Return, ye apostate sons, Urgeth Yahweh, for, I, am become your husband, - therefore will I take you one of a city, and two of a family, and will bring you to Zion;

and will give you shepherds according to mine own heart, - who will feed you with knowledge and discretion.

Return ye apostate sons, I will heal your apostasies! Behold us! we have come unto thee, For thou, art Yahweh our God.

If thou wilt return, O Israel, Declareth Yahweh, Unto me, mayst thou return, - And if thou wilt remove thine abominations from before me, Then shalt thou not become a wanderer.

If thou wilt swear, By the life of Yahweh! in faithfulness in justice and in righteousness, Then shall the nations bless themselves in him, And, in him, shall they glory.

A wind too strong for these, cometh in for me. Now, will, I also, pronounce sentences upon them:

I beheld, The earth; and lo! it was waste and wild, - The heavens also and their light was not:

For, thus, saith Yahweh, A desolation, shall all the land become - Nevertheless a full end, will I not make.

For this cause, shall the land mourn, and the heavens above be overcast: Because I have spoken have purposed, and have not repented nor will I turn back therefrom.

And when, thou, art laid waste, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothe thyself with crimson Though thou deck thyself with ornaments of gold Though thou enlarge with antimony thine eyes, In vain, shalt thou make thyself fair, - Paramours have rejected thee, Thy life, will they seek!

I will betake me unto the great men, and will speak, with them! For, they, know the way of Yahweh, the justice of their God! Yea but, they, with one accord have broken the yoke, torn off the bands.

Yet, even in those days, Declareth Yahweh, Will I not make of you, a full end.

Even for me, will ye have no reverence? Enquireth Yahweh, And because of me, will ye not he pained? In that though I placed the sand as a bound to the sea, A decree age-abiding, and it should not pass beyond it, - When they would toss themselves Then should they not prevail, When the waves thereof would roar Then should they not pass beyond it,

So then with the indignation of Yahweh, am I full I am too weary to hold it in, am constrained to pour it out, upon the boy in the street, and upon the circle of young men, together, - For, even husband with wife, will be captured, The eider with him who is full of days;

And their houses shall be turned over to others, Fields and wives together, - For I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land, Declareth Yahweh.

Thus saith Yahweh - Stand ye at the ways - and see, And ask for the paths of age-past times, Where is the good way? And walk therein, And ye shall find rest to your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein !

Therefore will I raise up over you, watchmen, Give ye heed to the sound of a horn, - But they said, We will not give heed!

Bow and javelin, shall they grasp, Cruel, is he! So they will not have compassion, Their voice, like the sea, will roar, And on horses, will they ride, - Arrayed each one, like a man for battle, Against thee, O daughter of Zion!

Then will I cause you to dwell In this place, In the land which I gave to your fathers, - From one age even unto another,

And will ye then come in and stand before me in this house whereon my Name hath been called, and say, - We have set ourselves free, - for the purpose of committing all these abominations?

Therefore will I do to the house Whereon my Name hath been called Wherein, ye, are trusting, Even to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, - Just as I did unto Shiloh;

And will cast you out from before me, - Just as I have cast out All your brethren, All the seed of Ephraim.

But, this thing, I commanded them - saying, Hearken ye unto my voice, So will I become unto you - a God, And, ye, shall become unto me - a people, - Ye shall therefore walk in all the way that I may command you, To the end it may be well with you;

So will I cause to cease, From the cities of Judah, and, From the streets of Jerusalem, The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, The voice of the bridegroom, and The voice of the bride, - For, a desolation, shall the land become.

Therefore shalt thou say unto them - Thus, saith Yahweh, Will men fall and not arise? Will one turn away, and not come back?

Therefore, will I give - Their wives to others, Their fields to such as shall take possession of them, For from the least, even unto the greatest, Every one, is, wholly given to extortion: From the prophet even unto the priest, Every one, dealeth, falsely.

I will, surely remove, them, declareth Yahweh: There shall be no grapes on the vine Nor figs on the fig-tree, Even the leaf, hath faded, Though I have given them these things, they shall pass away from them.

Therefore, thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Behold me! melting them, so will I try them, - For how else should I do because of the wickedness of the daughter of my people?

Over the mountains, will I take up a weeping and wailing, And over the oases of the desert, a dirge, For they have been burned, so that no man passeth through, Neither have men heard the lowing of cattle, - Both the bird of the heavens and the beast have fled, have gone their way:

Thus will I give up Jerusalem To heaps, A habitation for jackals, - And the cities of Judah, will I give up to desolation, without inhabitant.

Therefore, Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, The God of Israel, Behold me! Feeding them, even this people, with wormwood, - And I will cause them to drink, poisoned water;

And will scatter them among the nations, which neither they nor their fathers, have known, - And will send after them the sword, until I have consumed them.

Lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, - When I will bring punishment upon every one circumcised, With him that is uncircumcised:

For, thus, saith Yahweh, Behold me! slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this throw, - And I will distress them that they may discover it.

and say thou unto them, Thus, saith Yahweh God of Israel, - Accursed, is the man who will not hear the words of this covenant;

which I commanded your fathers - in the day when I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt out of the smelting-pot of iron - saying, Hearken unto my voice and do them, According to all that I may command you, - So shall ye become my people, And, I, will become, your God:

Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh, Behold me! bringing upon them calamity, which they shall not be able to escape, - and though they make outcry unto me, yet will I not hearken unto them.

Then shall the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, go and make outcry unto the gods to whom they have been burning incense, - but they will not at all, save, them in the time of their calamity;

And remnant, shall they have none, - For I will bring calamity against the men of Anathoth, in the year of their visitation.

But thou O Yahweh, knowest me, Wilt thou observe me and try my heart towards thee? Drag them away, as sheep for slaughter, And hallow them for the day when they are to be slain.

How long, shall the land mourn, And, the herbage of the whole field, wither? For the wickedness of them that dwell therein, beast and bird, have perished, For say they, He will not see our latter end!

If, with the footmen, thou hast run and they have wearied thee, How then wilt thou hotly contend with horses? Though in a safe land thou art confident, Yet how wilt thou deal with the proud banks of the Jordan?

Thus, saith Yahweh, Concerning all my wicked neighbours, who have been touching the inheritance which I gave as an inheritance unto my people Israel, - Behold me! uprooting them from off their own soil, Whereas the house of Judah, will I uproot out of their midst.

And it shall come to pass after I bare uprooted them, I will again have compassion upon them, - and will bring them back - Every man - to his own inheritance and Every man - to his own land.

And it shall come to pass - If they will, diligently learn, the ways of my people - To swear by my Name saying, By the life of Yahweh, As they taught my people to swear by Baal, Then shall they be built in the midst of my people.

But if they will not hearken, Then will I Uproot that nation, Uproot, that I may destroy, - Declareth Yahweh.

Thus, saith Yahweh, - After this manner, will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

Therefore shalt thou say unto them this word - Thus, saith Yahweh God of Israel, Every jar, is to be filled with wine; and they will say unto thee, Do we not, know well, that every jar, is to be filled with wine?

and I will dash them every man against his brother even the fathers and the sons together, Declareth Yahweh, - I will not pity, Neither will I snare Neither will I have compassion that I should not destroy them.

But if ye will not hear it, In secret places, shall my soul weep Because of the pride, And mine eye, shall flow over, and run down with tears, Because captive hath been taken the flock of Yahweh.

What wilt thou say when he shall bring punishment upon thee, Since, thou thyself, hast accustomed them to be over thee as friends in chief? Shall not, pangs, seize thee, as of a woman in childbirth?

Thine adulteries and thy neighings, thine unchaste wickedness, Upon the hills in the field, I have seen thine abominations! Woe to thee, O Jerusalem, Wilt thou not become pure? After how long yet?

Yea, wild asses stand still on the bare heights, They pant for air like jackals, - Dimmed are their eyes Because there is no grass.

Thus, saith Yahweh To this people In this way, have they loved to wander, Their feet, have they not restrained, - Yahweh, therefore hath not accepted them, Now, will he call to mind their iniquity, - That he may punish their sins.

Then said I, Ah, My Lord Yahweh! Lo! the prophets, are saying to them - Ye shall not see the sword And famine, shall ye not have, - For prosperity in truth, will I give you, in this place.

And the people to whom they have been prophesying shall be getting cast out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword, and of there being none to give burial unto them, them, their wives, nor their sons nor their daughters, - So will I pour out upon them their own wickedness.

Are there, among the vanities of the nations senders of rain? Or can, the heavens themselves, give myriad drops? Art not, thou, he, O Yahweh our God? Therefore will we wait for thee, For, thou, hast made all these.

And I will set in charge over them - four species Declareth Yahweh, The sword to slay, and The dogs to trail along, - and The bird of the heavens and The beast of the earth to devour and to destroy.

And I will make them a terror, to all the kingdoms of the earth, - On account of Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah, For what he did in Jerusalem.

Thou, hast abandoned, me, Declareth Yahweh, Backward, thou wilt go, Therefore have I stretched forth my hand against thee and laid thee waste, - I am weary of having compassion.

Languisheth! she who had given birth to seven, She hath breathed out her life Her sun hath gone in, while yet it was day, She hath turned pale and hath turned red, - And the remnant of them, to the sword, will I deliver before their enemies, Declareth Yahweh.

Said Yahweh, - Verily, I will loose thee, for good! Verily, I will intercede for thee In the time of calamity, and In the time of distress with the enemy!

Thy substance and thy treasures - for a prey, will I give, without price, - Even for all thy sins and in all thy bounds:

Therefore will I make thee pass, with thine enemies into a land thou knowest not, - For, a fire, hath been kindled in mine anger Upon you, shall it burn.

Wherefore hath my pain become perpetual? And my wound, incurable? Refuseth to be healed? Wilt thou, indeed be, to me As a brook that disappointeth, Waters that cannot be trusted?

Wherefore Thus, saith Yahweh - If thou wouldst return, I will cause thee to return Before me, shalt thou stand, Yea if thou wilt bring out the precious from among the vile, As mine own mouth shalt thou be, - Let them return unto thee, But thou, shalt not return unto them;

So will I make thee to this people a wall of bronze, fortified, When they fight against thee, they shall not prevail against thee, - For with thee, am, I, to save thee and to deliver thee, Declareth Yahweh;

Thus will I deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, - And redeem thee out of the grasp of the tyrants.

Therefore will I hurl you forth, from off this land, unto a land which ye have not known, ye, nor your fathers, - and ye can serve there other gods day and night, in that I will grant you no favour.

By the life of Yahweh, who hath brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of the North, and out of all the lands whither he had driven them, - So will I bring them back upon their own soil, which I gave to their fathers.

Behold me! sending for many fishers Declareth Yahweh, And they shall catch them, - and thereafter will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from off every mountain and from off every hill, and out of the clefts of the crags.

Thus will I recompense, first, twofold, their iniquity and their sin, because of their profaning my land, - with the carcase of their disgusting and detestable things, have they filled mine inheritance.

Therefore behold me! causing them to know, by this stroke, I will cause them to know my hand and my might, - That they may know that my name, is Yahweh!

O my mountain in the field Thy substance all thy treasures, for a prey, will I give: Thy high places for sin, within all thy bounds.

So shalt thou even of thyself, suffer to rest the inheritance which I gave thee, Seeing that I will cause thee to serve thine enemies, in the land which thou knowest not; For, a fire, have ye kindled in mine anger, Unto times age-abiding, shall it burn.

And it shall come to pass, - If ye will, indeed hearken, unto me Declareth Yahweh, To bring in no burden through the gates of this city, on the sabbath day, - But to hallow the sabbath day, by not doing thereon any manner of work,

But, if ye will not hearken unto me - To hallow the sabbath day, And to bear no burden and bring in through the gates of Jerusalem, on the sabbath day, Then will I kindle a fire within her gates, And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, And shall not be quenched.

Arise and go down to the house of the potter, - and, there, will I cause thee to hear my words.

and that nation return from its wickedness against whom I have spoken, then will I repent concerning the calamity which I had devised to bring upon it.

and it commit wickedness in mine eyes, in not hearkening unto my voice, then will I repent concerning the good wherewith I had said I would do it good.

And, since they will say, Hopeless! For after our own devices, will we walk, And, very one, the stubbornness of his own wicked heart, will we do!

Like an east wind, will I scatter them before the enemy, - The back and not the face, will I let them see in the day of their distress.

And I will pour out the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, And I will cause them to fall by the sword, before their enemies, and by the hand of them who seek their life, -

And I will give their dead bodies for food, to the bird of the heavens and to the beast of the earth; And I will make this city a desolation and a hissing, - every one that passeth by it, shall be astonished and hiss over all her wounds;

And I will suffer them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, yea every one - the flesh of his friend, will they eat, - in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith, their enemies, and they who seek their lives, will straiten them.

and shalt say unto them - Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts - Thus and thus, will I break this people, and this city, As one breaketh the vessel of a potter, which cannot be made whole any more, - And in Topheth, shall they bury, for want of place to bury.

Thus, will I do to this place Declareth Yahweh, And to the inhabitants thereof, - Even making this city like Topheth:

For, Thus, saith Yahweh - Behold me! making thee a terror to thyself and to all who love thee, and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, thine own eyes also, beholding, And all Judah, will I deliver into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them captive to Babylon and smite them with the sword.

And I will deliver up - All the wealth of this city, and All her labour, and All her precious things, - And all the treasures of the kings of Judah, will I deliver up into the hands of their enemies, and they will make of them a prey, and take them, and carry them into Babylon.

Therefore I say - I will not mention him Neither will I speak any more in his name, But then it becometh in my heart as a fire that burneth, Shut up in my bones, - And I am weary of restraint and cannot refrain.

Because I have heard the whispering of many - "A terror round about!" Tell ye say they , that we may tell of him, All the men I am wont to salute do watch for my halting, - Peradventure he will be persuaded, and we shall prevail over him, and take our vengeance upon him.

Enquire for us I pray thee of Yahweh, in that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, maketh war against us, - Peradventure Yahweh will deal with us according to all his wonders, as that he go up from us.

Thus, saith Yahweh, God of Israel - Behold me! turning back the weapons of war that are in your hand, wherewith, ye, are fighting the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans, who are besieging you outside the wall, - and I will gather them into the midst of this city.

And I myself, will fight against you, with a hand outstretched, and with an arm of strength, - and with anger and with wrath and with great indignation;

and I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast, - of a great pestilence, shall they die.

And after that, Declareth Yahweh - Will I deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants, and the people - even such as are left in this city from the pestilence from the sword and from the famine, - into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, even into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them who are seeking their life, - and he will smite them with the edge of the sword, he will not have pity on them nor will he spare nor will he have compassion.

For I have set my face against this city, for calamity and not for blessing, Declareth Yahweh, - Into the hand of the king of Babylon, shall it be given up, and he will burn it with fire.

Yet will I bring punishment upon you according to the fruit of your doings, Declareth Yahweh, - and will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all things round about her.

But if ye will not hear these words, By myself have I sworn Declareth Yahweh - That, a ruin, shall this house become.

For Thus, saith Yahweh Concerning the house of the king of Judah, - Though thou wast Gilead, to me, The summit of Lebanon, Yet surely I will make thee, A wilderness, Cities, not habitable;