So she grabbed him and kissed him, and with a bold expression she said to him,

She persuaded him with persuasive words; with her smooth talk she compelled him.

for she has brought down many fatally wounded, and all those she has slain are many.

At the top of the elevated places along the way, at the intersection of the paths she takes her stand;

beside the gates opening into the city, at the entrance of the doorways she cries out:

Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out its seven pillars.

She has prepared her meat, she has mixed her wine; she also has arranged her table.

She has sent out her female servants; she calls out on the highest places of the city.

"Whoever is naive, let him turn in here," she says to those who lack understanding.

The woman called Folly is brash, she is naive and does not know anything.

So she sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city,

"Whoever is simple, let him turn in here," she says to those who lack understanding.

The words of the wicked lie in wait to shed innocent blood, but the words of the upright will deliver them.

Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

May your father and your mother have joy; may she who bore you rejoice.

Indeed, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.

This is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, "I have not done wrong."

She brings him good and not evil all the days of her life.

She obtains wool and flax, and she is pleased to work with her hands.

She is like the merchant ships; she brings her food from afar.

She also gets up while it is still night, and provides food for her household and a portion to her female servants.

She considers a field and buys it; from her own income she plants a vineyard.

She begins her work vigorously, and she strengthens her arms.

She knows that her merchandise is good, and her lamp does not go out in the night.

She extends her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hand to the needy.

She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all of her household are clothed with scarlet.

She makes for herself coverlets; her clothing is fine linen and purple.

She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.

She is clothed with strength and honor, and she can laugh at the time to come.

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue.

She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Give her credit for what she has accomplished, and let her works praise her in the city gates.

But she is unique! My dove, my perfect one! She is the special daughter of her mother, she is the favorite of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and complimented her; the queens and concubines praised her:

The Maidens about His Beloved: Who is this coming up from the desert, leaning on her beloved? The Beloved to Her Lover: Under the apple tree I aroused you; there your mother conceived you, there she who bore you was in labor of childbirth.

The Beloved's Brothers: We have a little sister, and as yet she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is spoken for?

If she is a wall, we will build on her a battlement of silver; but if she is a door, we will barricade her with boards of cedar.

Daughter Zion is left isolated, like a hut in a vineyard, or a shelter in a cucumber field; she is a besieged city.

How tragic that the once-faithful city has become a prostitute! She was once a center of justice, fairness resided in her, but now only murderers.

Her gates will mourn and lament; deprived of her people, she will sit on the ground.

I then had sexual relations with the prophetess; she conceived and gave birth to a son. The Lord told me, "Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz,

"I will rise up against them," says the Lord who commands armies. "I will blot out all remembrance of Babylon and destroy all her people, including the offspring she produces," says the Lord.

The Lord has made them undiscerning; they lead Egypt astray in all she does, so that she is like a drunk sliding around in his own vomit.

the deep waters! Grain from the Shihor region, crops grown near the Nile she receives; she is the trade center of the nations.

At the end of seventy years the Lord will revive Tyre. She will start making money again by selling her services to all the earth's kingdoms.

For look, the Lord is coming out of the place where he lives, to punish the sin of those who live on the earth. The earth will display the blood shed on it; it will no longer cover up its slain.

I will threaten Ariel, and she will mourn intensely and become like an altar hearth before me.

this is what the Lord says about him: "The virgin daughter Zion despises you -- she makes fun of you; daughter Jerusalem shakes her head after you.

who fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants and brings to pass the announcements of his messengers, who says about Jerusalem, 'She will be inhabited,' and about the towns of Judah, 'They will be rebuilt, her ruins I will raise up,'

who commissions Cyrus, the one I appointed as shepherd to carry out all my wishes and to decree concerning Jerusalem, 'She will be rebuilt,' and concerning the temple, 'It will be reconstructed.'"

Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? Even if mothers were to forget, I could never forget you!

There was no one to lead her among all the children she bore; there was no one to take her by the hand among all the children she raised.

"Indeed, the Lord will call you back like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression, like a young wife when she has been rejected," says your God.

They are eager to do evil, quick to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful; they crush and destroy.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; I will be overjoyed because of my God. For he clothes me in garments of deliverance; he puts on me a robe symbolizing vindication. I look like a bridegroom when he wears a turban as a priest would; I look like a bride when she puts on her jewelry.

Before she goes into labor, she gives birth! Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy!

Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen this? Can a country be brought forth in one day? Can a nation be born in a single moment? Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!

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.

"If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and becomes another man's wife, he may not take her back again. Doing that would utterly defile the land. But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods. So what makes you think you can return to me?" says the Lord.

When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, "Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done. You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods.

Yet even after she had done all that, I thought that she might come back to me. But she did not. Her sister, unfaithful Judah, saw what she did.

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.

Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she defiled the land through her adulterous worship of gods made of wood and stone.

In spite of all this, Israel's sister, unfaithful Judah, has not turned back to me with any sincerity; she has only pretended to do so," says the Lord.

The mother who had seven children will grow faint. All the breath will go out of her. Her pride and joy will be taken from her in the prime of their life. It will seem as if the sun had set while it was still day. She will suffer shame and humiliation. I will cause any of them who are still left alive to be killed in war by the onslaughts of their enemies," says the Lord.

Therefore, the Lord says, "Ask the people of other nations whether they have heard of anything like this. Israel should have been like a virgin. But she has done something utterly revolting!

The Lord says to her, "Stop crying! Do not shed any more tears! For your heartfelt repentance will be rewarded. Your children will return from the land of the enemy. I, the Lord, affirm it!

Poor dear Egypt will be put to shame. She will be handed over to the people from the north."

Oh, how shattered Moab will be! Oh, how her people will wail! Oh, how she will turn away in shame! Moab will become an object of ridicule, a terrifying sight to all the nations that surround her."

Moab will be destroyed and no longer be a nation, because she has vaunted herself against the Lord.

"Take up your battle positions all around Babylon, all you soldiers who are armed with bows. Shoot all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back! For she has sinned against the Lord.

Shout the battle cry from all around the city. She will throw up her hands in surrender. Her towers will fall. Her walls will be torn down. Because I, the Lord, am wreaking revenge, take out your vengeance on her! Do to her as she has done!

Come from far away and attack Babylonia! Open up the places where she stores her grain! Pile her up in ruins! Destroy her completely! Do not leave anyone alive!

"Call for archers to come against Babylon! Summon against her all who draw the bow! Set up camp all around the city! Do not allow anyone to escape! Pay her back for what she has done. Do to her what she has done to others. For she has proudly defied me, the Holy One of Israel.

Get out of Babylonia quickly, you foreign people. Flee to save your lives. Do not let yourselves be killed because of her sins. For it is time for the Lord to wreak his revenge. He will pay Babylonia back for what she has done.

Babylonia had been a gold cup in the Lord's hand. She had made the whole world drunk. The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath. So they have all gone mad.

But suddenly Babylonia will fall and be destroyed. Cry out in mourning over it! Get medicine for her wounds! Perhaps she can be healed!

Foreigners living there will say, 'We tried to heal her, but she could not be healed. Let's leave Babylonia and each go back to his own country. For judgment on her will be vast in its proportions. It will be like it is piled up to heaven, stacked up into the clouds.'

The sea has swept over Babylon. She has been covered by a multitude of its waves.

The towns of Babylonia have become heaps of ruins. She has become a dry and barren desert. No one lives in those towns any more. No one even passes through them.

"Babylon must fall because of the Israelites she has killed, just as the earth's mortally wounded fell because of Babylon.

(Bet) She weeps bitterly at night; tears stream down her cheeks. She has no one to comfort her among all her lovers. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.

(Gimel) Judah has departed into exile under affliction and harsh oppression. She lives among the nations; she has found no resting place. All who pursued her overtook her in narrow straits.

(Dalet) The roads to Zion mourn because no one travels to the festivals. All her city gates are deserted; her priests groan. Her virgins grieve; she is in bitter anguish!

(Zayin) Jerusalem remembers, when she became a poor homeless person, all her treasures that she owned in days of old. When her people fell into an enemy's grip, none of her allies came to her rescue. Her enemies gloated over her; they sneered at her downfall.

(Khet) Jerusalem committed terrible sin; therefore she became an object of scorn. All who admired her have despised her because they have seen her nakedness. She groans aloud and turns away in shame.

(Tet) Her menstrual flow has soiled her clothing; she did not consider the consequences of her sin. Her demise was astonishing, and there was no one to comfort her. She cried, "Look, O Lord, on my affliction because my enemy boasts!"

(Yod) An enemy grabbed all her valuables. Indeed she watched in horror as Gentiles invaded her holy temple -- those whom you had commanded: "They must not enter your assembly place."

(Nun) They wander blindly through the streets, defiled by the blood they shed, while no one dares to touch their garments.

Then she defied my regulations and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations and the countries around her. Indeed, they have rejected my regulations, and they do not follow my statutes.

"'See here -- this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help the poor and needy.

and say: "'What a lioness was your mother among the lions! She lay among young lions; she reared her cubs.

She reared one of her cubs; he became a young lion. He learned to tear prey; he devoured people.

"'When she realized that she waited in vain, her hope was lost. She took another of her cubs and made him a young lion.

you are guilty because of the blood you shed and defiled by the idols you made. You have hastened the day of your doom; the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations, an object to be mocked by all lands.

"'See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood.

Slanderous men shed blood within you. Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains; they commit obscene acts among you.

They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me, declares the sovereign Lord.

"Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians -- warriors

She bestowed her sexual favors on them; all of them were the choicest young men of Assyria. She defiled herself with all whom she desired -- with all their idols.

She did not abandon the prostitution she had practiced in Egypt; for in her youth men had sex with her, fondled her virgin breasts, and ravished her.