| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1"Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, And look now and take note. And seek in her open squares, If you can find a man, If there is one who does justice, who seeks truth, Then I will pardon her. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2"And although they say, 'As the LORD lives,' Surely they swear falsely." |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You have smitten them, But they did not weaken; You have consumed them, But they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4Then I said, "They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the LORD Or the ordinance of their God. |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5"I will go to the great And will speak to them, For they know the way of the LORD And the ordinance of their God." But they too, with one accord, have broken the yoke And burst the bonds. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6Therefore a lion from the forest will slay them, A wolf of the deserts will destroy them, A leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces, Because their transgressions are many, Their apostasies are numerous. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7"Why should I pardon you? Your sons have forsaken Me And sworn by those who are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, They committed adultery And trooped to the harlot's house. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8"They were well-fed lusty horses, Each one neighing after his neighbor's wife. |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9"Shall I not punish these people," declares the LORD, "And on a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself? |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10"Go up through her vine rows and destroy, But do not execute a complete destruction; Strip away her branches, For they are not the LORD'S. |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11"For the house of Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously with Me," declares the LORD. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12They have lied about the LORD And said, "Not He; Misfortune will not come on us, And we will not see sword or famine. |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13"The prophets are as wind, And the word is not in them. Thus it will be done to them!" |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, "Because you have spoken this word, Behold, I am making My words in your mouth fire And this people wood, and it will consume them. |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15"Behold, I am bringing a nation against you 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, Nor can you understand what they say. |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16"Their quiver is like an open grave, All of them are mighty men. |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17"They will devour your harvest and your food; They will devour your sons and your daughters; They will devour your flocks and your herds; They will devour your vines and your fig trees; They will demolish with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust. |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18"Yet even in those days," declares the LORD, "I will not make you a complete destruction. |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19"It shall come about when they say, 'Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' then you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.' |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20"Declare this in the house of Jacob And proclaim it in Judah, saying, |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21'Now hear this, O foolish and senseless people, Who have eyes but do not see; Who have ears but do not hear. |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22'Do you not fear Me?' declares the LORD. 'Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, An eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it. |
| 23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23'But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; They have turned aside and departed. |
| 24[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 24'They do not say in their heart, "Let us now fear the LORD our God, Who gives rain in its season, Both the autumn rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us The appointed weeks of the harvest." |
| 25[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 25'Your iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have withheld good from you. |
| 26[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 26'For wicked men are found among My people, They watch like fowlers lying in wait; They set a trap, They catch men. |
| 27[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 27'Like a cage full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit; Therefore they have become great and rich. |
| 28[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 28'They are fat, they are sleek, They also excel in deeds of wickedness; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the orphan, that they may prosper; And they do not defend the rights of the poor. |
| 29[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 29Shall I not punish these people?' declares the LORD, 'On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself?' |
| 30[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 30"An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land: |
| 31[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 31The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it? |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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