No One Is Just

1Loke through Hierusalem, beholde and see, seeke through her streetes also within, yf ye can fynde one man that doth equall and ryght, or seketh for the trueth, and I shall spare that citie, saith the Lorde.

2For though they can say, the Lorde lyueth: yet they sweare to deceaue.

3Wheras thou (O Lorde) lokest only vpon faith and trueth: Thou hast scourged them, but they toke no repentaunce, thou hast corrected them for amendement, but they refused thy correction, they made their faces harder then a stone, and woulde not amende.

4Therfore I thought in my selfe: peraduenture they are so simple & foolishe that they vnderstande nothyng of the Lordes way, and iudgementes of their God.

5Therfore will I go vnto their heades and rulers, and talke with them, if they knowe the way of the Lord, and iudgementes of their God: But these in lyke maner haue broken the yoke, and burst the bondes in sunder.

6Wherfore a lion out of the wood hath hurt them, and a woolfe in the euenyng shall destroy them, the Leoparde doth lye lurkyng by their cities, to teare in peeces all them that come therout: for their offences are multiplied, and their departyng away is encreased.

7Shoulde I then for all this haue mercie vpon thee? Thy children haue forsaken me, and sworne by them that are no gods: and albeit that I fed them to the full, yet they fall to adulterie, and haunt harlottes houses.

8In the desire of vncleanly lust they are become lyke the stoned horse, euery man neyeth at his neighbours wife.

9Shoulde I not correct this, saith the Lorde? shoulde I not be auenged of euery people that is lyke vnto this?

10Climbe vp vpon their walles, beate them downe, and destroy them not vtterly: take away their battlementes, because they are not the lordes.

11For vnfaithfully hath the house of Israel and Iuda forsaken me, saith the Lorde.

12They haue denied the Lorde and sayde, It is not he that loketh vpon vs tushe, there shall no misfortune come vpon vs, we shall see neither sworde nor hunger.

13As for the warning of the prophetes, it is but wynde, yea there is not the worde of God in them: such thynges shall happen vnto them selues.

Judgment Proclaimed

14Wherfore thus saith the Lorde God of hoastes, Because ye speake such wordes, beholde, the wordes that are in thy mouth wyll I turne to fire, and make the people to be wood, that the fire may consume them.

15Lo, I wyll bryng a people vpon you from farre, O house of Israel, saith the Lorde, a mightie people, an olde people, a people whose speache thou knowest not, neither vnderstandest what they say.

16Their arrowes are sodayne death, yea they them selues be very giauntes.

17This people shall eate vp thy fruite and thy meate, yea they shall deuour thy sonnes & thy daughters, thy sheepe and thy bullockes, they shall eate vp thy grapes and figges: As for thy strong and well defensed cities wherin thou didst trust, they shall bryng to pouertie, and that through the sworde.

18Neuerthelesse, I wyll not then haue done with you, saith the Lorde. 19But if they say, wherfore doth the Lorde our God all this vnto vs? Then aunswere them: because that lyke as ye haue forsaken me, & serued straunge gods in your lande, euen so shal ye serue straungers out of your lande.

20Preach this vnto the house of Iacob, and crye it out in Iuda, and say thus:

21Heare this thou foolishe and vndiscreete people, ye haue eyes but ye see not, eares haue ye but ye heare not.

22Feare ye not me, saith the Lorde? will ye not tremble at my presence? which bynde the sea with the sande by a continuall decree, so that it can not passe his boundes: for though it rage, yet can it do nothing, and though the waues therof do swell, yet may they not go ouer.

23But this people hath a false and obstinate heart, they are departed and gone away fro me.

24They thinke not in their heartes, O let vs feare the Lord our God, who geueth vs raine early and late when nede is, whiche kepeth euer still the haruest for vs yerely.

25Neuerthesse, your misdeedes haue turned these from you, and your sinnes haue robbed you of good thinges.

26For among my people are found wicked persons, that priuily lay snares and wayte for men, to take them and destroy them.

27And like as a nette is full of byrdes, so are their houses full of that which they haue gotten with falshood and deceipt: Hereof commeth their great substaunce and riches,

28Hereof are they fat and welthy, and are more mischieuous then any other: they minister not the lawe, they make no ende of the fatherlesse cause, yea and they prosper: yet they iudge not the poore according to equitie.

29Should I not punishe these thinges saith the Lorde? should not I be auenged of all suche people as these be?

30Horrible and greeuous thinges are done in the lande.

31The prophetes teache falsely, and the preachers receaue giftes, and my people hath pleasure therein: what wyll come thereof at the last.