“Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.

Is [the] fast I choose like this, a day for humankind to humiliate {himself}? To bow his head like a reed, and {make} his bed [on] sackcloth and ashes; you call this a fast and a day of pleasure to Yahweh?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall grow quickly. And your salvation shall go before you; the glory of Yahweh will be your rear guard.

if you offer your soul to the hungry, and you satisfy [the] appetite of [the] afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your darkness [will be] like noon.

And Yahweh will lead you continually, and satisfy your soul in a barren land, and he will strengthen your bones, and you shall be like a well-watered garden, and like a spring of water whose water does not fail.

We grope like the blind [along] a wall, and we grope {as without} eyes. We stumble at noon as [in] the twilight; among the strong [we are] like the dead.

We all groan like bears, and we coo mutteringly like doves. We wait for justice, but there is none; for salvation, [but] it is far from us.

And he put on righteousness like breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head, and he put on garments of vengeance [for] clothing, and he wrapped [himself in] zeal as [in a] robe.

like as when a man goeth forth wrothfully to recompense his enemies, and to be avenged of his adversaries. Namely, that he might recompense and reward the Islands,

So they shall fear the name of Yahweh from [the] west, and his glory from the sunrise, for he will come like narrow stream; the wind of Yahweh drives it on.

Who [are] these? They fly like cloud, and like doves to their coops.

All of your people will be godly; they will possess the land permanently. I will plant them like a shoot; they will be the product of my labor, through whom I reveal my splendor.

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 like as the ground bringeth forth fruit, and as the garden shooteth forth seed; So shall the LORD God cause righteousness and the fear of God to flourish forth before all the Heathen.

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.

And like as a young man taketh a daughter to marriage, so shall God marry himself unto thy sons. And as a bridegroom is glad of his bride, so shall God rejoice over thee.

Why [are] your garments red, and your garments like he who treads in [the] winepress?

{who led} them through the depths? They did not stumble like horse in the desert;

like cattle in the valley [that] goes down, the Spirit of Yahweh {gave him rest}, so you lead your people to make a magnificent name for yourself.

We have become like those over whom thou never barest rule, those not called by thy name.

like as at a hot fire; that the malicious might boil away, as the water doth upon the fire. Whereby thy name might be known among thine enemies, and that the Gentiles might tremble before thee.

And we all have become like the unclean, and all our deeds of justice like a menstrual cloth, And we all wither like leaf, and our iniquities take us away like the wind.

Your holy cities have become like a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

They say, 'Keep to yourself! Don't get near me, for I am holier than you!' These people are like smoke in my nostrils, like a fire that keeps burning all day long.

Moreover, thus sayeth the LORD: like as when one would gather holy grapes, men say unto him, "Break it not off, for it is holy," even so will I do also for my servants' sakes, that I will not destroy them all.

They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat. For the days of my people [shall be] like the days of tree, and my chosen ones shall enjoy the work of their hands.

[The] wolf and [the] lamb shall feed like one, and [the] lion shall eat straw like the ox, but dust [shall be] [the] serpent's food. They shall do no evil, and they shall not destroy on all {my holy mountain}," says Yahweh.

He who slaughters an ox is like one who strikes down a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, as he who breaks a dog's neck; he who offers an offering, as he who offers pig's blood; he who burns frankincense, as he who blesses an idol. Yes, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations:

like as when a wife bringeth forth a man child, before she suffer the pain of the birth and anguish of the travail.

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.

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.

For like as a child is comforted of his mother, so shall I comfort you, and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

And you shall see and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall {flourish} like the grass, and the hand of Yahweh shall make itself known {to} his servants, and he shall curse his enemies.

For look! Yahweh will come in fire, and his chariots like the storm wind, to {give back} his anger in wrath, and his rebuke in flames of fire.

"As for those who consecrate and ritually purify themselves so they can follow their leader and worship in the sacred orchards, those who eat the flesh of pigs and other disgusting creatures, like mice -- they will all be destroyed together," says the Lord.

and shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD: out of all people, upon horses, chariots and horse litters, upon Mules and carts to Jerusalem my holy hill, sayeth the LORD, like as the children of Israel bring the offering in clean vessels to the house of the LORD.

For like as the new heaven and the new earth which I will make, shall be fast established by me, sayeth the LORD, So shall your seed and your name continue.

"Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem: 'This is what the Lord says: "I have fond memories of you, how devoted you were to me in your early years. I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted.

Israel was set apart to the Lord; they were like the first fruits of a harvest to him. All who tried to devour them were punished; disaster came upon them," says the Lord.'"

For go over [to] the coasts of Cyprus and look, and send [to] Kedar and consider very closely, and see if there has been [a thing] like this:

Like lions his enemies roar victoriously over him; they raise their voices in triumph. They have laid his land waste; his cities have been burned down and deserted.

For in the past, your yoke was broken by your hands and your cords parted; and you said, I will not be your servant; for on every high hill and under every branching tree, your behaviour was like that of a loose woman

I planted you in the land like a special vine of the very best stock. Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vine that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes?

"How can you say, 'I have not made myself unclean. I have not paid allegiance to the gods called Baal.' Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom! Think about the things you have done there! You are like a flighty, young female camel that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path.

You are like a wild female donkey brought up in the wilderness. In her lust she sniffs the wind to get the scent of a male. No one can hold her back when she is in heat. None of the males need wear themselves out chasing after her. At mating time she is easy to find.

Like the shame of a thief when he is caught,
so the house of Israel has been put to shame.
They, their kings, their officials,
their priests, and their prophets

"For {in vain} I have struck your children. They accepted no discipline. Your sword devoured your prophets, like a ravening lion.

You people of this generation, listen to what the Lord says. "Have I been like a wilderness to you, Israel? Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to you? Why then do you say, 'We are free to wander. We will not come to you any more?'

“Can a virgin forget [to wear] her ornaments,
Or a bride her attire [that identifies her as a married woman]?
Yet My people have forgotten Me
Days without number.

They say, If a man puts away his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man's, will he go back to her again? will not that land have been made unclean? but though you have been acting like a loose woman with a number of lovers, will you now come back to me? says the Lord.

"Lift up your eyes at [the] barren heights, and see where you have not been ravished. Beside the roads you sat for them like an Arab in the desert, and you have defiled [the] land with your fornication and with your wickedness.

And the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen what Israel, turning away from me, has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every branching tree, acting like a loose woman there.

She also saw that I gave wayward Israel her divorce papers and sent her away because of her adulterous worship of other gods. Even after her unfaithful sister Judah had seen this, she still was not afraid, and she too went and gave herself like a prostitute to other gods.

"I thought to myself, 'Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! What a joy it would be for me to give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!' I thought you would call me, 'Father' and would never cease being loyal to me.

But, you have been unfaithful to me, nation of Israel, like an unfaithful wife who has left her husband," says the Lord.

Yes, the Lord has this to say to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: "Like a farmer breaking up hard unplowed ground, you must break your rebellious will and make a new beginning; just as a farmer must clear away thorns lest the seed is wasted, you must get rid of the sin that is ruining your lives.

Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my wrath goes forth like the fire and burns, and there is no [one who] extinguishes [it], because of the evil of your deeds."

Like a lion that has come up from its lair the one who destroys nations has set out from his home base. He is coming out to lay your land waste. Your cities will become ruins and lie uninhabited.

Look, he comes up like the clouds, and his chariots [are] like the whirlwind, his horses are swifter than eagles, woe to us, for we are devastated.

Like watchers of a field they were against her from all around, because she has rebelled against me," {declares} Yahweh.

The Lord answered, "This will happen because my people are foolish. They do not know me. They are like children who have no sense. They have no understanding. They are skilled at doing evil. They do not know how to do good."

For I heard a voice like an ill woman, anxiety like [a woman who] bears her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion. She is gasping for breath, she is spreading out her hands: "Woe is me, for I am becoming tired before killers."

I thought, "Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. They do not know what their God requires of them.

Therefore will I go unto their heads and rulers, and talk with them: if they know the way of the LORD, and the judgments of our God." But these, in like manner, have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds in sunder.

So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them. Like a wolf from the desert they will destroy them. Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities and totally destroy anyone who ventures out. For they have rebelled so much and done so many unfaithful things.

The Lord asked, "How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem? Your people have rejected me and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. Even though I supplied all their needs, they were like an unfaithful wife to me. They went flocking to the houses of prostitutes.

They were full of desire, like horses after a meal of grain: everyone went after his neighbour's wife.

Because of these [things] shall I not punish?" {declares} Yahweh, "and on a nation who [is] like this, shall I not take revenge?

And the prophets are like wind, and the word [is] not in them.' Thus it will be done to them."

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, "Because you have spoken this word, look, I [am] making my words in your mouth like a fire, and this people wood, and it will devour them.

Their quiver [is] like an open tomb, all of them [are] warriors.

And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah our God done all these things unto us? then shalt thou say unto them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

For wicked people are found among my people, they lie in wait like the hiding of fowlers, they set up a trap, they catch humans.

Like a cage full of birds, so their houses [are] full of fraud. {Therefore} they have become great, and they have become rich.

Because of these [things] shall I not punish?" {declares} Yahweh, "and on a nation who [is] like this, shall I not take revenge?

The prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests rule by their own authority.
My people love it like this.
But what will you do at the end of it?

I will liken the daughter of Zion to a fair and tender woman, and to her shall come the shepherds with their flocks.

Like the casting forth by a wall of its waters, So, hath she cast forth her wickedness, - Violence and destruction, are heard in her, Before my face, continually, are suffering and smiting.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "They will thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine, turn back your hand over [the] branches like a grape-gatherer.

I answered, "Who would listen if I spoke to them and warned them? Their ears are so closed that they cannot hear! Indeed, what the Lord says is offensive to them. They do not like it at all.

Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things? No, they are not at all ashamed. They do not even know how to blush! So they will die, just like others have died. They will be brought to ruin when I punish them," says the Lord.

[The] bow and [the] short sword they grasp [are] cruel, and they show no mercy. Their sound roars like the sea, and on horses they ride, drawn up like a man for battle against you, O daughter of Zion."

The news of it has come to our ears; our hands have become feeble: trouble has come on us and pain, like the pain of a woman in childbirth.

The Lord said to me, "I have made you like a metal assayer to test my people like ore. You are to observe them and evaluate how they behave."

"Change your ways and your deeds, and I'll let you live in this place. Don't trust deceptive words like these, and say, "The Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD,'

So I will destroy this temple which I have claimed as my own, this temple that you are trusting to protect you. I will destroy this place that I gave to you and your ancestors, just like I destroyed Shiloh.

And I will drive you out of my sight just like I drove out your relatives, the people of Israel.'"

So," the Lord God says, "my raging fury will be poured out on this land. It will be poured out on human beings and animals, on trees and crops. And it will burn like a fire which cannot be extinguished."

And they shall spread them out before the sun, and before the moon, and before all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, and which they have gone after, and which they have inquired about, and to which they have bowed in worship. They shall not be gathered, and they shall not be buried; they will be like dung on the surface of the ground.

I have listened attentively, and I have listened. They do not speak honestly, there is no man [who] regrets his wickedness, saying, 'What have I done?' All of them [are] turning to their ways of running, like a horse plunging into battle.

Are they ashamed because they have done such disgusting things? No, they are not at all ashamed! They do not even know how to blush! So they will die just like others have died. They will be brought to ruin when I punish them, says the Lord.

The Lord says, "Yes indeed, I am sending an enemy against you that will be like poisonous snakes which cannot be charmed away. And they will inflict fatal wounds on you."

I wish I had a lodging place in the desert where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. Then I would desert my people and walk away from them because they are all unfaithful to God, a congregation of people that has been disloyal to him.

And they bend their tongue [like] their bow, [for] falsehood and not truth is superior in the land, for they go forth from evil to evil, and they do not know me," {declares} Yahweh.

Their tongues are like deadly arrows. They are always telling lies. Friendly words for their neighbors come from their mouths. But their minds are thinking up ways to trap them.

Because of these [things] shall I not punish them?" {declares} Yahweh, "On a nation that [is] like this shall I not take revenge?

Who [is] the wise man that can understand this? And to whom has the mouth of Yahweh spoken, so that he may declare it? Why is the land destroyed? It is laid waste like the desert so that no one passes through."

Speak, 'thus {declares} Yahweh: "The dead body of the human will fall like dung upon the surface of the field, and like cut grain behind the reaper, and there is no [one who] gathers." '"

They [are] like scarecrows in a cucumber field, they cannot speak. Indeed, they must be carried, for they cannot march. You must not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil; furthermore, to do good [is] not in them."

There is none like you, Yahweh, you [are] great and your name [is] great in might.