Why do you cry out over your hurt? Your pain is incurable. Because your guilt is great, because your sins are flagrant, I have done these things to you.

你为何因损伤哀号呢？你的痛苦无法医治。我因你的罪孽甚大，罪恶众多，曾将这些加在你身上。

你为何因所受的损伤哀号呢？你的痛苦无法医治。我因你罪孽甚大，罪恶众多，曾将这些加在你身上。

你为何因所受的损伤哀号呢？你的痛苦无法医治。我因你罪孽甚大，罪恶众多，曾将这些加在你身上。

你们为何因自己无法医治的创伤而哭泣呢？因为你们罪大恶极，罪过无数，我才这样惩罚你们。

你为什么因你的损伤哀叫呢？你的病痛无法痊愈。我这样对你，是因你的罪孽甚多，你的罪恶无数。

你為何因損傷哀號呢？你的痛苦無法醫治。我因你的罪孽甚大，罪惡眾多，曾將這些加在你身上。

你為何因所受的損傷哀號呢？你的痛苦無法醫治。我因你罪孽甚大，罪惡眾多，曾將這些加在你身上。

你為何因所受的損傷哀號呢？你的痛苦無法醫治。我因你罪孽甚大，罪惡眾多，曾將這些加在你身上。

你們為何因自己無法醫治的創傷而哭泣呢？因為你們罪大惡極，罪過無數，我才這樣懲罰你們。

你為甚麼因你的損傷哀叫呢？你的病痛無法痊愈。我這樣對你，是因你的罪孽甚多，你的罪惡無數。

你為甚麼因你的破爛而哀呼你痛苦之無法醫治呢？我將這些刑罰施在你身上、都因你罪孽之眾多，你罪惡之重大呀。

爾曷因創傷而哀號乎、爾之痛苦、不可療也、我之待爾若此、以爾愆尤重大、罪惡增多也、

爾既遭難、何哭泣若此、因爾咎戾眾多、故予責爾、傷殘殊甚。

爾雖受傷損、痛苦難堪、豈可鳴冤、爾愆尤甚多、罪惡加增、故我待爾若是、

Why do you cry out over your wound, your pain that has no cure? Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you.

Why do you cry out about your wound? Your pain can’t be healed. Your guilt is very great. And you have committed many sins. That is why I have done all these things to you.

Why do you protest your punishment— this wound that has no cure? I have had to punish you because your sins are many and your guilt is great.

Why do you cry out about your injury? Your pain has no cure! I have done these things to you because of your enormous guilt and your innumerable sins.

Why do you cry out over your injury? Your pain is incurable. Because your wrongdoing is great And your sins are numerous, I have done these things to you.

Why do you cry about your affliction? Your sorrow is incurable. Because of the multitude of your iniquities, Because your sins have increased, I have done these things to you.

Why criest thou for thy hurt? thy pain is incurable: for the greatness of thine iniquity, because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.

Why do you cry out about your injury? Your pain has no cure! I have done these things to you because of your enormous guilt and your innumerable sins.

Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow[ is] incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity:[ because] thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.

Why do you complain about your injuries, that your pain is incurable? I have done all this to you because your wickedness is so great and your sin is so much.

Why do you cry over your injury? Your pain is incurable. For the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins have increased, I have done these things to you.

All your lovers have forgotten you; they care nothing for you; for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy, the punishment of a merciless foe, because your guilt is great, because your sins are flagrant.

“ For thus says the Lord: Your hurt is incurable, and your wound is grievous.

in spite of my right I am counted a liar; my wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’

I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication.

For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal.

For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord, because they have called you an outcast:‘ It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’

“ Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail.Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known,and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say,‘ We are delivered!’— only to go on doing all these abominations?Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord.

Her foes have become the head; her enemies prosper, because the Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe.

Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you.For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men.Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and rich;they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy.Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?”An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land:the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?

Again the word of the Lord came to me:“ Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations,and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born.“ And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood,‘ Live!’ I said to you in your blood,‘ Live!’I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.“ When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine.Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil.I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck.And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty.And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God.“ But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his.You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore. The like has never been, nor ever shall be.You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore.And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, and set my oil and my incense before them.Also my bread that I gave you— I fed you with fine flour and oil and honey— you set before them for a pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord God.And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matterthat you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them?And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood.“ And after all your wickedness( woe, woe to you! declares the Lord God),you built yourself a vaulted chamber and made yourself a lofty place in every square.At the head of every street you built your lofty place and made your beauty an abomination, offering yourself to any passerby and multiplying your whoring.You also played the whore with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, multiplying your whoring, to provoke me to anger.Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand against you and diminished your allotted portion and delivered you to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior.You played the whore also with the Assyrians, because you were not satisfied; yes, you played the whore with them, and still you were not satisfied.You multiplied your whoring also with the trading land of Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied.“ How sick is your heart, declares the Lord God, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute,building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a prostitute, because you scorned payment.Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband!Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings.So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different.“ Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the Lord:Thus says the Lord God, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whorings with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them,therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from every side and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.And I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy.And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your vaulted chamber and break down your lofty places. They shall strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful jewels and leave you naked and bare.They shall bring up a crowd against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.And they shall burn your houses and execute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. I will make you stop playing the whore, and you shall also give payment no more.So will I satisfy my wrath on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry.Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, I have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord God. Have you not committed lewdness in addition to all your abominations?“ Behold, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb about you:‘ Like mother, like daughter.’You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.And your elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters.Not only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.As I live, declares the Lord God, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done.Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.Samaria has not committed half your sins. You have committed more abominations than they, and have made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed.Bear your disgrace, you also, for you have intervened on behalf of your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.“ I will restore their fortunes, both the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes in their midst,that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all that you have done, becoming a consolation to them.As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former state, and you and your daughters shall return to your former state.Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride,before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you have become an object of reproach for the daughters of Syria and all those around her, and for the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who despise you.You bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the Lord.“ For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant,yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant.Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of the covenant with you.I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord,that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.”

Therefore a lion from the forest shall strike them down; a wolf from the desert shall devastate them. A leopard is watching their cities; everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are great.“ How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me and have sworn by those who are no gods. When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of whores.They were well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord; and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?

And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this,

In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and sat before me.And the word of the Lord came to me:“ Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Is it to inquire of me that you come? As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Let them know the abominations of their fathers,and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God.On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands.And I said to them,‘ Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.’But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.“ Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt.So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live.Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.“ Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them.But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands,because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols.Nevertheless, my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or make a full end of them in the wilderness.“ And I said to their children in the wilderness,‘ Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, nor defile yourselves with their idols.I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules,and keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’But the children rebelled against me. They did not walk in my statutes and were not careful to obey my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; they profaned my Sabbaths.“ Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness.But I withheld my hand and acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries,because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers’ idols.Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life,and I defiled them through their very gifts in their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it that they might know that I am the Lord.“ Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: In this also your fathers blasphemed me, by dealing treacherously with me.For when I had brought them into the land that I swore to give them, then wherever they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there they sent up their pleasing aromas, and there they poured out their drink offerings.( I said to them,‘ What is the high place to which you go?’ So its name is called Bamah to this day.)“ Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go whoring after their detestable things?When you present your gifts and offer up your children in fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.“ What is in your mind shall never happen— the thought,‘ Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone.’“ As I live, declares the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out I will be king over you.I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out.And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord God.I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.I will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me. I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.“ As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols.“ For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, declares the Lord God, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land. There I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings.As a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations.And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your fathers.And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed.And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God.”And the word of the Lord came to me:“ Son of man, set your face toward the southland; preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb.Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it.All flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.”Then I said,“ Ah, Lord God! They are saying of me,‘ Is he not a maker of parables?’”

Your evil will chastise you, and your apostasy will reprove you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your God; the fear of me is not in you, declares the Lord God of hosts.

All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the Lord that he had made holy in Jerusalem.The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand.

The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned!For this our heart has become sick, for these things our eyes have grown dim,

Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?

Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city!She listens to no voice; she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord; she does not draw near to her God.Her officials within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves that leave nothing till the morning.Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men; her priests profane what is holy; they do violence to the law.The Lord within her is righteous; he does no injustice; every morning he shows forth his justice; each dawn he does not fail; but the unjust knows no shame.

Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you have used many medicines; there is no healing for you.

For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth. The children of Israel have done nothing but provoke me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the Lord.This city has aroused my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, so that I will remove it from my sightbecause of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger— their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.They have turned to me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive instruction.They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it.They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water.Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow’s cause does not come to them.Therefore the Lord declares, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel:“ Ah, I will get relief from my enemies and avenge myself on my foes.

When he is quiet, who can condemn? When he hides his face, who can behold him, whether it be a nation or a man?—

saying:“ O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today.

therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;and its breaking is like that of a potter’s vessel that is smashed so ruthlessly that among its fragments not a shard is found with which to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern.”

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,“ And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations.You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself!You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought your days near, the appointed time of your years has come. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries.Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; your name is defiled; you are full of tumult.“ Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood.Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths.There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst.In you men uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity.One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter.In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.“ Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the blood that has been in your midst.Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of you.And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”And the word of the Lord came to me:“ Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are dross of silver.Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you.I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it.As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord; I have poured out my wrath upon you.”And the word of the Lord came to me:

Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!Oh that I had in the desert a travelers’ lodging place, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, a company of treacherous men.They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the Lord.Let everyone beware of his neighbor, and put no trust in any brother, for every brother is a deceiver, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity.Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit, they refuse to know me, declares the Lord.Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:“ Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do, because of my people?Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully; with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he plans an ambush for him.Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?

For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.

“ For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.

He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.

This was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in the midst of her the blood of the righteous.

“ For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.

Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness.No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

But where are your gods that you made for yourself? Let them arise, if they can save you, in your time of trouble; for as many as your cities are your gods, O Judah.“ Why do you contend with me? You have all transgressed against me, declares the Lord.In vain have I struck your children; they took no correction; your own sword devoured your prophets like a ravening lion.

For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities:transgressing, and denying the Lord, and turning back from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter.Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.

Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?

and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth.So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us,‘ Take provisions in your hand for the journey and go to meet them and say to them,“ We are your servants. Come now, make a covenant with us.”’

But I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah.When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound.

For thus says the Lord of hosts:“ Cut down her trees; cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem. This is the city that must be punished; there is nothing but oppression within her.As a well keeps its water fresh, so she keeps fresh her evil; violence and destruction are heard within her; sickness and wounds are ever before me.

“ Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies.Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies.But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies.And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey.Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.“ Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day.Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly.Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them.Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works.Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves.