8 For this gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament and wail: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
10 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; though the sword reacheth to the soul.
11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,
12 Even a full wind from those places shall come to me: now also will I give sentence against them. [1] [2]
13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! for we are laid waste.
14 O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and proclaimeth affliction from mount Ephraim.
16 Make ye mention to the nations; behold, proclaim against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.
17 As keepers of a field, they are against her on all sides; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.
18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these things to thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth to thy heart.
19 My heart, my heart! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. [3]
20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is laid waste: suddenly are my tents ruined, and my curtains in a moment.
21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 For my people are foolish, they have not known me; they are silly children, and they have no understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the fowls of the heavens had fled.
26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell in it.
30 And when thou art laid waste, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou enlarge thy eyes with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life. [4]
31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.
CHAP. 5.
Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in her broad places, if ye can find a man, if there is 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 thy 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 go to the great men, and will speak to 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 Therefore a lion from 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 from there shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased. [5] [6]
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, then they 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 punish for these things ?
