Neither have we listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our leaders, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds that they have committed against you.

LORD, to us belongs open shame, to our kings, to our leaders, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.

To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him.

And have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

Yes, all Israel has transgressed your law, and turned away, refusing to obey your voice. Therefore has the curse been poured out on us, and the oath that is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you.

As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us. Yet have we not tried to gain the favor of the LORD our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in your truth.

Therefore has the LORD watched over the calamity, and brought it on us, for the LORD our God is just in all he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice.

"And now, Lord our God, who has brought your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, even to this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

Lord, according to all your righteousness, let your anger and please let your wrath be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all who are around us.

He instructed me, and talked with me, and said, "Daniel, I have now come forth to give you wisdom and understanding.

At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went forth, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision.

After the sixty-two weeks an anointed one shall be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and his end shall come with a flood, and until the end there shall be war; desolations are decreed.

He said to me, "Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright; for I have now been sent to you." And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood trembling.

Then said he to me, "Do not be afraid, Daniel; for from the first day that you did set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. And I have come because of your words.

Now I have come to make you understand what shall happen to your people in the latter days; for the vision refers to future days."

And behold, one in the likeness of a human touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke and said to him who stood before me, "My lord, it is because of the vision anguish has come upon me, and I have no strength.

And he said, "Greatly loved man, do not be afraid, peace be to you; be strong, be strong." When he spoke to me, I was strengthened, and said, "Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me."

Then he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? Now I will return to fight with the prince of Persia. When I go forth, behold, the prince of Greece shall come.

The king of the south shall grow strong, and one of his officers shall grow more powerful, and shall have a greater kingdom than his.

In a time of prosperity he shall come even on the richest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor their fathers; he shall distribute among them plunder, and spoil, and property. He shall devise plans against their strongholds, but only for a time.

But he shall have control over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the riches of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his feet.

I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.

She conceived again, and bore a daughter. Then he said to him, "Call her name Lo-Ruhamah; for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, that I should in any way pardon them.

But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen."

Indeed, on her children I will have no mercy; for they are children of unfaithfulness;

Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my new wine in its season, and will pluck away my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness.

I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, about which she has said, 'These are my wages that my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest,' and the animals of the field shall eat them.

I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; and I will tell those who were not my people, 'You are my people;' and they will say, 'My God.'"

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God's law, I will also forget your children.

They will eat, and not have enough. They will play the prostitute, and will not increase; because they have abandoned giving to the LORD.

My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God.

"Listen to this, you priests. Listen, house of Israel, and give ear, house of the king. For the judgment is against you; for you have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread on Tabor.

I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, Ephraim, you have played the prostitute. Israel is defiled.

They are unfaithful to the LORD; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.

Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel, I have made known that which will surely be.

Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I killed them with the words of my mouth. Your judgments are like a flash of lightning.

But they, like Adam, have broken the covenant. They were unfaithful to me, there.

In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing. There is prostitution in Ephraim. Israel is defiled.

They do not consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their own deeds have engulfed them. They are before my face.

For they have made ready their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait. Their baker sleeps all the night. In the morning it burns as a flaming fire.

They are all hot as an oven, and devour their judges. All their kings have fallen. There is no one among them who calls to me.

Strangers have devoured his strength, and he doesn't realize it. Indeed, gray hairs are here and there on him, and he doesn't realize it.

The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they haven't returned to the LORD their God, nor sought him, for all this.

Woe to them. For they have wandered from me. Destruction to them. For they have trespassed against me. Though I would redeem them, yet they have spoken lies against me.

They haven't cried to me with their heart, but they howl on their beds. They assemble themselves for grain and new wine. They turn away from me.

Though I have taught and strengthened their arms, yet they plot evil against me.

"Put the trumpet to your lips. Something like an eagle is over the LORD's house, because they have broken my covenant, and rebelled against my law.

They have set up kings, but not by me. They have made princes, and I did not approve. Of their silver and their gold they have made themselves idols, that they may be cut off.

For they have gone up to Assyria, like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has hired lovers for himself.

For, behold, they have gone away from destruction. Egypt will gather them up. Memphis will bury them. Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver. Thorns will be in their tents.

The days of visitation have come. The days of reckoning have come. Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool, and the man who is inspired to be insane, because of the abundance of your sins, and because your hostility is great.

They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity. He will punish them for their sins.

I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place; but Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.

Israel is a luxuriant vine that puts forth his fruit. According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars. As their land has prospered, they have adorned their sacred stones.

Surely now they will say, "We have no king; for we do not fear the LORD; and the king, what can he do for us?"

"Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah. There they remained. The battle against the children of iniquity doesn't overtake them in Gibeah.

You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, for you trusted in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men.

Ephraim said, "Surely I have become rich, I have found myself wealth. In all my wealth they won't find in me any iniquity that is sin."

I have also spoken to the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables.

Now they sin more and more, and have made themselves molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen. They say of them, 'They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves.'

According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten me.

I have given you a king in my anger, and have taken him away in my wrath.

Israel, return to the LORD your God; for you have fallen because of your sin.

Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? I answer, and will take care of him. I am like a green fir tree; from me your fruit is found."

Tell your children about it, and have your children tell their children, and their children, another generation.

How the animals groan. The herds of livestock are perplexed, because they have no pasture. Yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

Yes, the animals of the field pant to you, for the water brooks have 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.

You will have plenty to eat, and be satisfied, and will praise the name of the LORD, your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and my people will never again be disappointed.

I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment on them there for my people, and for my heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have divided my land,

and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a prostitute, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.

Because you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my finest treasures into your temples,

and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their border.

Behold, I will stir them up out of the place where you have sold them, and will return your repayment on your own head;

Egypt will be a desolation, and Edom will be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

And I will pardon their bloodguilt, which I have not pardoned, for the LORD dwells in Zion."

Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Damascus, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron;

Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead, that they may enlarge their border.

Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Judah, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have rejected the LORD's law, and have not kept his statutes, and their lies have led them astray, after which their fathers walked;

Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes;

and they lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.

"You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all of your sins."

Do two walk together, unless they have agreed?

I will strike the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory will perish, and the great houses will have an end," says the LORD.

"I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in every town; yet you haven't returned to me," says the LORD.

"I also have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city. One place was rained on, and the piece where it did not rain withered.

So two or three cities staggered to one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet you haven't returned to me," says the LORD.

"I struck you with blight and mildew many times in your gardens and your vineyards; and your fig trees and your olive trees have the swarming locust devoured: yet you haven't returned to me," says the LORD.

"I sent plagues among you like I did Egypt. I have slain your young men with the sword, and have carried away your horses; and I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp, yet you haven't returned to me," says the LORD.

"I have overthrown some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a burning stick plucked out of the fire; yet you haven't returned to me," says the LORD.

For thus says the Lord GOD: "The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth one hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel."

Forasmuch therefore as you trample on the poor, and take taxes from him of wheat: You have built houses of cut stone, but you will not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.

Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness;

you who rejoice in a thing of nothing, who say, 'Haven't we taken for ourselves horns by our own strength?'

Thus the Lord GOD showed me and behold, the Lord GOD called for judgment by fire; and it dried up the great deep, and would have devoured the land.

Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to me, children of Israel?" says the LORD. "Haven't I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?

I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them," says the LORD your God.

The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord GOD says about Edom. We have heard news from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, "Arise, and let's rise up against her in battle.

Behold, I have made you small among the nations. You are greatly despised.