1 “If you yreturn, O Israel,
declares the Lord,
to me you should return.
If you remove your detestable things from my presence,
and do not waver,
2 and if you zswear, ‘As the Lord lives,’
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then nations shall abless themselves in him,
and in him shall they bglory.”
3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
c“Break up your fallow ground,
and sow not among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;
dremove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
elest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of the evil of your deeds.”
Disaster from the North
5 Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
f“Blow the trumpet through the land;
cry aloud and say,
‘Assemble, and glet us go
into the fortified cities!’
6 Raise a standard toward Zion,
flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring disaster from the hnorth,
and great destruction.
7 A ilion has gone up from his thicket,
a destroyer of nations has set out;
he has gone out from his place
jto make your land a waste;
your cities will be ruins
without inhabitant.
8 For this kput on sackcloth,
lament and wail,
for the fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned back from us.”
9 “In that day, declares the Lord, courage shall fail both lking and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, surely you have utterly mdeceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, n‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life.”
11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot owind from the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, 12 a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who speak in judgment upon them.”
13 Behold, he comes up like clouds;
his chariots plike the whirlwind;
his qhorses are swifter than eagles—
woe to us, for we are ruined!
14 O Jerusalem, rwash your heart from evil,
that you may be saved.
How long shall your wicked thoughts
lodge within you?
15 For a voice declares from Dan
and proclaims trouble from Mount Ephraim.
16 Warn the nations that he is coming;
announce to Jerusalem,
“Besiegers come sfrom a distant land;
they shout against the cities of Judah.
17 Like keepers of a field are they against her all around,
because she has rebelled against me,
declares the Lord.
18 tYour ways and your deeds
have brought this upon you.
This is your doom, and it is ubitter;
it has reached your very heart.”
Anguish over Judah’s Desolation
19 My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
Oh the walls of my heart!
My heart is beating wildly;
I cannot keep silent,
for I hear the sound of the trumpet,
the alarm of war.
20 Crash follows hard on crash;
the whole land is laid waste.
Suddenly my tents are laid waste,
my curtains in a moment.
21 How long must I see the standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “For my people are foolish;
they vknow me not;
they are stupid children;
they have no understanding.
They are ‘wise’—in doing evil!
But how to do good they know not.”
23 I looked on the earth, and behold, it was wwithout form and void;
and to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
and all the hills moved to and fro.
25 I looked, and behold, there was no man,
and all the xbirds of the air had fled.
26 I looked, and behold, the yfruitful land was a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the Lord, before his fierce anger.
27 For thus says the Lord, “The whole land shall be a desolation; zyet I will not make a full end.
28 “For this the earth shall amourn,
and the heavens above be dark;
for I have spoken; I have purposed;
I have not relented, bnor will I turn back.”
29 At the noise of horseman and archer
every city takes to flight;
they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;
all the cities are forsaken,
and no man dwells in them.
30 And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,
that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
that you cenlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
Your lovers despise you;
they seek your life.
31 For I heard a cry das of a woman in labor,
anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,
the cry of the edaughter of Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands,
“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”
Jerusalem Refused to Repent
1 Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
look and take note!
Search her squares to see
if you can find a man,
one who does justice
and seeks truth,
that I may pardon her.
2 Though they say, “As the Lord lives,”
yet they fswear falsely.
3 O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?
You have gstruck them down,
but they felt no anguish;
you have consumed them,
but they refused to htake correction.
They have made their faces harder than rock;
they have refused to repent.
4 Then I said, “These are only the poor;
they have no sense;
for they do not know the way of the Lord,
the ijustice of their God.
5 I will go to the great
and will speak to them,
for they know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.”
But they all alike had broken the yoke;
they had jburst the bonds.
6 Therefore a klion from the forest shall strike them down;
a lwolf from the desert shall devastate them.
A mleopard is watching their cities;
everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,
because their transgressions are many,
their apostasies are great.
7 “How can I pardon you?
Your children have nforsaken me
and have osworn by those who are pno gods.
When I fed them to the full,
they committed adultery
and trooped to the houses of whores.
8 They were well-fed, lusty stallions,
each qneighing for his neighbor’s wife.
9 rShall I not punish them for these things?
declares the Lord;
and shall I not savenge myself
on a nation such as this?
10 “Go up through her tvine rows and destroy,
but umake not a full end;
strip away her branches,
for they are not the Lord’s.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have been utterly vtreacherous to me,
declares the Lord.
12 They have spoken falsely of the Lord
and have said, ‘He will do nothing;
wno disaster will come upon us,
xnor shall we see sword or famine.
13 The prophets will become wind;
the word is not in them.
Thus shall it be done to them!’”
The Lord Proclaims Judgment
14 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts:
“Because you have spoken this word,
behold, yI am making my words in your mouth a fire,
and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.
15 Behold, zI am bringing against you
a nation afrom afar, O house of Israel,
declares the Lord.
It is an enduring nation;
it is an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know,
nor can you understand what they say.
16 Their quiver is like an open tomb;
they are all mighty warriors.
17 They shall beat up your harvest and your food;
they shall eat up your sons and your daughters;
they shall eat up your cflocks and your herds;
they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;
your fortified cities in which you trust
they shall beat down with the sword.”
18 “But even in those days, declares the Lord, I will not make a full end of you. 19 And when your people say, d‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’”
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob;
proclaim it in Judah:
21 “Hear this, O efoolish and senseless people,
fwho have eyes, but see not,
who have ears, but hear not.
22 gDo you not fear me? declares the Lord.
Do you not tremble before me?
hI placed the sand as the boundary for the sea,
a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;
though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
23 But this people has a istubborn jand rebellious heart;
they have turned aside and gone away.
24 They do not say in their hearts,
‘Let us fear the Lord our God,
kwho gives the rain in its season,
the autumn rain and the spring rain,
and keeps for us
the weeks appointed for the harvest.’
25 Your iniquities have turned these away,
and your sins have kept good from you.
26 For wicked men are found among my people;
they lurk like fowlers lying in wait.1
They set a trap;
they catch men.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
their houses are full of deceit;
therefore they have become great and rich;
28 they have lgrown fat and sleek.
They know no bounds in deeds of evil;
they judge not with mjustice
the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,
and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
29 nShall I not punish them for these things?
declares the Lord,
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?”
30 An appalling and ohorrible thing
has happened in the land:
31 the prophets prophesy pfalsely,
and the priests rule at their direction;
my people qlove to have it so,
but what will you do when the end comes?
Tell of All His Wondrous Works
1 sOh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
3 tGlory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord urejoice!
4 Seek the Lord and his strength;
vseek his presence continually!
5 wRemember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
6 O offspring of Abraham, his servant,
children of Jacob, xhis chosen ones!
7 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He yremembers his covenant zforever,
the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
9 athe covenant that he made with Abraham,
bhis sworn promise to Isaac,
10 which he cconfirmed to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 saying, “To you I will give the dland of Canaan
as your portion for an inheritance.”
12 When they were few in number,
of little account, and sojourners in it,
13 wandering from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another people,
14 ehe allowed no one to oppress them;
fhe rebuked kings on their account,
15 saying, g“Touch not my anointed ones,
do my prophets no harm!”
16 When he hsummoned a famine on the land
and broke all supply1 of bread,
17 ihe had sent a man ahead of them,
Joseph, who was jsold as a slave.
18 kHis feet were hurt with fetters;
his neck was put in a collar of iron;
19 luntil what he had said came to pass,
the word of the Lord tested him.
20 mThe king sent and released him;
the ruler of the peoples set him free;
21 nhe made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions,
22 oto bind2 his princes at his pleasure
and to teach his elders wisdom.
23 Then pIsrael came to Egypt;
Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
24 And qthe Lord made his people very fruitful
and made them stronger than their foes.
25 rHe turned their hearts to hate his people,
to deal craftily with his servants.
God’s Righteous Judgment
1 bTherefore you have cno excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For din passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the ejudgment of God rightly falls on fthose who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and gforbearance and hpatience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up iwrath for yourself on the jday of wrath when God’s krighteous judgment will be revealed.
6 He will render to each one laccording to his works: 7 to those who by mpatience nin well-doing oseek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking1 and pdo not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, qthe Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God rshows no partiality.
God’s Judgment and the Law
12 For all who have sinned swithout the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned tunder the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is unot the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse vor even excuse them 16 on that wday when, according to my gospel, xGod judges the secrets of men yby Christ Jesus.
17 But if you call yourself a Jew and zrely aon the law and boast in God 18 and bknow his will and capprove what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a dguide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 eyou then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, fdo you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who gboast in the law dishonor God by hbreaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, i“The name of God is blasphemed jamong the Gentiles because of you.”
25 kFor lcircumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 mSo, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded2 as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically3 uncircumcised but keeps the law will ncondemn you who have the owritten code4 and circumcision but break the law. 28 For pno one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and qcircumcision is a matter of the heart, rby the Spirit, not by the letter. sHis praise is not from man but from God.
