1
"If you will return, O Israel," declares the LORD, "Then you should return to Me. And if you will putaway your detestedthings from My presence, And will not waver,
2
And you will swear, 'As the LORDlives,' In truth, in justice and in righteousness; Then the nations will bless themselves in Him, And in Him they will glory."
4
"Circumcise yourselves to the LORD And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Orelse My wrath will goforth like fire And burn with none to quench it, Because* of the evil of your deeds."
5
Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say, "Blow the trumpet in the land; Cryaloud and say, 'Assemble yourselves, and let us go Into the fortifiedcities.'
7
"A lion has gone up from his thicket, And a destroyer of nations has set out; He has gone out from his place To make your land a waste. Your cities will be ruinsWithoutinhabitant.
9
"It shall come about in that day," declares the LORD, "that the heart of the king and the heart of the princes will fail; and the priests will be appalled and the prophets will be astounded."
10
Then I said, "Ah, LordGOD! Surely You have utterlydeceivedthispeople and Jerusalem, saying, 'You will havepeace '; whereas a swordtouches the throat."
11
In that time it will be said to thispeople and to Jerusalem, "A scorchingwind from the bareheights in the wilderness in the direction of the daughter of My people -not to winnow and not to cleanse,
19
My soul, my soul! I am in anguish! Oh, my heart! My heart is pounding in me; I cannot be silent, Because you have heard, O my soul, The sound of the trumpet, The alarm of war.
21
Howlong* must I see the standard And hear the sound of the trumpet?
r'pw{v lw{q h'[.m.v,a seN -h,a.r,a y;t'm -d;[
22
"For My people are foolish, They know Me not; They are stupidchildren And havenounderstanding. They are shrewd to doevil, But to dogood they do not know."
28
"For this the earth shall mourn And the heavensabove* be dark, Because* I have spoken, I have purposed, And I will not change My mind, nor will I turn from it."
29
At the sound of the horseman and bowman*everycityflees; They go into the thickets and climb among the rocks; Everycity is forsaken, And nomandwells in them.
30
And you, O desolate one, what will you do? Although you dress in scarlet, Although you decorate yourself with ornaments of gold, Although you enlarge your eyes with paint, In vain you make yourself beautiful. Your loversdespise you; They seek your life.
31
For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor, The anguish as of one givingbirth to her firstchild, The cry of the daughter of Ziongasping for breath, Stretching out her hands, saying, "Ah, woe is me, for I faint before murderers."