2Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children[1] have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. (تث 4:26; تث 32:1; تث 32:6; تث 32:10; تث 32:15; مي 1:2; مي 6:2)3The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” (إر 8:7)4Ah, 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. (إش 5:24; إش 31:1; حز 14:5; مت 3:7)5Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. (إش 9:13; إش 31:6; إر 5:3)6From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil. (مز 38:3; إر 8:22)7Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners. (تث 28:51; إش 5:5; إش 6:11)8And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. (أي 27:18; إش 10:32; إش 37:22; زك 2:10; زك 9:9)9If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah. (تك 19:24; إش 10:21; إش 13:19; مرا 3:22; رو 9:29)10Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching[2] of our God, you people of Gomorrah! (تث 32:32; إش 3:9; حز 16:46; حز 16:48; حز 16:55; رؤ 11:8)11“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. (1صم 15:22; أم 15:8; إش 66:3; إر 6:20; ملا 1:10)12“When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? (خر 23:17; خر 34:23)13Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. (خر 12:16; لا 23:36; عد 28:11; 1أخ 23:31; إر 7:9; يؤ 2:15)14Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. (إش 1:13)15When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. (1مل 8:22; أم 1:28; إش 59:3; مي 3:4)16Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, (إر 2:22; 1بط 3:11)17learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. (إش 1:23; إر 22:3; يع 1:27)18“Come now, let us reason[3] together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. (مز 51:7; إش 43:26; مي 6:2; رؤ 7:14)19If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; (تث 30:15)20but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (عد 23:19; إش 1:2; إش 24:3; إش 40:5; إش 58:14; مي 4:4)
The Unfaithful City
21How the faithful city has become a whore,[4] she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. (خر 34:15; إر 2:20; إر 31:23)22Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water. (إر 6:30; حز 22:18)23Your 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. (خر 23:8; إش 1:17; إر 5:28; مي 7:3; زك 7:10)24Therefore 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. (تث 32:41; مز 132:2; إش 3:1; إش 10:33)25I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy. (مز 81:14; إش 5:25; حز 22:20; عا 1:8; ملا 3:3)26And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.” (إر 33:7; إر 33:11; زك 8:3)27Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness. (إر 22:3)28But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed. (أي 31:3; مز 1:6)29For they[5] shall be ashamed of the oaks that you desired; and you shall blush for the gardens that you have chosen. (إش 57:5; إش 65:3; إش 66:17; هو 4:13; هو 4:19)30For you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers, and like a garden without water. (إر 17:8)31And the strong shall become tinder, and his work a spark, and both of them shall burn together, with none to quench them. (قض 16:9; إش 66:24)