1Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in her open places, if you can find a man, if there is one who does justice, who seeks the truth; and I will pardon her. 2And though they say, As Jehovah lives; surely they swear falsely. 3O Jehovah, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; You have destroyed them, but they have refused to receive correction; they have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return. 4So I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they do not know the way of Jehovah, nor the judgment of their God. 5I will go to the great men, and will speak to them; for they have known the way of Jehovah and the judgment of their God. But these have broken the yoke together and have torn off the bonds! 6Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them, and a wolf of the deserts shall destroy them; a leopard shall watch over their cities. Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many and their backslidings are increased. 7How shall I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken Me, and have sworn by those that are not gods. When I adjured them, then they committed adultery, and gathered themselves by troops in a harlot’s house. 8They were like lusty, well-fed stallions in the morning; every one neighing after his neighbor’s wife. 9Shall I not punish for these things? says Jehovah. And shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 10Go up on her vine rows and destroy; but do not make a full end; take away her branches, for they are not Jehovah’s. 11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against Me, says Jehovah. 12They have denied Jehovah and said, It is not He; neither shall evil come upon us; nor shall we see sword nor famine. 13And the prophets shall become wind, for the Word is not in them; thus it shall be done to them. 14Therefore thus says Jehovah the God of Hosts, Because you speak this word, behold, I will make My Words in your mouth fire, and these people wood, and it shall devour them. 15Lo, I will bring a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel, says Jehovah. It is an enduring nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor understand what they say. 16Their quiver is as an open grave; they are all mighty men. 17And they shall eat up your harvest and your bread. They will devour your sons and your daughters. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees. They shall beat down your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword. 18But even in those days, says Jehovah, I will not make a complete end of you. 19And it will be when you shall say, Why does Jehovah our God do all these things to us? then you shall answer them, Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours. 20Declare this in the house of Jacob, and proclaim it in Judah, saying, 21Now hear this, O foolish people, without understanding; who have eyes and see not; who have ears and hear not. 22Do you not fear Me? says Jehovah. Will you not tremble at My presence, I who have placed the sand for the boundary of the sea by a perpetual decree, so that it cannot pass it? And though its waves toss to and fro, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it? 23But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and departed. 24Neither do they say in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, who gives both the former and the latter rain in its season; He reserves unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. 25Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you. 26For among My people are found wicked ones; they lie in wait, as one who sets snares; they set a trap, they catch men. 27Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and grown rich. 28They have grown fat, they gleam. Yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked; they do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may get rich; and they do not judge the right of the needy. 29Shall I not punish for these things? says Jehovah. Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 30An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land. 31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their own power; and my people love to have it so, and what will you do in the end?