Juda; go and proclaim these words to the north and thou shalt say, Return to me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not set my face against you. For I am merciful, saith the 13 Lord and will not be angry with you forever. Nevertheless acknowledge thine iniquity-that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and opened thy ways for strangers under every shady tree; and hast not hearkened to my voice, saith 14 the Lord. Return, O apostate children, saith the Lord: for I

will exercise dominion over you, and take one of a city and 15 two of a family and bring you to Sion: and I will give you

pastors according to mine own heart, and they shall tend and 16 feed you with knowledge. And when you are multiplied and increased in the land, saith the Lord, in those days they shall no more say, "The ark of the covenant of the Holy Israel." It shall no more come to mind nor be named; nor shall it be 17 covered nor made any more. In those days and at that time

Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered to it. And they shall no more follow 18 the desires of their own wicked heart. In those days the house of Juda shall unite with the house of Israel, and they shall come together from the land of the north and from all those countries, to the land which I put in possession of their fathers. (p) (Whereupon I said, so be it, O Lord.)

19

(J) Because I am to rank thee among children and give thee a choice land-the heritage of God the Supreme Ruler of nations; therefore I said, "Call me Father," and, " From me 20 you shall not turn away." But as a wife dealeth treacherously with her husband, so the house of Israel dealt treacherously 21 with me, saith the Lord. A sound from the lips was heard, of the wailing and supplication of the children of Israel; because they had transgressed in their ways-had forgotten God their 22 Holy One. Return, return, O children, and I will heal your bruises.

23

(c) Behold we will be thy servants for thou art the Lord our God. False indeed have been the hills and the strength of the mountains, but from the Lord our God is the salvation of Is24 rael. This shame consumed the labours of our fathers from our youth-Their flocks and their herds, their sons and their 25 daughters. We lay down in our shame and our dishonour co

vered us; because we sinned against our God-both we and our fathers from our youth to this day; and hearkened not to the voice of the Lord our God.

IV. (J) If Israel will return, saith the Lord; let him return to

me. And if he will remove his abominations from his mouth, 2 and on account of me be filled with holy awe; and swear "As

the Lord liveth" with truth in judgment and justice: then 3 shall the nations bless by him, and by him praise God in Jerusalem. For thus saith the Lord to the men of Juda and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Break up for yourselves fallow grounds 4 and sow not among thorns: be circumcised for your God and circumcise the stubbornness of your hearts, O men of Juda and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath break out like a fire and burn; and there be none to quench it, because of the wickedness of your devices.

5. II. (J) MAKE proclamation in Juda and let it be heard in Jerusalem. Say, Sound the trumpet in the land; raise the screaming cry! Say, Assemble together and let us go into the 6 walled cities! Break up and flee to Sion; make all haste; tarry not: for I am bringing evils from the north and a great de7 struction. A lion has gone up from his den: a destroyer of nations hath begun his march and is come from his place to make this land a desolation; and the cities shall be demolished so as 8 to be uninhabitable. For these things gird on sackcloth; wail

and utter lamentation. Because the wrath of the Lord is not 9 turned away from you, therefore it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord; that the understanding of the king shall be destroyed; and the understanding of the chiefs; and the priests shall be confounded and the prophets amazed.

10

(p) Upon this I said, O Sovereign Lord! hast thou indeed deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, "There shall be peace," when lo! the sword hath reached their very soul?

(J) At that time let it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, there is a spirit of wandering in the wilderness. The way of the daughter of my people is not to purity nor to ho12 liness. A spirit of execution shall come for me and I am now 13 denouncing my judgments on them. Behold he shall come up

14.

15

like a cloud, and his chariots like a whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles.

(p) Alas for us! we are undone! O Jerusalem! wash thy heart from wickedness that thou mayst be saved. How long do ill grounded reasonings for thy troubles remain in thee?

(J) Because the voice of a messenger will come from Dan 16 and distress will be heard from mount Ephraim; Call to mind the nations behold they are come. Proclaim in Jerusalem, "Predatory bands are coming from afar, and have uttered 17 their voice against the cities of Juda." Like men watching a

field they are all around her. Because thou wast not mindful 18 of me saith the Lord, thy ways and thy devices have done these things to thee. It is owing to thy wickedness that they are bitter-that they have reached thy very heart.

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(p) My bowels! my bowels are pained! and every sensation of my heart. My soul throbbeth! my heart is torn. I cannot keep silence; for my soul hath heard the trumpet's sound; 20 the din of war and of distress. It calleth for contrition; for the whole land is in deep distress. My tent is suddenly whelmed 21 in ruin; my curtains are rent to pieces. How long shall I see men fleeing! How long hear the sound of trumpets!

22

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(J) Because the rulers of my people did not know me, they are foolish children and devoid of understanding. They are wise to do evil; but to do good they have no knowledge.

(p) I beheld the earth and lo! a void! Then the heaven; 24 and its lights were gone. I beheld the mountains; and they 25 were trembling, and all the hills were in perturbation. I look

ed; and lo! there was not a man; and all the birds of the air 26 were flown. I beheld; and lo! Karmel was a desert; and all the cities were burned with fire. At the presence of the Lord; and because of his fierce anger, they are utterly destroyed.

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(J) Thus saith the Lord, The whole land shall be a desert; 28 but I will not make a complete end. For these things let the land mourn; and the heaven above be covered with darkness: for I have spoken and I will not change my mind, I have made an assault and will not withdraw from it.

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(p) At the sound of the cavalry and bended bow all the country had fled. They had skulked into caves; and hidden

30

themselves in forests; and upon rocks they had climbed up. Every city was deserted; in them not a man dwelt.

And as for thee what wilt thou do? Though thou clothe thyself with scarlet and deck thyself with ornaments of goldthough thou paint thine eyes with stibium, thy decoration will avail nothing; thy lovers have cast thee off. They will seek 31 thy life. For I have heard a sound as of one in labour-of thy groan, as of one who beareth her first child.

V.

(J) The voice of the daughter of Sion shall be weak : and she shall let her hands hang down.

(p) Wo is me! for my soul fainteth on account of the slain. (J) Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; and look, and inquire, and search in her broad ways. If you can find-if there be a man, who executeth judgment and seeketh 2 truth, I will be merciful to them saith the Lord. They say, "As the Lord liveth." Do they not on this very account swear to falsehoods?

3

(p) O Lord, thine eyes look for faithfulness. Thou hast chastised them but they have not grieved Thou hast consumed them and they would not receive instruction. They have made their faces harder than a rock and refused to return. 4 Then I said, perhaps they are poor, therefore they could not. Because they have not known the way of the Lord and the 5 judgment of God, I will go to the nobles and speak to them. (J) Because these knew the way of the Lord and the judg ment of God, and lo! with one consent, have broken the yoke 6 and burst the bands; therefore a lion from the forest hath smitten them and a wolf hath destroyed them even in their houses, and a leopard hath lain in wait against their cities. Let all who go out from them be hunted down. Because they have multiplied their iniquities-have strengthened themselves in 7 their apostacies; for which of these can I be merciful to thee? Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by things which are no Gods. When I fed them plentifully, they committed 8 adultery, and revelled in the houses of harlots. They became furious wanton steeds; they neighed every one for his neigh9 bour's wife. Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord, and on such a nation as his shall not my soul be avenged? Go

up against her battlements and demolish them: but you must not make a complete destruction; leave her buttresses, for they 11 are the Lord's. Because the house of Israel have broken faith

with me, saith the Lord, and the house of Juda have given the 12 lie to their Lord and said, "These things are not so. Evils will 13 not come upon us; we shall see neither sword nor famine. Our prophets are but wind and the word of the Lord was not in them."

14

Therefore thus saith the Lord Almighty, because you have spoken this word; behold I have made these words of mine for thy mouth, a fire; and this people fuel; and it shall 15 devour them. Behold I am about to bring against you, O

house of Israel, saith the Lord, a nation from afar-a nation 16 the sound of whose tongue thou wilt not understand. They

are all mighty men; and they shall devour your harvest and 17 your bread; and they shall devour your sons and your daughters; and they shall devour your flocks and your herds; and they shall devour your vineyards and fig trees and olive orchards, and smite with the sword your fortified cities, in which 18 you trusted. But it shall come to pass in those days, saith the Lord thy God, That I will not make an entire end of you. 19 Now when you say, "Why hath the Lord our God done all

this to us?" then thou shalt say to them, Because you served strange Gods in your land, therefore you shall serve strange 20 Gods in a land which is not yours. Proclaim these things to the house of Jacob and let them be published to the house of Juda.

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(p) Hear these things I beseech you, O foolish and stu -pid people!

(J) They have eyes, but they do not see; ears they have, 22 but they do not hear. Will you not fear me, saith the Lord, nor be struck with awe at the presence of me who have by an everlasting decree, made sand a boundary to the ocean, so that it shall not pass it. Though it be tossed with a tempest, it shall not prevail-though the waves thereof roar, they shall not 23 overpass it. But this people have a revolting and disobedient

heart. They have turned aside and are gone: and did not say 24 in their heart, let us now fear the Lord our God, who giveth