And I am to them as a lion, As a leopard by the way I look out.

I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.

The labor pains of a woman will overtake him, but the baby will lack wisdom; when the time arrives, he will not come out of the womb!

Even though he flourishes like a reed plant, a scorching east wind will come, a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert. As a result, his spring will dry up; his well will become dry. That wind will spoil all his delightful foods in the containers in his storehouse.

Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, "Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good: so we offer our lips like bulls.

I shall be like the dew to Israel;
He will blossom like the lily,
And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.

His shoots will sprout,
And his beauty will be like the olive tree
And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.

Those who live in his shadow
Will again raise grain,
And they will blossom like the vine.
His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.

Hear this, you elders;
listen, all you inhabitants of the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?

Look, what the caterpillar hath left, that hath the grasshopper eaten up; what the grasshopper left, that hath the locust eaten up; and what the locust hath left, that hath the blasting consumed.

Indeed, a nation has invaded my land it is strong and its population is too large to count with teeth like a lion and fangs like a lioness.

Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

The husbandmen and the wine gardeners shall look piteously, and make lamentation for the wheat, wine and barley; and because the harvest upon the field is so clean destroyed.

Ah! For the day! For the day of Yahweh is near. It will come like destruction from Shaddai.

Also the beasts of the field will look up to thee: for the channels of waters were dried up, and the fire devoured the habitations of the desert.

A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

{Before them} a fire devours, and behind them a flame burns. Like the garden of Eden is the land {before them}, and after them [it is like] a desolate desert, and nothing can escape them.

Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
And they run like war horses.

Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:

They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.

Between the porch and the altar, let the priests, weep, the attendants of Yahweh, - and let them say - Look with pity, O Yahweh, upon thy people, and do not deliver thine inheritance to reproach, that the nations, should mock them, Why should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?

And Yahweh answered and said to his people, "Look at me, [I am] sending to you grain, new wine, and olive oil, and you will be satisfied by it. I will not give you [over] any more as a disgrace among the nations.

“But I will remove the northern army far away from you,
And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,
With its forward guard into the eastern sea (Dead Sea)
And with its rear guard into the western sea (Mediterranean Sea).
And its stench will arise and its foul odor of decay will come up [this is the fate of the northern army in the final day of the Lord],
For He has done great things.”

And the time shall come: that whosoever calleth upon the name of the LORD, shall be saved. For upon the mount Zion and at Jerusalem, there shall be a salvation, like as the LORD hath promised. Yea, and among the other remnant, whom the LORD shall call.

For look! In those days, and in that time, when I will return the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

Look! I [am] rousing them from the place where you have sold them, and I will return what you deserve on your head!

This is what the Lord says: "Because Damascus has committed three crimes -- make that four! -- I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They ripped through Gilead like threshing sledges with iron teeth.

Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.

Look! I [am] going to press [you] down in your place just as a utility cart full of mature stalks of grain [is pressed down].

Announce this in the fortified citadels of Ashdod, and in the fortified citadels of the land of Egypt. Tell them, "Gather together on the mountains of Samaria; look at the great misery among the citadels, along with the oppression within Egypt.'

Thus saith Jehovah: Like as the shepherd rescueth out of the jaw of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be rescued that sit in Samaria in the corner of a couch, and upon the damask of a bed.

The Lord God has sworn by His holiness:

Look, the days are coming
when you will be taken away with hooks,
every last one of you with fishhooks.

“Offer [by burning] a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened,
And [boastfully] proclaim freewill offerings, announce them.
For this you so love to do, O children of Israel!”
Says the Lord God.

And I also -- I have given to you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, And lack of bread in all your places, And ye have not turned back unto Me, an affirmation of Jehovah.

'I have smitten you with drought and blasting: and look how many orchards, vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees ye had: the caterpillar hath eaten them up. But yet will ye not turn unto me,' sayeth the LORD.

I sent plagues like those of Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword,
along with your captured horses.
I caused the stench of your camp
to fill your nostrils,
yet you did not return to Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

I have overthrown among you, like God's overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.

Look! The one who crafts mountains, who creates the wind, who reveals what he is thinking to mankind, who darkens the morning light, who tramples down the high places of the land the LORD, the God of the Heavenly Armies is his name.

Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel.

It is he who is raining sudden destruction upon the strong like lightning, so that ruin comes upon the fortress.

It will be like a man who flees from a lion
only to have a bear confront him.
He goes home and rests his hand against the wall
only to have a snake bite him.

“Even though you offer Me your burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fattened animals.

“But let justice run down like waters
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream [flowing abundantly].

Cross over to Calneh and look around, then go on to that great city of Hamath, and from there go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory more extensive than yours?

That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David;

Look, Yahweh [is] going to command and the great house will be destroyed [to] bits and the little house [to] pieces.

But look, I am raising up a nation
against you, house of Israel—
this is the declaration of the Lord,
the God of Hosts—
and they will oppress you
from the entrance of Hamath
to the Brook of the Arabah.

This is what my Lord Yahweh showed me, and look, [he] is going to form locusts at the beginning of the sprouting of the second crop, and look, after the mowings of the king.

This is what my Lord Yahweh showed me, and look, my Lord Yahweh was going to call for a legal case with fire, and it devoured the great deep and it ate up the plots of ground.

This is what he showed me: Look! The Lord was standing upon a wall that stood straight and true, with a plumb line in his hand.

And Yahweh said to me, "What do you see?" And I said, "A plummet." And my Lord said, "Look, I [am] going to set a plummet in the midst of my people, Israel. I will not pass them by again.

This is what the Lord GOD showed me: Look! A basket of summer fruit!

Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? yea, it shall rise up wholly like the River; and it shall be troubled and sink again, like the River of Egypt.

And I will turn your feasts into mourning and all of your songs into lament, and I will put sackcloth on all loins and baldness on every head. And I will make it like the mourning for an only child, and its end like a bitter day.

Look, the days are coming," {declares} my Lord Yahweh, "when I will send a famine in the land, not a famine for bread and not a thirst for water, but {of hearing} the words of Yahweh!

And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.

"Are you not like the Cushites to me, O people of Israel?" {declares} Yahweh. "Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt and [the] Philistines from Caphtor and {the Arameans} from Kir?

Look, the eyes of my Lord Yahweh [are] on the kingdom of sin, and I will destroy it from the surface of the earth. However, I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob," {declares} Yahweh.

For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.

On that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen, and I will repair its breaches and will raise up its ruins and will build it like the days of old.

"Look, days are coming," {declares} Yahweh, "when [the one who] plows will overtake [the one who] reaps, the one who treads grapes [will catch up] with the one who sows the seed. And the mountains will drip sweet wine and all of the hills will flow [with it].

"Look, I will make you insignificant among the nations. You [will be] utterly despised!

[Even] if you soar like the eagle, [even] if your nest is set among [the] stars, from there I will bring you down!" {declares} Yahweh:

On {the day you stood nearby}, {on the day strangers took} his wealth, and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots over Jerusalem, you were also like one of them.

But look not thou on the day of thy brother in the day of his disaster, and rejoice not over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither speak proudly in the day of distress.

Enter not into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, look not thou on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither lay ye hands on their substance in the day of their calamity.

For the day of the LORD is hard by upon all Heathen. Like as thou hast done, so shalt thou be dealt withal. Yea, thou shalt be rewarded even upon thine head.

The descendants of Jacob will be a fire, and the descendants of Joseph a flame. The descendants of Esau will be like stubble. They will burn them up and devour them. There will not be a single survivor of the descendants of Esau!" Indeed, the Lord has spoken it.

They of the South shall have the mount of Esau in possession. And look: what lieth upon the ground, that shall the Philistines have. The plain fields shall Ephraim and Samaria possess: and the mountains of Gilead shall Benjamin have.

But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

Look, the Lord is leaving His place
and coming down to trample
the heights of the earth.

The mountains shall melt under Him
And the valleys shall be split
Like wax before the fire,
Like waters poured down a steep place.

Therefore I will make Samaria like a rubble heap of the field, like places for planting vineyards; and I will pour down its stones into the valley, and I will uncover its foundations.

Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.

Shave your heads, and cut off your hair for the children of your delight. Enlarge your baldness like the vulture; for they have gone into captivity from you!

Therefore, thus says Yahweh: Look! I am planning disaster against this family from which you will not be able to remove your necks. You will not walk proudly, for it [is] a time of disaster.

Let not words like these be dropped, they say: Shame and the curse will not come to the family of Jacob!

But recently My people have risen up
like an enemy:
You strip off the splendid robe
from those who are passing through confidently,
like those returning from war.

Suppose a man who keeps company with a deceiving spirit prophesies like this: "Drink wine and strong drink!' Won't the people accept him as a prophet?"

“I shall most certainly assemble all of you, O Jacob;
I shall surely gather the remnant of Israel.
I shall bring them together like sheep in the fold [multiplying the nation];
Like a flock in the midst of its pasture.
The place will swarm with many people and hum loudly with noise.

You who eat the flesh of my people,
Strip off their skin from them,
Break their bones
And chop them in pieces as for the pot,
Like meat in a kettle.”

Therefore, shall it be night to you, for lack of vision, and darkness to you, for lack of divination, - and the sun, shall go in, over the prophets, and the day, shall be overcast because of them;

Therefore, on account of you
Zion shall be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
And the mountain of the house [of the Lord] shall become like a densely wooded hill.

“Now, why do you cry out loudly?
Is there no king among you?
Has your counselor perished?
For agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth.

Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.

But they do not know the Lord’s intentions
or understand His plan,
that He has gathered them
like sheaves to the threshing floor.

Get up and smash them to pieces, daughter of Zion, because I will make your horn like iron and your hooves like bronze! And you will beat many people to pieces, and I will consecrate their dishonest gain to the LORD and their assets to the Lord of the entire earth."

Then the remnant of Jacob
Shall be among many peoples
Like dew from the Lord,
Like showers on the grass [a source of blessing]
Which [come suddenly and] do not wait for man
Nor delay for the sons of men.

The remnant of Jacob
Shall be among the nations,
In the midst of many peoples
Like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
Like a young lion [suddenly appearing] among the flocks of sheep
Which, if he passes through,
Tramples down and tears into pieces [the nations in judgment],
And there is no one to rescue.

Woe is me! For I have become like the gatherings of summer, like the gleanings of the grape harvest, [when] there is no cluster of grapes to eat [or] early ripened fruit [that] my soul desires.

The best of them is [injurious] like a briar;
The most upright is [prickly] like a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchmen [that is, the time predicted by the prophets]
And your punishment comes;
Now shall be their confusion.

Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.

The indignation of Jehovah I do bear, For I have sinned against Him, Till that He doth plead my cause, And hath executed my judgment, He doth bring me forth to the light, I look on His righteousness.

And see doth mine enemy, And cover her doth shame, Who saith unto me, 'Where is Jehovah thy God?' Mine eyes do look on her, Now she is for a treading-place, As mire of the out-places.

Marvelous things will I show them, like as when they came out of Egypt.

The nations will look on and will be ashamed in spite of all their power; they will cup their hands over their mouths, and their ears will be deaf.