1  “If you return, O Israel,

declares the Lord,

^xto me you should return.

If you remove your detestable things from my presence,

^yand do not waver,

2  ^zand if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’

in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,

then ^anations shall bless themselves in him,

^band in him shall they glory.”

^c“Break up your fallow ground,

and ^dsow not among thorns.

4  ^eCircumcise yourselves to the Lord;

remove the foreskin of your hearts,

O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;

^flest my wrath go forth like fire,

and burn with none to quench it,

^gbecause of the evil of your deeds.”

^h“Blow the trumpet through the land;

cry aloud and say,

ⁱ‘Assemble, and let us go

into the fortified cities!’

6  ^jRaise a standard toward Zion,

flee for safety, stay not,

for I bring disaster from ^kthe north,

^land great destruction.

7  ^mA lion has gone up from his thicket,

a destroyer of nations has set out;

he has gone out from his place

to make your land a waste;

your cities will be ruins

ⁿwithout inhabitant.

8  For this ^oput on sackcloth,

lament and wail,

for ^pthe fierce anger of the Lord

has not turned back from us.”

13  Behold, he comes up like clouds;

^uhis chariots like the whirlwind;

his horses are ^vswifter than eagles—

woe to us, ^wfor we are ruined!

14  O Jerusalem, ^xwash your heart from evil,

that you may be saved.

How long shall your wicked thoughts

lodge within you?

15  For a voice ^ydeclares from Dan

and proclaims trouble from ^zMount Ephraim.

16  Warn the nations that he is coming;

announce to Jerusalem,

“Besiegers come ^afrom a distant land;

they shout against the cities of Judah.

17  Like keepers of a field ^bare they against her all around,

because she has rebelled against me,

declares the Lord.

18  Your ways and your deeds

have brought this upon you.

This is your doom, and ^cit is bitter;

it has reached your very heart.”

19  ^dMy 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  ^eCrash follows hard on crash;

the whole land is laid waste.

^fSuddenly 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 ^gmy people are foolish;

they know me not;

they are stupid children;

they have no understanding.

^hThey are ‘wise’—in doing evil!

But how to do good they know not.”

23  I looked on the earth, and behold, it was ⁱwithout form and void;

^jand to the heavens, and they had no light.

24  I looked on ^kthe mountains, and behold, they were quaking,

and all the hills moved to and fro.

25  ^lI looked, and behold, there was no man,

and all the birds of the air had fled.

26  I looked, and behold, the ^mfruitful land was a desert,

and all its cities were laid in ruins

before the Lord, before ⁿhis fierce anger.

28  ^p“For this the earth shall mourn,

^qand the heavens above be dark;

for I have spoken; I have purposed;

^rI have not relented, nor 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 ^sno man dwells in them.

30  And you, O desolate one,

what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,

^tthat you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,

^uthat you enlarge your eyes with paint?

In vain you beautify yourself.

^vYour lovers despise you;

they seek your life.

31  For I heard ^wa cry as of a woman in labor,

anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,

the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath,

^xstretching out her hands,

“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”

1  ^yRun to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,

look and take note!

Search her squares to see

^zif you can find a man,

one who does justice

and seeks truth,

^athat I may pardon her.

2  ^bThough they say, “As the Lord lives,”

^cyet they swear falsely.

3  O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?

^dYou have struck them down,

but they felt no anguish;

you have consumed them,

but they refused to take correction.

^eThey 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;

^ffor they do not know the way of the Lord,

the justice 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.”

^gBut they all alike had broken the yoke;

they had burst the bonds.

6  Therefore ^ha lion from the forest shall strike them down;

a ⁱwolf from the desert shall devastate them.

^jA leopard is watching their cities;

everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,

because their transgressions are many,

their ^kapostasies are great.

7  ^l“How can I pardon you?

Your children have forsaken me

^mand have sworn by those who are no gods.

ⁿWhen I fed them to the full,

^othey committed adultery

^pand trooped to the houses of whores.

8  They were well-fed, lusty stallions,

^qeach neighing ^rfor his neighbor’s wife.

9  ^sShall I not punish them for these things?

declares the Lord;

and shall I not avenge myself

on a nation such as this?

10  ^t“Go up through her vine rows and destroy,

^ubut make not a full end;

strip away her branches,

for they are not the Lord’s.

11  ^vFor the house of Israel and the house of Judah

have been utterly treacherous 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!’”

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 ^za fire,

and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.

15  ^aBehold, I am bringing against you

a nation from 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,

^bnor can you understand what they say.

16  ^cTheir quiver is like ^dan open tomb;

they are all mighty warriors.

17  ^eThey shall eat up your harvest and your food;

they shall eat up your sons and your daughters;

they shall eat up your flocks and your herds;

they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;

your ^ffortified cities in which you trust

they shall beat down with the sword.”

20  Declare this in the house of Jacob;

proclaim it in Judah:

21  “Hear this, ⁱO foolish and senseless people,

^jwho have eyes, but see not,

who have ears, but hear not.

22  ^kDo you not fear me? declares the Lord.

Do you not tremble before me?

I placed the sand ^las the boundary for the sea,

a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;

though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;

though ^mthey roar, they cannot pass over it.

23  ⁿBut this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;

they have turned aside and gone away.

24  They do not say in their hearts,

‘Let us fear the Lord our God,

^owho gives the rain in its season,

the autumn rain and the spring rain,

and keeps for us

^pthe weeks appointed for the harvest.’

25  ^qYour iniquities have turned these away,

and your sins have kept good from you.

26  For wicked men are found among my people;

^rthey lurk like fowlers lying in wait.¹

^sThey 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  ^tthey have grown fat and sleek.

They know no bounds in deeds of evil;

^uthey judge not with justice

the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,

and they do not defend the rights of the needy.

29  ^vShall 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 ^whorrible thing

has happened in the land:

31  ^xthe prophets prophesy falsely,

and the priests rule at their direction;

^ymy people love to have it so,

but what will you do when the end comes?

1  Flee for safety, ^zO people of Benjamin,

from the midst of Jerusalem!

Blow the trumpet in ^aTekoa,

and raise a signal on ^bBeth-haccherem,

for disaster looms ^cout of the north,

and great destruction.

2  The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy,

^dthe daughter of Zion.²

3  ^eShepherds with their flocks shall come against her;

^fthey shall pitch their tents around her;

they shall pasture, each in his place.

4  ^g“Prepare war against her;

arise, and let us attack ^hat noon!

Woe to us, for the day declines,

for the shadows of evening lengthen!

5  Arise, and let us attack by night

and destroy her palaces!”

6  For thus says the Lord of hosts:

ⁱ“Cut down her trees;

^jcast up a siege mound against Jerusalem.

This is the city that must be ^kpunished;

there is nothing but oppression within her.

7  ^lAs a well keeps its water fresh,

so she keeps fresh her evil;

^mviolence and destruction are heard within her;

sickness and wounds are ever before me.

8  Be warned, O Jerusalem,

ⁿlest I turn from you in disgust,

lest I make you ^oa desolation,

an uninhabited land.”

9  Thus says the Lord of hosts:

^p“They shall glean thoroughly as a vine

the remnant of Israel;

like a grape gatherer pass your hand again

over its branches.”

10  ^qTo whom shall I speak and give warning,

that they may hear?

^rBehold, their ears are uncircumcised,

^sthey cannot listen;

behold, ^tthe word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn;

they take no pleasure in it.

11  Therefore I am full of the wrath of the Lord;

^uI am weary of holding it in.

^v“Pour it out upon the children in the street,

and upon the gatherings of young men, also;

^wboth husband and wife ^xshall be taken,

the elderly and the very aged.

12  ^yTheir houses shall be turned over to others,

their fields and wives together,

for I will stretch out my hand

against the inhabitants of the land,”

declares the Lord.

13  ^z“For from the least to the greatest of them,

everyone ^ais greedy for unjust gain;

and from ^bprophet to priest,

everyone deals falsely.

14  They have healed the wound of my people lightly,

saying, ^c‘Peace, peace,’

^dwhen there is no peace.

15  ^eWere they ashamed when they committed abomination?

No, they were not at all ashamed;

they did not know how to blush.

Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;

^fat the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,”

says the Lord.

16  Thus says the Lord:

“Stand by the roads, and look,

and ask for ^gthe ancient paths,

where the good way is; and walk in it,

^hand find rest for your souls.

But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

17  ⁱI set watchmen over you, saying,

‘Pay attention to ^jthe sound of the trumpet!’

But they said, ^k‘We will not pay attention.’

18  Therefore hear, O nations,

and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.

19  Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,

^lthe fruit of their devices,

because they have not paid attention to my words;

and as for my law, they have rejected it.

20  ^mWhat use to me is ⁿfrankincense that comes from ^oSheba,

or sweet cane from a distant land?

^pYour burnt offerings are not acceptable,

nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.

21  Therefore thus says the Lord:

^q‘Behold, I will lay before this people

stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;

fathers and sons together,

neighbor and friend shall perish.’”

22  Thus says the Lord:

^r“Behold, a people is coming ^sfrom the north country,

a great nation is stirring from ^tthe farthest parts of the earth.

23  They lay hold on bow and javelin;

they are ^ucruel and have no mercy;

^vthe sound of them is like the roaring sea;

they ride on horses,

set in array as a man for battle,

against you, O daughter of Zion!”

24  We have heard the report of it;

^wour hands fall helpless;

anguish has taken hold of us,

^xpain as of a woman in labor.

25  Go not out into the field,

nor walk on the road,

for the enemy has a sword;

^yterror is on every side.

26  O daughter of my people, ^zput on sackcloth,

and ^aroll in ashes;

^bmake mourning as for an only son,

most bitter lamentation,

for suddenly the destroyer

will come upon us.

27  “I have made you ^ca tester of metals among my people,

that you may know and ^dtest their ways.

28  ^eThey are all stubbornly rebellious,

^fgoing about with slanders;

they are ^gbronze and iron;

all of them act corruptly.

29  The ^gbellows blow fiercely;

the lead is consumed by the fire;

^hin vain the refining goes on,

for the wicked are not removed.

30  ⁱRejected silver they are called,

for the Lord has rejected them.”

1  ^eThe wisest of women ^fbuilds her house,

but folly with her own hands ^gtears it down.

2  Whoever ^hwalks in uprightness fears the Lord,

but he who is ⁱdevious in his ways despises him.

3  By the mouth of a fool comes ^ja rod for his back,¹

^kbut the lips of the wise will preserve them.

4  Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,

but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.

5  ^lA faithful witness does not lie,

but ^ma false witness breathes out lies.

6  ⁿA scoffer seeks wisdom ^oin vain,

but ^pknowledge is easy for a man of understanding.

7  Leave the presence of a fool,

for there you do not meet words of knowledge.

8  The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way,

but the folly of fools is deceiving.

9  ^qFools mock at the guilt offering,

but the upright enjoy acceptance.²

10  The heart knows its own ^rbitterness,

and no stranger shares its joy.

11  ^sThe house of the wicked will be destroyed,

but the tent of the upright will flourish.

12  ^tThere is a way that seems right to a man,

but ^uits end is the way to death.³

13  Even in laughter the heart may ache,

and ^vthe end of joy may be ^wgrief.

14  The backslider in heart will be ^xfilled with the fruit of his ways,

and ^ya good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.

15  ^zThe simple believes everything,

but the prudent gives thought to his steps.

16  ^aOne who is wise is cautious⁴ and ^bturns away from evil,

but a fool is reckless and careless.

17  A man of ^cquick temper acts foolishly,

and a man of evil devices is hated.

18  The simple inherit folly,

but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

19  ^dThe evil bow down before the good,

the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

20  ^eThe poor is disliked even by his neighbor,

^fbut the rich has many friends.

21  Whoever ^gdespises his neighbor is a sinner,

but ^hblessed is he who is generous to the poor.

22  Do they not go astray who ⁱdevise evil?

Those who devise good meet^{5 j}steadfast love and faithfulness.

23  In all toil there is profit,

but mere talk ^ktends only to poverty.

24  The crown of the wise is their wealth,

but the folly of fools brings folly.

25  A truthful witness saves lives,

but one who ^lbreathes out lies is deceitful.

26  In the fear of the Lord one has ^mstrong confidence,

and ⁿhis children will have ^oa refuge.

27  The fear of the Lord is ^pa fountain of life,

that one may ^qturn away from the snares of death.

28  In ^ra multitude of people is the glory of a king,

but without people a prince is ruined.

29  Whoever is ^sslow to anger has great understanding,

but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.

30  A tranquil⁶ heart gives ^tlife to the flesh,

but ^uenvy⁷ makes ^vthe bones rot.

31  Whoever oppresses a poor man ^winsults his ^xMaker,

^ybut he who is generous to the needy honors him.

32  ^zThe wicked is overthrown through his evildoing,

but ^athe righteous finds refuge in his death.

33  Wisdom ^brests in the heart of a man of understanding,

but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.⁸

34  Righteousness exalts a nation,

but sin is a reproach to any people.

35  A servant who deals wisely has ^cthe king’s favor,

but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.