In Gath tell ye not -- in Acco weep not, In Beth-Aphrah, in dust roll thyself.

For the inhabitant of Maroth
Becomes weak waiting for good,
Because a calamity has come down from the Lord
To the gate of Jerusalem.

Therefore the Lord says this: "Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of catastrophe.

The wives of my people, ye do even drive out, each from the house of her darlings, - from over her children, ye do take away mine ornament, as long as life shall last.

And they have sat each under his vine, And under his fig-tree, And there is none troubling, For the mouth of Jehovah of Hosts hath spoken.

For all the peoples do walk, Each in the name of its god -- and we, We do walk in the name of Jehovah our God, To the age and for ever.

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.”

Perished hath the kind out of the land, And upright among men -- there are none, All of them for blood lie in wait, Each his brother they hunt with a net.

For a son is dishonouring a father, A daughter hath stood against her mother, A daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, The enemies of each are the men of his house.

Use your rod to shepherd your people, the flock that belongs to you, that lives alone in the forest of Carmel. Let them find pasture in Bashan and Gilead, as they did long ago.

You will show loyalty to Jacob
and faithful love to Abraham,
as You swore to our fathers
from days long ago.