For a nation has come up upon my land, strong, and without number. His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the jaw-teeth of a lioness.

He has laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree. He has made it clean bare, and cast it away. The branches of it are made white.

The meal-offering and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of LORD. The priests, LORD's ministers, mourn.

The vine is withered, and the fig tree languishes. The pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field are withered. For joy has withered away from the sons of men.

Gird yourselves [with sackcloth], and lament, ye priests. Wail, ye ministers of the altar. Come, lay all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God. For the meal-offering and the drink-offering are withheld from the house of your G

The seeds rot under their clods. The garners are laid desolate. The barns are broken down. For the grain is withered.

How do the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because they have no pasture, yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

Yea, the beasts of the field pant to thee, for the water brooks are dried up, and the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

At their presence the peoples are in anguish; all faces have grown pale.

The earth quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.

Yea, and what are ye to me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Will ye render me a recompense? And if ye recompense me, I will return your recompense swiftly and speedily upon your own head.

The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.

Publish ye in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold what great tumults are in it, and what oppressions are in the midst of it.

Hear this word, ye cows of Bashan, who are in the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their lords, Bring, and let us drink.

For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins--ye who afflict the just man, who take a bribe, and who turn aside the needy in the gate [from their right].

Therefore thus says LORD, the God of hosts, LORD: Wailing shall be in all the broad ways. And they shall say in all the streets, Alas! Alas! And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful in lamentation to

Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure in the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!

Pass ye to Calneh, and see, and from there go ye to Hamath the great, then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than these kingdoms? Or is their border greater than your border?

who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief oils, but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

Are ye not as the sons of the Ethiopians to me, O sons of Israel? says LORD. Have I not brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?

Behold, the eyes of lord LORD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth, except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says LORD.

that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations that are called by my name, says LORD who does this.

Behold, I have made thee small among the nations. Thou are greatly despised.

If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night (how thou are cut off!), would they not steal [only] till they had enough? If grape gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes?

How are [the things of] Esau searched! How are his hidden treasures sought out!

And the captives of this host of the sons of Israel, who are [among] the Canaanites, [shall possess] even to Zarephath. And the captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall possess the cities of the South.

Then they said to him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is thine occupation? And from where do thou come? What is thy country, and of what people are thou?

And he prayed to LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I hastened to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that thou are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundan

And should not I have regard for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand men who cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle?

Hear, ye peoples, all of you. Hearken, O earth, and all who are in it, and let lord LORD be witness against you, LORD from his holy temple.

And the mountains shall be melted under him, and the valleys shall be split, as wax before the fire, as waters that are poured down a steep place.

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

For her wounds are incurable. For it has come even to Judah. it reaches to the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.

In that day they shall take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation. [And] say, We are utterly ruined. He changes the portion of my people. How he removes [it] from me! He divides our fields to the rebelliou

Shall it be said, O house of Jacob, Is the Spirit of LORD restricted? Are these his doings? Do not my words do good to him who walks uprightly?

And now many nations are assembled against thee, who say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye see [our desire] upon Zion.

But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, which are little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee he shall come forth to me who is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.

Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a scant measure that is abominable?

For the rich men of it are full of violence, and the inhabitants of it have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels, that I may make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing. And ye shall bear the reproach of my people.

Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently. The ruler asks, and the judge [is ready] for a bribe. And the great man, he utters the evil desire of his soul. Thus they weave it together.

For the son dishonors the father. The daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies are the men of his own house.

LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means clear [the guilty]. LORD has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

Who can stand before his indignation? And who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by him.

For entangled like thorns, and drunken as with their drink, they are consumed utterly as dry stubble.

And LORD has given commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown. Out of the house of thy gods I will cut off the graven image and the molten image. I will make thy grave, for thou are vile.

The shield of his mighty men is made red. The valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the cypress [spears] are brandished.

The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.

Are thou better than No-amon, that was situated among the rivers, that had the waters round about her, whose rampart was the sea, [and] her wall was of the sea?

Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women. The gates of thy land are set wide open to thine enemies. The fire has devoured thy bars.

Thy rulers are as the locusts, and thy marshals as the swarms of grasshoppers, which encamp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun arises they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.

Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria. Thy nobles are at rest. Thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them.

Why do thou show me iniquity, and look upon perverseness? For destruction and violence are before me, and there is strife, and contention rises up.

For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs.

They are fearful and dreadful. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.

Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. And their horsemen press proudly on. Yea, their horsemen come from far. They fly as an eagle that hastens to devour.

Yea, he scoffs at kings, and rulers are a derision to him. He derides every stronghold, for he heaps up dust, and takes it.

Are not thou from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, thou have ordained him for judgment, and thou, O Rock, have established him for correction.

Thou who are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and who cannot look on perverseness, why do thou look upon those who deal treacherously, and hold thy peace when the wicked man swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,

Thou are filled with shame, and not glory. Drink thou also, and be as one uncircumcised. The cup of LORD's right hand shall come around to thee, and foul shame shall be upon thy glory.

and those who are turned back from following LORD, and those who have not sought LORD, nor inquired after him.

And it shall come to pass in the day of LORD's sacrifice, that I will punish the rulers, and the king's sons, and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.

Wail, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone. All those who were laden with silver are cut off.

And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are settled on their lees, who say in their heart, LORD will not do good, nor will he do evil.

Her rulers in the midst of her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing till the morrow.

Her prophets are airy and treacherous men. Her priests have profaned the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law.

I have cut off nations. Their battlements are desolate. I have made their streets waste, so that none passes by. Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.

Ye have sown much, and bring in little. Ye eat, but ye have not enough. Ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink. Ye clothe yourselves, but there is none warm. And he who earns wages earns wages [to put] into a bag with holes.

Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?

Then I said, O my lord, what are these? And the [heavenly] agent who talked with me said to me, I will show thee what these are.

And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom LORD has sent to walk to and fro through the earth.

And I am very greatly displeased with the nations that are at ease. For I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.

And I said to the [heavenly] agent who talked with me, What are these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.

Then I said, What are these coming to do? And he spoke, saying, These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head. But these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted

Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou and thy fellows who sit before thee, for they are men who are a sign. For, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch.

For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua. Upon one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave the graving of it, says LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

And he said to me, What do thou see? And I said, I have seen, and, behold, a candlestick all of gold, with its bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps on it. There are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are upon the top o

And I answered and spoke to the [heavenly] agent who talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

Then the [heavenly] agent who talked with me answered and said to me, Do thou not know what these are? And I said, No, my lord.

Who are thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel [thou shall become] a plain, and he shall bring forth the top stone with shoutings of Grace, grace, to it.

Then I answered, and said to him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side of it?

And I answered the second time, and said to him, What are these two olive-branches, which are beside the two golden spouts that empty the golden [oil] out of themselves?

And he answered me and said, Do thou not know what these are? And I said, No, my lord.

Then he said, These are the two anointed ones, who stand by LORD of the whole earth.

Then I answered and said to the [heavenly] agent who talked with me, What are these, my lord?

And the [heavenly] agent answered and said to me, These are the four winds of heaven, which go forth from standing before LORD of all the earth.

[The chariot] in which are the black horses goes forth toward the north country, and the white went forth after them, and the grizzled went forth toward the south country.

And those who are far off shall come and build in the temple of LORD. And ye shall know that LORD of hosts has sent me to you. And [this] shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of LORD your God.

These are the things that ye shall do: Speak ye every man the truth with his neighbor. Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates.

And let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbor, and love no FALSE oath. For all these are things that I hate, says LORD.

and also Hamath, which borders on it, Tyre and Sidon, because they are very wise.

For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and they have told FALSE dreams. They comfort in vain. Therefore they go their way like sheep. They are afflicted, because there is no shepherd.

Wail, O fir tree, for the cedar is fallen, because the fine ones are destroyed. Wail, O ye oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest has come down.

Then I said, I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die, and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off, and let those who are left eat each one the flesh of another.

For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not visit those who are cut off, nor will he seek those who are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound, but he will eat the flesh of the fat,

And the chieftains of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in LORD of hosts their God.

And [a man] shall say to him, What are these wounds between thine arms? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

Whereas Edom says, We are beaten down, but we will return and build the waste places, thus says LORD of hosts: They shall build, but I will throw down, and men shall call them the border of wickedness, and the people against whom L

But ye are turned aside out of the way. Ye have caused many to stumble in the law. Ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says LORD of hosts.

For I, LORD, do not change. Therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.