6  ^jIn days to come¹ Jacob shall take root,

Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots

and fill the whole world with fruit.

7  ^kHas he struck them ^las he struck those who struck them?

Or have they been slain ^mas their slayers were slain?

8  ⁿMeasure by measure,² by exile you contended with them;

^ohe removed them with his fierce breath³ in the day of the east wind.

9  Therefore by this ^pthe guilt of Jacob will be atoned for,

and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:⁴

^qwhen he makes all the stones of the altars

like chalkstones crushed to pieces,

no ^rAsherim or incense altars will remain standing.

10  ^sFor the fortified city is solitary,

a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness;

there the calf grazes;

there it lies down and strips its branches.

11  When its boughs are dry, they are broken;

women come and make a fire of them.

^tFor this is a people without discernment;

therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them;

he who formed them will show them no favor.

1  Ah, the proud crown of ^ythe drunkards of Ephraim,

and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,

which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine!

2  Behold, the Lord has ^zone who is mighty and strong;

like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest,

like ^aa storm of mighty, overflowing waters,

he casts down to the earth with his hand.

3  ^bThe proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim

will be trodden underfoot;

4  ^cand the fading flower of its glorious beauty,

which is on the head of the rich valley,

will be like ^da first-ripe fig⁶ before the summer:

when someone sees it, he swallows it

as soon as it is in his hand.

5  ^eIn that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory,⁷

and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people,

6  and ^fa spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,

and ^gstrength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

7  ^hThese also reel with wine

and ⁱstagger with strong drink;

the priest and ^jthe prophet reel with strong drink,

they are swallowed by⁸ wine,

they stagger with strong drink,

they reel in vision,

they stumble in giving judgment.

8  For all tables are full of filthy vomit,

with no space left.

9  ^k“To whom will he teach knowledge,

and to whom will he explain the message?

Those who are weaned from the milk,

those taken from the breast?

10  For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,

line upon line, line upon line,

here a little, there a little.”

11  ^lFor by people of strange lips

and with a foreign tongue

the Lord will speak to this people,

12  to whom he has said,

^m“This is rest;

give rest to the weary;

and this is repose”;

yet they would not hear.

13  And the word of the Lord will be to them

precept upon precept, precept upon precept,

line upon line, line upon line,

here a little, there a little,

ⁿthat they may go, and fall backward,

and be broken, and snared, and taken.

“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,

no more shall his face grow pale.

23  For when he sees his children,

^kthe work of my hands, in his midst,

they will sanctify my name;

^lthey will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob

and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.