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1 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.

2 And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

3 For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.

6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.

8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us.

9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.

10 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.

11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,

12 Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.

13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.

14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.

16 Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

17 As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the Lord.

18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.

19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.

21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.

25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.

26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger.

27 For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.

28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.

30 And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

This is a reference to several earlier verses;

• “16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.” (Deuteronomy 10:16)
• “6 The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.” (Deuteronomy 30:6)

The circumcision of the Heart is not a new part of the Law; it is a basic commandment.

• “41 …if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.” (Leviticus 26:41-42)

This passage teaches us that an 'uncircumcised heart' means someone who does not keep the commandments willingly (to love the Lord with all one's heart, mind and soul). And upon repentance (Deu 30:6) “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, …”

All of this is done by grace. It is not conditional on the obedience of the Jews; thus the covenant can never be rejected by the Jews, as well as God: “Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.” (Deuteronomy 9:6).

<html><b>If you return, O Israel</b> with this repentance, to Me, you will return to your original glory and greatness. <b>and if you remove your detestable things from My Presence</b> Then you shall not wander to go out in exile.</html>

<html><b>And you will swear, “As the Lord lives,” in truth</b> When you swear by My name, you will swear in truth, not as now, that it is written concerning you, “And if they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ surely they swear falsely” (5:2). <b>nations will bless themselves with him</b> If you do so, then nations will bless themselves with Israel. Every non-Jew will say to his son, “You shall be like So-and-so the Jew.” <b>boast</b> Heb. יתהללו, they will recite your praise. Another explanation of is יתהללו: Whoever is able to cleave to Israel will boast about the matter (porvanter in French).</html>

<html><b>For so said the Lord, etc. Plow for yourself a furrow</b> Learn from the tillers of the soil, who plow it in the summer to kill the roots of the grasses, that it should not grow thorns at the time of sowing in the winter. You, too, improve your deeds before the evil befalls you, so that your prayer should not be rejected when you cry out. <b>and do not sow upon thorns</b> And let not your cry before Me be from amidst wickedness, but from amidst repentance, that you shall not resemble one sowing without plowing, and that turns into thorns (kardons in O.F., chardons in modern French).</html>

<html><b>Circumcise yourselves to the Lord</b> Before My anger comes forth like fire. This is like plowing before the sowing.</html>

<html><b>and say, “Sound a shophar…”</b> Warn the inhabitants of the land that they sound the shophar to flee. <b>assemble</b> Heb. מלאו. An expression of gathering, and there are many in the Scriptures: (Isaiah 31: 4) “Although a band of (מְלֹא) shepherds gather against him,” Also (infra 12:6) “They called after you a band (מָלֵא).” Also (Job 16:10) “Together they gather (יתמלאוּן) against me.”</html>

<html><b>Raise a standard</b> to flee to Zion. <b>assemble</b> Heb. העיזו. Comp. “Send, gather (העז)” (Exodus 9:19).</html>

<html><b>A lion has come up</b> That is Nebuchadnezzar. <b>from his thicket</b> It is customary for a lion to lie in wait in the thickets of the forest (espaises in O.F.). <b>will be desolate</b> Heb. תצינה, an expression of desolation.</html>

<html><b>Because of this</b> What is “this?” “For the fierce anger etc.” Although he spoke above concerning Nebuchadnezzar in regards to the destruction, here he returns to speak of the death of Josiah. <b>for the fierce anger of the Lord etc.</b> Although Josiah repented wholeheartedly, it is stated concerning him. (II Kings 23:26)… “the Lord did not turn back from his great wrath…because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked Him.”</html>

<html><b>And it shall be on that day</b> On the day of Josiah they will wonder why so much befell him, for they do not know that his generation did not repent properly. When he came to abolish idolatry, what did the scorners of the generation do? They would engrave an image of a pagan deity on their doors, half of it on this door and half of it on this door. When he would open it, it was not discernible, and when he went away from there, he would close it, and it would join together.</html>

<html><b>Surely You have misled</b> Heb. השא השאת (fa)tenter in O.F.), tempting, an expression like (Gen. 3: 13) “The serpent misled me (השיאני),” for the false prophets prophesy for them, You will have peace.</html>

<html><b>of this people</b> Concerning this people when they are all exiled. <b>has swept the rivulets</b> It sweeps even the fields with rivulets of water to make them into a desert. Another explanation: צח is an expression of thirst, which is translated צחותא. <b>[on] the way of the daughter of My people</b> That wind will come, and also, not to winnow the chaff from the threshing floor ([a]vanner in O.F.). Comp. (infra 15:7) “And I winnowed them with a sieve (ואזרם במזרה).” <b>and not to cleanse</b> And not to cleanse grain does it come. That is to say, not for good but for evil, to exile men [women], and children, and livestock.</html>

<html><b>A full spirit</b> of these retributions shall come to me. <b>A full spirit</b> A full spirit, that I will not retract and not repent. <b>spirit</b> (talant in O.F.) <b>debate</b> Heb. משפטים, an expression of debating.</html>

<html><b>and like the whirlwind</b> (comme tourbillon in O.F.)</html>

<html><b>your iniquitous thoughts</b> Your injustice.</html>

<html><b>For a voice proclaims from Dan</b> Jonathan paraphrases: “Behold the voice of the prophets prophesy about them that they will be exiled because they worshipped the calf that was in Dan, and people bringing bad tidings will come upon them because they subordinated themselves to the image that Micah erected on the mountain of the house of Ephraim.” Although the calves had already been exiled since the days of Sennacherib, their iniquity was still existing. Sin is harsh, for it destroys [lit. breaks] before it and after it; before it, since the days of Abraham, as it is stated (Gen. 14:14): “And he pursued until Dan.” As soon as he reached Dan, he grew faint [lit. his strength was weakened], for his children would, in the future, worship idols there, and after it, in the destruction of the Temple, as it is stated: “A voice proclaims from Dan.” <b>and announces calamity</b> Heb. און, a breach.</html>

<html><b>besiegers</b> Heb. נצרים. Those who will make a siege upon them.</html>

<html><b>a field</b> like שדה, a field. <b>for she has rebelled against me</b> She has provoked Me. Comp. (Deut. 9: 24) “You have been rebellious (ממרים),” provoking.</html>

<html><b>have done these to you</b> To do these to you.</html>

<html><b>I writhe in pain</b> Heb. אוחילה. An expression of writhing in pain (חיל) and shuddering. <b>the walls of my heart!</b> (ettancon in O.F.), blocking wall, perhaps from late Latin, intimus, innermost. <b>you, my soul, have heard</b> From behind the curtain of heaven the ridings of the sound of the alarm of war reached me.</html>

<html><b>Destruction upon destruction</b> The destruction of Jerusalem upon the exile of Jeconiah. <b>in a moment my curtains</b> In a moment my curtains were plundered.</html>

<html><b>How long will I see</b> these groups carrying the standard to come to wage war.</html>

<html><b>moved to and fro</b> Heb. התקלקלו, they were uprooted and cast out of their place. Menahem associates it with: “He shakes the arrows to and fro (קלקל)” (Ezek. 21:26).</html>

<html><b>and behold, the fruitful field</b> The land, planted with all good like a forest, has become like a desert. The Midrash Aggadah states: “I saw the mountains”These are the Patriarchs. “And all the hills”These are the Matriarchs. That is to say that their merit was depleted. “There were no people”This refers to Moses, about whom it is said: “humbler than all the people” (Num. 12:3). “And behold the Karmel”This is Elijah.</html>

<html><b>but I will not make an end</b> of its inhabitants, for I will leave over refugees who will go into exile.</html>

<html><b>shall mourn</b> Shall be destroyed. <b>I planned</b> Heb. זמתי, an expression of thought. <b>for that which I spoke</b> i.e., this retribution, and I will fulfill it. <b>and I will not turn back</b> And I will not repent to think good thoughts about them.</html>

<html><b>archers</b> Heb. רמה קשת, lit. bow shooters. Comp. “Cast (רמה) into the sea” (Exodus 15:1). <b>they came into the thickets</b> Into the thick forests, a place intertwined with thorns, to hide. <b>and they ascended among the boulders</b> Heb. ובכפים. סלע, a rock, is translated into Aramaic as בכפיא.</html>

<html><b>that you wear crimson</b> to beautify yourself and to gain clemency before the plunderer. <b>that you enlarge…with paint</b> Heb. תקרעי. An expression of tearing, for the paint appears as widening the opening of the eye. So have I heard, and Menahem did not differentiate in the group of קרע. <b>paint</b> Heb. בפוך, an expression of a blue paint. <b>lovers</b> Heb. עגבים, those who jest with the women with various types of adultery. Comp. (Ezekiel 23:20) “She lusted (ותעגבה) for concubinage with them.” <b>they seek your life</b> They seek to kill you.</html>

<html><b>like a woman bearing her first child</b> Heb. כמבכירה, like a woman bearing her first child, the beginning of her birth. <b>who will wail</b> Heb. תתיפח, she will wail and cry out with sighs (konpljjnt in O. F:). Comp. “who speak (ויפח) violence” (Psalms 27:12), an expression of speech. <b>“Woe is to me…”</b> This is what she says.</html>