| 1 | Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be {any} that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it. |
| 2 | And though they say, The Lord liveth; surely they swear falsely. |
| 3 | O Lord, {are} not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, {but} they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. |
| 4 | Therefore I said, Surely these {are} poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the Lord, {nor} the judgment of their God. |
| 5 | I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the Lord, {and} the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, {and} burst the bonds. |
| 6 | Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, {and} a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, {and} their backslidings are increased. |
| 7 | How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by {them that are} no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses. |
| 8 | They were {as} fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife. |
| 9 | Shall I not visit for these {things}? saith the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? |
| 10 | Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they {are} not the Lord’s. |
| 11 | For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the Lord. |
| 12 | They have belied the Lord, and said, {It is} not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: |
| 13 | And the prophets shall become wind, and the word {is} not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. |
| 14 | Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. |
| 15 | Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: it {is} a mighty nation, it {is} an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say. |
| 16 | Their quiver {is} as an open sepulchre, they {are} all mighty men. |
| 17 | And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, {which} thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword. |
| 18 | Nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I will not make a full end with you. |
| 19 | And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the Lord our God all these {things} unto us? then shalt thou answer them, like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land {that is} not yours. |
| 20 | Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, |
| 21 | Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: |
| 22 | Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand {for} the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? |
| 23 | But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. |
| 24 | Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. |
| 25 | Your iniquities have turned away these {things}, and your sins have withholden good {things} from you. |
| 26 | For among my people are found wicked {men}: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. |
| 27 | As a cage is full of birds, so {are} their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. |
| 28 | They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. |
| 29 | Shall I not visit for these {things}? saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? |
| 30 | A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; |
| 31 | The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love {to have it} so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? |