be burned with the fire, and all her idols will I lay desolate: for she gathered it from the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.
8 Therefore I will wail and weep, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls. [1]
9 For her wound is incurable; for it is come to Judah; he is come to the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem. [2]
10 Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust. [3]
11 Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having thy shame naked: the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Bethezel; he shall receive from you his standing. [4] [5] [6] [7]
12 For the inhabitant of Maroth became weak waiting for good: but evil came down from the LORD to the gate of Jerusalem. [8] [9]
13 O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast: she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee. [10]
14 Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moreshethgath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel. [11] [12]
15 Yet will I bring an heir to thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come to Adullam the glory of Israel. [13] [14]
16 Make thee bald, and cut off the hair of thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.
CHAP. 2.
1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. [15]
3 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil.
4 In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a grievous lamentation, and say, We are utterly wasted: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields. [16] [17]
5 Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the LORD.
6 Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame. [18]
7 O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD shortened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly? [19] [20]
8 Even of late my people hath risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse to war. [21] [22]
9 The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever. [23]
10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a grievous destruction.
11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood doth lie, saying, I will prophesy to thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people. [24]
12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.
13 The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and have gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them.
CHAP. 3.
1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from them, and their flesh from off their bones;
3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
4 Then shall they cry to the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
5 Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
6 Therefore night shall be to you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark to you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. [25] [26]
7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God. [27]
8 But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the
- ↑ owls: Heb. daughters of the owl
- ↑ her...: or, she is grievously sick of her wounds
- ↑ Aphrah: that is, Dust
- ↑ thou...: or, thou that dwellest fairly
- ↑ inhabitant: Heb. inhabitress
- ↑ Zaanan: or, The country of flocks
- ↑ Bethezel: or, A place near
- ↑ inhabitant: Heb. inhabitress
- ↑ waited...: or, was grieved
- ↑ inhabitant: Heb. inhabitress
- ↑ to...: or, for Moreshethgath
- ↑ Achzib: that is, A lie
- ↑ inhabitant: Heb. inhabitress
- ↑ he...: or, the glory of Israel shall, etc
- ↑ oppress: or, defraud
- ↑ a doleful...: Heb. a lamentation of lamentations
- ↑ turning...: or, instead of restoring
- ↑ Prophesy ye...: or, Prophesy not as they prophesy: Heb. Drop, etc
- ↑ straitened: or, shortened?
- ↑ uprightly: Heb. upright?
- ↑ of late: Heb. yesterday
- ↑ with the: Heb. over against a
- ↑ women: or, wives
- ↑ walking...: or, walk with the wind, and lie falsely
- ↑ that...: vision: Heb. from a vision
- ↑ that...: divine: Heb. from divining
- ↑ lips: Heb. upper lip
