The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
King James Version KJV
1 "Isra'el, if you will return," says ADONAI, "yes, return to me; and if you will banish your abominations from my presence without wandering astray again;
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If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.
2 and if you will swear, 'As ADONAI lives,' in truth, justice and righteousness; then the nations will bless themselves by him, and in him will they glory."
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And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
3 For here is what ADONAI says to the people of Y'hudah and Yerushalayim: "Break up your ground that hasn't been plowed, and do not sow among thorns."
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For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
4 "People of Y'hudah and inhabitants of Yerushalayim, circumcise yourselves for ADONAI, remove the foreskins of your heart! Otherwise my fury will lash out like fire, burning so hot that no one can quench it, because of how evil your actions are.
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Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
5 "Announce in Y'hudah, proclaim in Yerushalayim; say: 'Blow the shofar in the land!' Shout the message aloud: 'Assemble! Let us go to the fortified cities!'
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Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.
6 Set up a signal toward Tziyon, head for cover without delay. For I will bring disaster from the north, yes, dire destruction.
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Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
7 A lion has risen from his lair, a destroyer of nations has set out, left his own place to ruin your land, to demolish and depopulate your cities."
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The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
8 So wrap yourselves in sackcloth, lament and wail, for ADONAI's fierce anger has not turned away from us.
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For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
9 "When that day comes," says ADONAI, "the king's heart will fail him, likewise the princes'; the cohanim will be appalled and the prophets stupefied."
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And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
10 Then I said, "Oh, Adonai ELOHIM! Surely you have sadly deceived this people and Yerushalayim by saying, 'You will have peace,' when the sword is at our very throats!"
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Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.
11 "At that time it will be said of this people and of Yerushalayim: 'A scorching wind from the desert heights is sweeping down on my people.' It is not coming to winnow or cleanse;
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At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,
12 this wind of mine is too strong for that. Now I will pass sentence on them."
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Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.
13 Here he comes, like the clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind, his horses faster than eagles! Woe to us, we are doomed!
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Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.
14 Wash the evil from your heart, Yerushalayim, so that you can be saved. How long will you harbor within yourselves your evil thoughts?
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O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
15 For a voice is announcing the news from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Efrayim:
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For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.
16 "Report it to the nations, proclaim about Yerushalayim: '[Enemies] are coming from a distant country, watching and shouting their war cry against the cities of Y'hudah.'
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Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.
17 Like guards in a field they surround her, because she has rebelled against me," says ADONAI.
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As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.
18 "Your own ways and your actions have brought these things on yourselves. This is your wickedness, so bitter! It has reached your very heart."
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Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.
19 My guts! My guts! I'm writhing in pain! My heart! It beats wildly - I can't stay still! - because I have heard the shofar sound; it's the call to war.
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My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
20 The news is disaster after disaster! All the land is ruined! My tents are suddenly destroyed, my tent curtains in an instant.
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Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.
21 How long must I see that signal and hear the shofar sound?
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How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 "It is because my people are foolish - they do not know me; they are stupid children, without understanding, wise when doing evil; but they don't know how to do good."
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For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
23 I looked at the land - it was unformed and void - and at the sky - it had no light.
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I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I looked at the mountains, and they shook - all the hills moved back and forth.
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I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
25 I looked, and there was no human being; all the birds in the air had fled.
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I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
26 I looked, and the fertile fields were a desert, all the land's cities were razed to the ground at the presence of ADONAI, before his burning anger.
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I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
27 For here is what ADONAI says: "The whole land will be desolate (although I will not destroy it completely).
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For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
28 Because of this, the land will mourn and the sky above be black; for I have spoken, I have decided, I will not change my mind, I will not turn back."
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For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
29 At the noise of the horsemen and archers, the entire city flees - some plunge into thickets; others climb rocks; all cities are deserted; no one lives there.
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The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
30 And you, who are doomed to be plundered, what do you mean by putting on crimson, decking yourselves with jewels and gold, enlarging your eyes with eye make-up? You beautify yourself in vain - your lovers despise you, they seek your life!
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And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
31 For I have heard a sound like a woman in labor, in anguish giving birth to her first child. It is the sound of the daughter of Tziyon gasping for breath as she spreads her hands: "Woe to me! Everything in me is so weary before the killers."
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For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The King James Version is in the public domain.