demolish all your fortifications.

And I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you will not have soothsayers.

And I will cut off your idols and your stone pillars from among you, and you will no longer bow down to the work of your hands.

And I will uproot your Asherahs from among you, and I will destroy your cities.

Hear now what Yahweh says: "Arise! Plead [your case] with the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice."

With what shall I approach Yahweh, and bow down to God on high? Shall I approach him with burnt offerings, with bull calves a year old?

He has told you, O mortal, what [is] good, and what does Yahweh ask from you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

The voice of Yahweh calls to the city ([it is] sound judgment to fear your name): "Hear, staff! Now who has appointed it?

Because her rich are full of violence, and her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue [is] deceitful in their mouth.

And I also {have made you sick by striking you down}, making [you] desolate because of your sins.

You yourself will eat but not be satisfied; your hunger [will be] in your midst, and you will put away, but you will not save, and what you save I will hand over to the sword.

For you have observed the regulations of Omri and all the works of the house of Ahab. And you have walked in their counsels, so that I am making you a desolation and your inhabitants an object of scorn. So you will bear the scorn of my people.

Woe is me! For I have become like the gatherings of summer, like the gleanings of the grape harvest, [when] there is no cluster of grapes to eat [or] early ripened fruit [that] my soul desires.

Their hands [are] upon evil, to do [it] well; the official and the judge ask for the bribe, and the great [man] utters the evil desire of his soul; and they weave [it] together.

The best of them [is] like a brier; [the most] upright [worse] than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchman, your punishment, has come; now their confusion will come.

Do not put faith in a friend; put no trust in a close friend. Guard the doorways of your mouth from the one who lies in your lap.

For a son treats a father with contempt; a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; [the] enemies of a man [are] the men of his own house.

Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, "Where [is] Yahweh your God?" My eyes will look upon her; now she will become a trampling place, like mud in the streets.

A day for building your walls; [on] that day he will extend [your] boundary.

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.

They will lick the dust like the serpent, like the crawling things of the earth. They will come trembling from their strongholds to Yahweh our God. Let them fear and be afraid of you.

{He will again have compassion} on us; he will trample our iniquities. And you will hurl all their sins in the depths of the sea.

You will show faithfulness to Jacob, and loyal love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our ancestors from the days of old.