1 GLT “Roam about in the streets of Jerusalem, and see now and know and seek in her plazas! If you can find a man, if there is one who does justice, who seeks honesty, then I will forgive her. BSB BSB: “Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.
2 GLT And if they say,‘{ As} Yahweh{ is} alive,’ surely they swear for falsehood.” BSB BSB: Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are swearing falsely.”
3 GLT Yahweh,{ are} not your eyes for honesty? You struck them, but they do not tremble. You have completely defeated them; they refuse to receive discipline. They harden their faces more than rock; they refuse to return. BSB BSB: O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
4 GLT So I myself said,“They are only ones who are poor. They are foolish, for they do not know the way of Yahweh, the ordinance of their God. BSB BSB: Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.
5 GLT I shall go for myself to the great ones and speak{ to} them, for they themselves know the way of Yahweh, the ordinance of their God.” But they together broke the yoke; they tore to pieces the fetters. BSB BSB: I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.” But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains.
6 GLT Therefore a lion from the thicket will strike them down; a wolf of the deserts will devastate them; a leopard watches over their cities; all who go out from there will be torn apart, for their transgressions increase; their apostasies are numerous. BSB BSB: Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous.
7 GLT How, for this, could I forgive you? Your sons have abandoned me and have sworn by not- gods. And I satisfied them, but they committed adultery and assembled themselves{ to} the house of the prostitute. BSB BSB: “Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes.
8 GLT { They were} well- fed, lusty horses.{ Each} man neighed to the wife of his neighbor. BSB BSB: They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife.
9 GLT Should I not punish because of these— the declaration of Yahweh— or even against a nation that{ is} like this, should I not avenge myself? BSB BSB: Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
10 GLT Go up onto her terraces and destroy! But do not bring complete destruction. Remove her vines, for they{ are} not of Yahweh. BSB BSB: Go up through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not finish them off. Strip off her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD.
11 GLT For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have utterly betrayed me— the declaration of Yahweh. BSB BSB: For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to Me,” declares the LORD.
12 GLT They have denied Yahweh, and they said,“He{ is} not, and no evil will come upon us, and we will not see sword or famine. BSB BSB: They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.
13 GLT And the prophets are for wind, and the word is not in them, thus it will be done to them.” BSB BSB: The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.”
14 GLT So thus says Yahweh the God of hosts:“Because you have spoken this word, behold, I shall place my word in your mouth for a fire, and this people{ will be} wood! And it will consume them. BSB BSB: Therefore this is what the LORD God of Hosts says: “Because you have spoken this word, I will make My words a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes.
15 GLT Behold! I shall bring a nation against you from far away, house of Israel— the declaration of Yahweh— it{ is} a lasting nation; it{ is} a nation from ancient times! A nation whose tongue you do not know, and you will not hear what they speak. BSB BSB: Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand.
16 GLT Its quiver{ is} like an open grave. All of them{ are} warriors. BSB BSB: Their quivers are like open graves; they are all mighty men.
17 GLT And it will consume your harvest and your bread. They will consume your sons and your daughters. It will consume your flock and your cattle; It will consume your vine and your fig tree. It will beat down with a sword your cities of fortification that you trusted in. BSB BSB: They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.”
18 GLT But even in those days— the declaration of Yahweh— I shall not make with you a complete end. BSB BSB: “Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you.
19 GLT And it will happen when you say,‘Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them,‘Just as you abandoned me and served gods of a foreigner in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land not yours.’ BSB BSB: And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’”
20 GLT Declare this to the house of Jacob and announce it in Judah, saying: BSB BSB: Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah:
21 GLT ‘Hear this, please, foolish people and without heart; they have eyes but do not see; they have ears but do not hear. BSB BSB: “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
22 GLT Should you not fear me— the declaration of Yahweh— or should you not tremble from my face? For I have placed sand{ as} a border for the sea, an eternal decree and it does not cross over it, and{ if} it rises and falls, still it would not prevail, and{ if} its waves roar, still they do not cross over it. BSB BSB: Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.
23 GLT But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart. It turns aside and walks away. BSB BSB: But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away.
24 GLT And they do not say in their hearts,“Let us please fear Yahweh our God, the one who gives the rain— both the early rain and the late rain— in its season, he keeps the decreed weeks of the harvest for us.” BSB BSB: They have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’
25 GLT Your iniquities turned away these things, and your sins have held back from you the good. BSB BSB: Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty.
26 GLT For wicked ones are found with my people; he watches like fowlers lying in wait; they set a snare; they capture people. BSB BSB: For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men.
27 GLT Like a cage full of birds, thus their houses{ are} full of deceit, thus they grow large and become rich. BSB BSB: Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich.
28 GLT They are fat; they are sleek. They also trespass{ with} words of evil. They do not plead the legal cause— the legal cause of the fatherless one. And they prosper, but the justice of the needy ones— they have not given justice. BSB BSB: They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.
29 GLT Why, on account of these things should I not punish?— the declaration of Yahweh— if against a nation that{ is} like this should my soul not avenge itself? BSB BSB: Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
30 GLT Desolation and horror has happened in the land. BSB BSB: A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land.
31 GLT The prophets prophesy with falsehood, and the priests rule with their hands, and my people love it so, but what will you do in the end?’” BSB BSB: The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.