7 How can I pardon thee? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the harlots' houses; 8 they were as fed horses roaming at large; every one neighed after his neighbor's wife. 9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her branches; for they are not Jehovah's. 11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith Jehovah. 12 They have denied Jehovah, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: 13 and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

14 Wherefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. 15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither un

derstandest what they say. 16 Their quiver is an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men. 17 And they shall eat up thy harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat; they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds; they shall eat up thy vines and thy figtrees; they shall beat down the fortified cities, wherein thou trustest, with the sword. 18 But even in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you.

19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah our God done all these things unto us? then shalt thou say unto them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

20 Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, 21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; that have eyes, and see not; that have ears, and hear not: 22 Fear ye not me? saith Jehovah: will ye not tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it? and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it. 23 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. 24

Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; that preserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. 25 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good from you. 26 For among my people are found wicked men: they watch, as fowlers lie in wait; they set a trap, they catch men. 27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxed rich. 28 They are waxed fat, they shine: yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness; they plead not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. 29 Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

30 A wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land: 31 the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

CHAPTER VI

FLEE for safety, ye children of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the

trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a signal on Beth-haccherem; for evil looketh forth from the north, and a great destruction. 2 The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will I cut off. 3 Shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place. 4 Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day declineth, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out. 5 Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces. 6 For thus hath Jehovah of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her. 7 As a well casteth forth its waters, so she casteth forth her wickedness; violence and destruction is heard in her; before me continually is sickness and wounds. 8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from thee; lest I make thee a desolation, a land not inhabited.

9 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn again thy hand as a grape-gatherer into the baskets. IO To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken:

behold, the word of Jehovah is become unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it. II Therefore I am full of the wrath of Jehovah; I am weary with holding in: pour it out upon the children in the street, and upon the assembly of young men together; for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. 12 And their houses shall be turned unto others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah. 13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. 14 They have healed also the hurt of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. 15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall; at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith Jehovah.

16 Thus saith Jehovah, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way; and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls: but they said, We will not walk therein. 17 And I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trum