20 Lift up your eyes, and behold Them that come from the north; Where is the flock that was given thee, Thy beautiful flock? 21 What wilt thou say, when He shall set the friends over thee as head, Whom thou thyself hast trained against thee? Shall not pangs take hold of thee, As of a woman in travail? 22 And if thou say in thy heart: 'Wherefore are these things befallen me?' For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts uncovered, And thy heels suffer violence. 23Can the Ethiopian change his skin, Or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, That are accustomed to do evil. 24Therefore will I scatter them, as the stubble that passeth away "And their nobles send their lads for water: They come to the pits, and find no water; Their vessels return empty; They are ashamed and confounded, and cover their heads. "Because of the ground which is cracked, For there hath been no rain in the land, The plowmen are ashamed, they cover their heads. "Yea, the hind also in the field calveth, and forsaketh her young, Because there is no grass. "And the wild asses stand on the high hills, They gasp for air like jackals; Their eyes fail, because there is no herbage. "Though our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, work Thou for Thy name's For our backslidings are many, unto you a lying vision, and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their own heart. 15Therefore thus saith the LORD: As for the prophets that prophesy in My name, and I sent them not, yet they say: Sword and famine shall not be in this The Saviour thereof in time of land, by sword and famine shall those trouble, prophets be consumed; 16and the peo Why shouldest Thou be as a stran-ple to whom they prophesy shall be ger in the land, 10Thus saith the LORD unto this people: Even so have they loved to wander, Now will He remember their in- And punish their sins. 11And the LORD said unto me: 'Pray not for this people for their good. 12When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt-offering and meal-offering, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.' Then said I: 'Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them: Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.' 14Then the LORD said unto me: "The prophets prophesy lies in My name; I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke I unto them; they prophesy cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters; for I will pour their evil upon them.' 17And thou shalt say this word unto them: Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, With a very grievous blow. 18If I go forth into the field, Then behold the slain with the sword! And if I enter into the city, Then behold them that are sick with famine! For both the prophet and the priest are gone about to a land, and knew it not. 19Hast Thou utterly rejected Judah? And for a time of healing, and be- 20We acknowledge, O LORD, our wick- Even the iniquity of our fathers; "Do not contemn us, for Thy name's sake, Do not dishonour the throne of Remember, break not Thy covenant 22 Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Art not Thou He, O LORD our God, and do we not wait for Thee? For Thou hast made all these things. 15 Then said the LORD unto me: 'Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, yet My mind could not be toward this people; cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth. "And it shall come to pass, when they say unto thee: Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them: Thus saith the LORD: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity. And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to drag, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy. 'And I will cause them to be a horror among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. "For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? Or who shall bemoan thee? Or who shall turn aside to ask of thy welfare? "Thou hast cast Me off, saith the LORD, Thou art gone backward; "And I fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I bereave them of children, I destroy My people, Since they return not from their ways. 8Their widows are increased to Me above the sand of the seas; I bring upon them, against the mother, a chosen one, Even a spoiler at noonday; I cause anguish and terrors to fall upon her suddenly. "She that hath borne seven languisheth; Her spirit droopeth; Her sun is gone down while it was yet day, She is ashamed and confounded; And the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, Saith the LORD.' 10Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me A man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have not lent, neither have men lent to me; Yet every one of them doth curse me. "The LORD said: 'Verily I will release thee for good; verily I will cause the enemy to make supplication unto thee in the time of evil and in the time of affliction. Can iron break iron from the north and brass? 13Thy substance and thy treasures will I give for a spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders. "And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not; for a fire is kindled in My nostril, which shall burn upon you.' "Thou, O LORD, knowest; Remember me, and think of me, and avenge me of my persecutors; Take me not away because of Thy long-suffering; Know that for Thy sake I have suffered taunts. 16Thy words were found, and I did eat them; And Thy words were unto me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart; Because Thy name was called on me, O LORD God of hosts. 17I sat not in the assembly of them that make merry, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of Thy hand; For Thou hast filled me with indignation. 18Why is my pain perpetual, And my wound incurable, so that it refuseth to be healed? "Thou shalt not take thee a wife, Neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place. For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bore them, and concerning their fathers that begot them in this land: "They shall die of grievous deaths; They shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried, They shall be as dung upon the face of the ground; And they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; And their carcasses shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, And for the beasts of the earth. Wilt Thou indeed be unto me as a "For thus saith the LORD: Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament, neither bemoan them; for I have taken away My peace from this people, saith the LORD, even mercy and compassion. "Both the great and the small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried; neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them; neither shall men break bread for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother. And thou shalt not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and to drink. For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place, Before your eyes and in your days, The voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, The voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. 10 And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt tell this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee: 'Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?' then shalt thou say unto them: 'Because your fathers have forsaken Me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken Me, and have not kept My law; 12and ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so that ye hearken not unto Me; therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye have not known, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; forasmuch as I will show you no favour.' 14Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said: 'As the LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt', but: 'As the LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the countries whither He had driven them'; and I will bring them back into their land that I gave unto their fathers. 16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. 17 For Mine eyes are upon all their ways, They are not hid from My face; Neither is their iniquity concealed from Mine eyes. |