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.
02 And though they say, The Lord liveth; surely
they swear falsely.
03 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.
04 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.
05 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.
06 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.
07 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.
08 They were as fed horses in the morning: every
one neighed after his neighbour's wife.
09 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.
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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 your's.
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?
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