Your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul, hateth, - They have become unto me a burden I am too weary to bear:

Come, I pray you, and let us settle the disputer Saith Yahweh, - Though your sins be found like scarlet, As snow, shall they be made white, Though they appear red like crimson, As wool, shall they become.

Thy rulers, are unruly, and companions of thieves, Every one of the people, loveth a bribe, and runneth after rewards, - The fatherless, they do not vindicate, And, the plea of the widow, reacheth them not.

And the downfall of transgressors and sinners, shall be, together, - And, they who forsake Yahweh, shall be brought to an end;

For they shall turn pale on account of the oaks which ye desired, - And ye shall blush on account of the gardens which ye had chosen;

Then shall the strong one become tow, And his work a spark, - And they shall both blaze together And there be none to quench the fire.

And he will judge between the nations, And be umpire to many peoples, - And they will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks, Nation - against nation, shall not lift up sword, Neither shall they learn any more to make war,

Therefore hast thou abandoned thy people the house of Jacob, Because they have become full of the And use hidden arts like the Philistines, - And with the children of foreigners, strike hands; -

And filled is their land with idols, - To the work of their own hands, do they bow themselves down, To that which they made with their own fingers.

And they shall enter into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of clay, - Because of the terribleness of Yahweh, And for his majestic splendour, When he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

And the people will, tyrannise, Every man over his fellow-man, And every man over his friend, - And they will rage The boy against, the elder, And the despised, against, the honourable,

The show of their face, hath answered against them, And their sin - like Sodom, have they told, they have not concealed it. Alas for their souls! For they have requited to themselves, calamity.

Say ye to the righteous It is well! For the fruit of their doings, shall they eat:

My people! children, are their tyrants, And, women, rule over them, - My people! they who should lead thee forward, are causing thee to stray, Thy pathways, have they destroyed,

Because haughty are the daughters of Zion, And they walk with neck thrown back, and wanton eyes, - Tripping along as they go, And with their feet, making, a tinkling sound,

And I will make it a waste; - It shall be neither pruned nor hoed, But there shall come up briars and thorns, - And upon the clouds, will I lay a charge, That they rain thereon no rain.

Alas for them who join house to house, Field to field, bring they near, - Until there is no room, But ye are left to dwell alone in the midst of the land.

Alas, for them who rise early in the morning that strong drink, they may pursue, - Who follow on in the evening cool until with wine, they are heated;

And it cometh to pass - that lyre and harp, timbrel and flute and wine are in their banquets, - But, the doing of Yahweh, they do not discern, And the work of his hands, have they not seen.

Therefore, are my people taken away captive before they know it, - And their honourable mean are famished with hunger, And, their multitude, do gape for thirst.

Then shall the young rams feed where they please, - And, the wastes of the wealthy, shall strangers consume.

Who justify the lawless, for a bribe, - Whereas the righteousness of the righteous, they take from him.

Therefore, As a tongue of fire, eateth up straw, And a flame reduceth, dry grass, to powder, Their root, like rottenness, shall become, And their blossom, like dust shall ascend, - Because they refused the law of Yahweh of hosts, And the utterance of the Holy One of Israel, they despised.

And they continued crying out one to another, and said, Holy - holy - holy, is Yahweh of hosts, - the fulness of the whole earth, is his glory.

Stupefy thou the heart of this people, And their ears, make thou heavy, And their eyes, overspread, - Lest they see with their eyes And with their ears, should hear, And their heart should discern and come back. And they be healed.

And they shall all of them come and settle down - In the desolate torrent-valleys, And in the rents of the crags, - And on all the thorn-bushes, And on all the pastures,

But, when they say unto you - Seek ye unto the necromancers and unto the wizards, who chirp, and who mutter, Should not u people seek, unto its God? In behalf of the living, should it seek unto the dead?

To the law and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, It is , because they have no dawning day.

Therefore shall they pass through it hard pressed and hungry, - And it shall be when they hunger, then will they rage and revile their king and their god and turn their faces upwards;

And unto the land, shall they look hard, And lo! distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, driven away!

Thou hast increased the exultation Thou hast made great the joy, - They joy before thee, according to the joy of harvest, As men exult when they distribute spoil.

Syrians before and Philistines behind, Thus have they devoured Israel with open mouth, - For all this, hath his anger, not turned back, But still, is his hand outstretched.

Yet, the people, have not turned unto him that smote them, - And Yahweh of hosts, have they not sought.

And they who should have led this people forward have been causing them to stray, - And, they who are led of them are destroyed,

For lawlessness, hath consumed like fire, Briars and thorns, doth it devour, - Yea it hath kindled upon the thickets of the forest, And they have rolled up as a column of smoke.

And he hath slain on the right, and yet is hungry, And hath eaten on the left, yet are they not satisfied, - Every one, the flesh of his own arm, will they eat:

Manasseh - Ephraim, and Ephraim - Manasseh, They together - against Judah, - For all this, hath his anger not turned back, But still, is his hand outstretched.

Turning aside from judgment, the poor, And robbing, of justice, the oppressed of my people, - So that, widows, become, their spoil, And of the fatherless, they make prey.

Without me, one hath bowed under a prisoner Yea under the slain, do they fall! For all this, hath his anger, not turned back, But still, is his hand outstretched.

They have passed over the pare, Geba is his halting-place, - Terror-stricken is Ramah, Gibeah of Saul, hath fled!

Behold! the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, is about to lop off a tree-crown, with a crash, - Then shall, they who are lifted on high, be hewn down, And, the lofty, be laid low;

They shall not hurt - nor destroy, in all my holy mountain, - For filled is the land with the knowledge of Yahweh, As the waters, to the sea, form a covering.

But they shall fly on the wing of the Philistines in the west, Together, shall they make prey of the sons of the east, - On Edom and Moab, putting forth their hand, With the sons of Ammon hearkening unto them.

Upon a bare mountain, lift ye up a standard, Raise high the voice to them, Wave the hand, That they may enter the doors of nobles.

They are coming in From a land far away. From the utmost bound of the heavens, - Yahweh - with his weapons of indignation, To destroy the land.

And they shall be in distress - Writhings and pains, shall lay hold, As a woman in childbirth, shall they be in pangs, - Everyone, at his neighbour, shall look in amazement, Faces of flames, their faces!

And it shall be - Like a gazelle that is chased, And like a sheep with none to lift it up, - Each, to his own people, will they turn, And, each, to his own land, will they flee:

Behold me! stirring up against them the Medes, - Who of silver, shall take no account, And as for gold, they shall not delight in it;

And, bows, shall dash the young to pieces, - And on the fruit of the womb, will they have no pity, Over children, will their eye throw no shield.

For Yahweh will have compassion on Jacob, And will yet choose Israel, And will give them rest upon their own soil, - And the sojourner, shall join himself, unto them, And they shall attach themselves unto the house of Jacob;

And peoples shall take them, and bring them into their own place, And the house of Israel shall possess themselves of them upon the soil of Yahweh for servants and for handmaids, - Thus shall they be taking captive their captors, And shall tread down their oppressors.

They who see thee, upon thee, will gaze, Upon thee, will thoughtfully muse, - Is this the man who startled the earth? Who terrified kingdoms?

All the kings of the nations - they all, are lying in state Each one in his crypt;

Prepare - for his sons - shambles. For the iniquity of their fathers, - They shall not rise nor possess the earth, Nor fill the face of the world with cities.

In their streets, have they girded them with sackcloth, - On their housetops, and in their broadways, every one is howling - melting in tears;

Mine own heart, for Moab continueth to make outcry, Her fugitive, as far as Zoar, is like a heifer of three years; For the accent of Luhith, with weeping, they ascend, For by the way of Horonaim - an outcry of destruction, they excite;

For this cause, the savings they had made and that which they had stored, Over the torrent-bed of the willows, shall they bear them.

Let mine own outcasts, sojourn with thee, O Moab, become thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler, - For vanished is the oppressor, At an end is extortion, They who tread down have ceased out of the land.

Therefore shall, Moab, howl for, Moab, All that belong to her, shall wail, - For the ruins of Kir-hareseth, shall they moan out Utterly stricken!

For, the fields of Heshbon are withered - The vine of Sibmah, the owners of nations, have broken off ruddy branches, Unto Jazer, had they reached, They had spread abroad to the desert, - Her boughs, had stretched forth, had gone over to the sea.

Forsaken, are the desolate cities, - For flocks, shall they serve, Which shall lie down and have none to make them afraid.

Then shall the fortress cease from Ephraim, And the kingdom from Damascus and the remnant of Syria, - Like the glory of the sons of Israel, shall they be, - Declareth Yahweh of hosts.

In that day, shall his fortified cities become Like a neglected bough and a topmost branch, Which they neglected because of the sons of Israel, - So shall there be desolation.

In the day when thou plantest, fence thou in, And in the morning, cause thou, they slip, to blossom, - A harvest will have waved in the day of destiny, and mortal pain.

Alas! the booming of many peoples, Like the booming of the seas, shall they boom, - And the rushing of nations! Like the rushing of mighty waters, shall they rush.

They shall be left together. To the ravenous birds, of the mountains, And to the beast of the earth, - Then shall the ravenous bird, summer upon them, And, every beast of the earth, upon them, shall winter.

And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, And they shall fight - Every one against his brother and Every one against his neighbour, - City against city, and Kingdom against kingdom.

And the spirit of Egypt, shall vanish, within them, Yea the sagacity thereof, will I swallow up, - And they will seek Unto the idols and Unto them that mutter, and Unto them that have familiar spirits, and Unto the wizards;

Then shall the fishers, lament, And all shall mourn who cast in the Nile a hook, - And they who spread nets on the face of the waters shall languish;

Doting are the princes of Zoan, Deceived are the princes of Noph: They who are the corner-stone of her tribes, have led Egypt astray.

Yahweh, hath infused in her midst, a spirit of perverseness, - And they have led Egypt astray into all his own doings, As a drunken man staggereth into his own vomit;

And it shall become a sign and a witness unto Yahweh of hosts in the land of Egypt, - For they will make outcry unto Yahweh, because of oppressors, That he would send them a saviour - and a great one Then will he deliver them.

Then will, Yahweh, make himself known, to the Egyptians, So shall the Egyptians know, Yahweh, in that day, - And they will offer a sacrifice and a present And will vow a vow unto Yahweh and will perform.

And Yahweh, will plague Egypt, plague and heal, - And they will turn unto Yahweh And he will be entreated of them and will heal them.

Thus shall they be confounded and turn pale, - For Ethiopia, their expectation, and For Egypt their boast;

For, before swords, have they fled: Before a sword that is drawn, Before a bow that is bent, And before the stress of war.

All thy ruler, having fled, together, by the bow, are taken captive: All found in thee have been taken captive, together, Far away, have they fled.

And the breaches in the city of David, ye beheld for they were many, - So ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool;

And they shall hang upon him all the weight of his fathers house - The offshoots and the side-twigs - All the small vessels, Both the cups and all the jugs

Like the report of Egypt, They shall be in pangs at the like report of Tyre.

Lo! the land of the Chaldeans, This is the people that was not, Assyria, founded it for the inhabitants of the desert, - They set up its siege-towers, They demolished its palaces Made it a ruin!

But her merchandise and her hire, shall be hallowed unto Yahweh, It shall not be stored up, nor hoarded, - For, to them who dwell before Yahweh, shall her merchandise belong, That they may eat to satisfaction And have stately apparel.

Yea the earth itself is profaned under them who dwell therein, - For they have Set aside laws, Gone beyond statute, Broken an age-abiding covenant.

With a song, they drink not wine, - Bitter is strong drink, to them who drink it:

They, shall lift up their voice - shall raise a tremulous note, - On account of the splendour of Yahweh, have they made a shrill cry, on the West;

And they shall be swept together in a crowd, fettered for a pit, And shall be lowered into a dungeon, - And, after many days, shall they be punished.

O Yahweh though thy hand be lifted up, - yet do they not see, Would they might see - and turn pale at a peoples zeal, - Surely, the fire of thine enemies, must consume them!

O Yahweh! in distress, they sought thee, - They poured out a whispered prayer, when thy chastening was upon them.

Thy dead, shall come to life again, My dead body, they shall arise, - Awake and shout for joy, ye that dwell in the dust For, a dew of light, is thy dew, And, earth, to the shades shall give birth.

In coming times, shall Jacob strike root, Israel, shall blossom and bud, - Then shall they fill the face of the world with fruit.

When the cut-off boughs thereof are dry, they shall be broken to pieces, Women, coming, are kindling it! For it is not a people of understanding, For this cause, Will he that made him, not have compassion upon him, And, he that formed him, will shew him no favour.

And it shall come to pass in that day, That there shall be a blowing with a great horn, Then shall come in Such as have wandered in the land of Assyria, And such as have been outcasts in the land of Egypt, - And they shall bow themselves down unto Yahweh In the holy mountain, In Jerusalem.

But as for these, With wine, do they reel, and With strong drink, do they stagger, - Priest and prophet, reel with strong drink They are swallowed up through wine They stagger through strong drink, They reel in prophetic vision, They totter in pronouncing judgment.

To whom he said - This, is the rest - give ye rest to the weary, and This, is the quietness, - But they were unwilling to hear.

So the word of Yahweh must be to them - Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, A little here, a little there, - That they may go and fall backward and be torn and snared and captured.

Stand ye stock still and stare, Besmear your eyes and be blind, - They are drunken but not with wine, They reel, but not with strong drink;

Wherefore My Lord hath said, - Because this people, hath drawn near with their mouth, And with their lips, have honoured me, But their heart, have they moved far from me, And so their reverence of me hath become A commandment of men in which they have been schooled,

Alas! for them who would fain have been too deep for Yahweh by giving secret counsel, - and therefore in the dark, have been their doings, and they have said Who can see us? and - Who can understand us?

For, when he seeth his children the work of my hands, in his midst, They will hallow my Name, - Yea they will hallow the Holy One of Jacob, And the God of Israel, will they regard with awe.

Then will they who erred in spirit comprehend, And the murmurers, accept instruction.