Study Desk

Who have prepared e their tongue as their bow of falsehood, And, not by faithfulness, have they become mighty in the land, - For from wickedness unto wickedness, have they gone forth, But me, have they not known, Declareth Yahweh.

Every one, of his neighbour, beware ye, And in no brother, may ye trust, - For, every brother, supplanteth! And every neighbour, as a tale-bearer, goeth about;

Therefore, thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Behold me! melting them, so will I try them, - For how else should I do because of the wickedness of the daughter of my people?

For these things, shall I not bring punishment on them? Demandeth Yahweh, - On a nation such as this, must not my soul avenge herself!

Over the mountains, will I take up a weeping and wailing, And over the oases of the desert, a dirge, For they have been burned, so that no man passeth through, Neither have men heard the lowing of cattle, - Both the bird of the heavens and the beast have fled, have gone their way:

Thus will I give up Jerusalem To heaps, A habitation for jackals, - And the cities of Judah, will I give up to desolation, without inhabitant.

Who, is the man that is wise That he may discern this? And, unto whom, hath the mouth of Yahweh spoken, That he may declare it? For what cause Hath the land perished, Hath it been burned as a wilderness that no man passeth through?

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Consider ye diligently and call for the wailing women that they may come, - And unto the wise women, send ye, that they may come;

Yea, a voice of wailing, hath been heard out of Zion How are we ruined! We have turned very pale For we have left the land, For they have cast down our habitations.

For hear O ye women the word of Yahweh, And let your ear take in the word of his mouth, - And teach your daughters a wail, Yea leach woman - her neighbour, a dirge: -

Upon Egypt and upon Judah, And upon Edom, and upon the sons of Ammon, And upon Moab, And upon all the clipped beards, The dwellers in the desert, - For, all the nations, are uncircumcised, And, all the house of Israel, are uncircumcised in heart.

For as for the prescribed customs of the peoples, vanity, they are, - For a tree out of the forest, one cutteth down, Work for the hands of a skilled workman with the axe:

Mere palm-trunks turned, they are and cannot speak, They must needs be, carried, for they cannot take a step, Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do harm, And even to do good, is not in their power.

None, there is, like unto thee, O Yahweh, - Great, art, thou, And, great, is thy Name, for might.

Who would not revere thee, O King of nations? For, thee, doth it beseem; Forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations And throughout all their royal estate, None, there is like unto thee.

Silver spread into plates, from Tarshish is brought, And gold, from Uphaz, Work for the craftsman and for the hands of the smith, - Blue and purple, is their clothing, Work for the skilled, are they all.

At the voice that he uttered, there was a tumult of waters in the heavens, And he caused vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth, - The lightnings for rain, he made, And brought forth wind out of his treasuries.

Every son of earth hath become too brutish to discern, Every goldsmith, hath been put to shame by a graven image, - For a falsehood, is his molten image, Seeing there is no breath in them.

Not like these, is the portion of Jacob, For the fashioner of all things, is, he, And, Israel, is his inherited sceptre, - Yahweh of hosts, is his name.

For, thus, saith Yahweh, Behold me! slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this throw, - And I will distress them that they may discover it.