31FOR A SOUND LIKE A SICK [WOMAN] I HAVE HEARD DISTRESS LIKE A [WOMAN] BEARING A FIRST CHILD [THE] SOUND OF [THE] DAUGHTER OF ZION SHE IS GASPING FOR BREATH SHE IS SPREADING OUT HANDS HER WOE! PLEASE TO <THE> ME FOR IT IS WEARY SELF MY TO MURDERERS 31For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child— the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands to say, “Woe is me for my soul faints before the murderers!”
1ROVE ABOUT IN [THE] STREETS OF JERUSALEM AND SEE PLEASE AND OBSERVE AND SEARCH IN OPEN PLACES ITS IF YOU WILL FIND A PERSON IF THERE [IS ONE WHO] DOES JUSTICE [ONE WHO] SEEKS FAITHFULNESS SO I MAY FORGIVE <TO> <THE> IT No One Is Just 1“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.
2AND THOUGH [BY] [THE] LIFE OF YAHWEH PEOPLE SAY <TO> THEREFORE TO <THE> FALSEHOOD THEY ARE SWEARING OATHS 2Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are swearing falsely
3O YAHWEH [ARE] EYES YOUR ¿ NOT TO FAITHFULNESS YOU STRUCK <OBJ.> THEM AND NOT THEY WRITHED YOU BROUGHT TO AN END THEM THEY REFUSED TO ACCEPT CORRECTION THEY MADE STRONG FACES THEIR MORE THAN ROCK THEY REFUSED TO RETURN 3O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
4AND I I SAID ONLY [ARE] POOR [PEOPLE] THEY THEY HAVE ACTED FOOLISHLY FOR NOT THEY KNOW [THE] WAY OF YAHWEH [THE] ORDINANCE OF GOD THEIR 4Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.
5I WILL GO FOR <THE> MYSELF TO THE GREAT AND I WILL SPEAK <OBJ.> THEM FOR THEY THEY KNOW [THE] WAY OF YAHWEH [THE] ORDINANCE OF GOD THEIR NEVERTHELESS THEY ALIKE THEY HAD BROKEN OFF A YOKE THEY HAD TORN OFF FETTERS 5I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.” But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains.
6THERE- -FORE IT WILL ATTACK THEM A LION FROM A FOREST A WOLF OF DESERT PLAINS IT WILL DEVASTATE THEM A LEOPARD [WILL BE] WATCHING OVER CITIES THEIR EVERY <THE> [ONE WHO] GOES OUT FROM THEM HE WILL BE TORN IN PIECES FOR THEY ARE MANY TRANSGRESSIONS THEIR THEY ARE NUMEROUS APOSTASIES THEIR 6Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous.
7WHERE? FOR THIS WILL I FORGIVE <TO> <THE> YOU CHILDREN YOUR THEY HAVE FORSAKEN ME AND THEY HAVE SWORN BY NOT GODS AND I SATISFIED <OBJ.> THEM AND THEY COMMITTED ADULTERY AND [THE] HOUSE OF A PROSTITUTE THEY CUT THEMSELVES 7“Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes.
8HORSES WELL FED LUSTFUL THEY ARE EVERYONE TO [THE] WIFE OF NEIGHBOR HIS THEY NEIGH 8They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife.
9¿ ON THESE [THINGS] NOT WILL I PUNISH [THE] UTTERANCE OF YAHWEH AND OR? ON A NATION WHICH [IS] LIKE THIS [ONE] NOT WILL IT AVENGE ITSELF SELF MY 9Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
10GO UP AMONG VINE ROWS ITS AND DESTROY [THEM] AND COMPLETE DESTRUCTION MAY NOT YOU MAKE REMOVE VINE TENDRILS ITS FOR NOT [BELONG] TO YAHWEH THEY 10Go up through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not finish them off. Strip off her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD.
11FOR CERTAINLY <TO DEAL TREACHEROUSLY> THEY HAVE DEALT TREACHEROUSLY WITH <THE> ME [THE] HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND [THE] HOUSE OF JUDAH [THE] UTTERANCE OF YAHWEH 11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to Me,” declares the LORD.
12THEY HAVE DENIED <IN> YAHWEH AND THEY HAVE SAID NOT HE AND NOT IT WILL COME ON US HARM AND SWORD AND FAMINE NOT WE WILL SEE 12They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.
13AND THE PROPHETS THEY WILL BECOME <INTO> WIND AND THE WORD NOT [IS] IN <THE> THEM THUS LET IT BE DONE TO <THE> THEM 13The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.*NoteCloseLiterally let this befall them. ”
14<TO> THEREFORE THUS HE SAYS YAHWEH [THE] GOD OF HOSTS BECAUSE HAVE SPOKEN YOU <OBJ.> THE WORD <THE> THIS HERE I [AM] ABOUT TO MAKE WORDS MY IN MOUTH YOUR INTO A FIRE AND THE PEOPLE <THE> THIS WOOD<S> AND IT WILL CONSUME THEM Judgment Proclaimed 14Therefore this is what the LORD God of Hosts says: “Because you have spoken this word, I will make My words a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes.
15HERE I [AM] ABOUT TO BRING ON YOU A NATION FROM A DISTANCE O HOUSE OF ISRAEL [THE] UTTERANCE OF YAHWEH [IS] A NATION ENDURING IT [IS] A NATION FROM LONG AGO IT A NATION [WHICH] NOT YOU KNOW LANGUAGE ITS AND NOT YOU HEAR WHAT? DOES IT SAY 15Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand.
16QUIVER ITS [IS] LIKE A GRAVE OPEN ALL OF THEM [ARE] WARRIORS 16Their quivers are like open graves; they are all mighty men.
17AND IT WILL DEVOUR HARVEST YOUR AND FOOD YOUR THEY WILL DEVOUR SONS YOUR AND DAUGHTERS YOUR IT WILL DEVOUR FLOCK[S] YOUR AND HERD[S] YOUR IT WILL DEVOUR VINE[S] YOUR AND FIG TREE[S] YOUR IT WILL SHATTER [THE] CITIES OF FORTIFICATIONS YOUR WHICH YOU [ARE] TRUSTING IN THEM WITH THE SWORD 17They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust
18AND ALSO IN THE DAYS <THE> THOSE [THE] UTTERANCE OF YAHWEH NOT I WILL MAKE WITH YOU COMPLETE DESTRUCTION 18“Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you.
19AND IT WILL BE THAT YOU WILL SAY FOR WHAT? DID HE DO YAHWEH GOD OUR TO <THE> US <OBJ.> ALL THESE [THINGS] AND YOU WILL SAY TO THEM JUST AS YOU FORSOOK <OBJ.> ME AND YOU SERVED GODS OF FOREIGNNESS IN OWN LAND YOUR SO YOU WILL SERVE STRANGERS IN A LAND [WHICH] NOT [BELONGS] TO <THE> YOU 19And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’”
20DECLARE THIS IN [THE] HOUSE OF JACOB AND PROCLAIM IT IN JUDAH <TO> SAYING 20Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah:
21HEAR PLEASE THIS O PEOPLE FOOL AND THERE NOT [IS] A HEART EYES [BELONG] TO <THE> THEM AND NOT THEY SEE EARS [BELONG] TO <THE> THEM AND NOT THEY HEAR 21“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
22¿ <OBJ.> ME NOT DO YOU FEAR [THE] UTTERANCE OF YAHWEH OR? FROM BEFORE ME NOT DO YOU TREMBLE WHO I APPOINTED [THE] SAND A BOUNDARY FOR THE SEA A DECREE OF PERPETUITY AND NOT IT WILL PASS OVER IT AND THEY SHOOK BACK AND FORTH AND NOT THEY WILL PREVAIL AND THEY ROAR WAVES ITS AND NOT THEY WILL PASS OVER IT 22Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.
23AND TO THE PEOPLE <THE> THIS IT BELONGS A HEART STUBBORN AND REBELLIOUS THEY HAVE TURNED ASIDE AND THEY HAVE GONE AWAY 23But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away.
24AND NOT THEY SAID IN HEART THEIR LET US FEAR PLEASE <OBJ.> YAHWEH GOD OUR WHO GIVES RAIN AUTUMN RAIN AND SPRING RAIN AT APPROPRIATE TIME ITS [THE] WEEKS OF [THE] APPOINTMENTS OF HARVEST HE KEEPS FOR <THE> US 24They have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’
25INIQUITIES YOUR THEY HAVE TURNED ASIDE THESE [THINGS] AND SINS YOUR THEY HAVE WITHHELD <THE> GOOD FROM <THE> YOU 25Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty.
26FOR THEY ARE FOUND AMONG PEOPLE MY WICKED [PEOPLE] HE WATCHES AS BEND FOWLERS THEY SET A DESTROYER PEOPLE THEY CATCH 26For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men.
27LIKE A CAGE FULL BIRD[S] SO HOUSES THEIR [ARE] FULL DECEIT THERE- -FORE THEY HAVE BECOME GREAT AND THEY HAVE GAINED RICHES 27Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich.
28THEY HAVE BECOME FAT THEY HAVE BECOME SMOOTH ALSO THEY HAVE TRANSGRESSED MATTERS OF EVIL A CAUSE NOT THEY HAVE PLEADED [THE] CAUSE OF [THE] FATHERLESS SO THEY MAY HAVE SUCCESS AND [THE] JUSTICE OF NEEDY [PEOPLE] NOT THEY HAVE JUDGED 28They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.
29¿ ON THESE [THINGS] NOT WILL I PUNISH [THE] UTTERANCE OF YAHWEH OR? ON A NATION WHICH [IS] LIKE THIS [ONE] NOT WILL IT AVENGE ITSELF SELF MY 29Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
30AN ATROCIOUS EVENT AND A HORRIBLE [THING] IT HAS OCCURRED IN THE LAND 30A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land.
31THE PROPHETS THEY HAVE PROPHESIED WITH <THE> FALSEHOOD AND THE PRIESTS THEY ARE RULING ON HANDS THEIR AND PEOPLE MY THEY HAVE LOVED THUS AND WHAT? WILL YOU DO TO END ITS 31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end? [’’]