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1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.

2 And though they say, The Lord liveth; surely they swear falsely.

3 O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God.

5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

6 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.

7 How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.

8 They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.

9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the Lord's.

11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the Lord.

12 They have belied the Lord, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:

13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

14 Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.

16 Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.

17 And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.

18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I will not make a full end with you.

19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the Lord our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not your's.

20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,

21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:

22 Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

23 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.

24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.

25 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.

26 For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.

28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

29 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

30 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;

31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

<html><b>O Lord, Your eyes</b> are they not on people with faith, to do good to them? Now why have these betrayed You, and they do not seek faith? <b>You smote them</b> and they did not become ill because of the blow to lay it to their heart to repent of their evil. <b>to receive</b> Heb. קחת, equivalent to (לקחת), to receive.</html>

<html><b>And I said</b> The prophet says so, “They are but impoverished of wisdom,” these with whom I speak. <b>they have become foolish</b> Heb. נואלו, an expression of אויל, a fool, as the Targum renders: אטפשו.</html>

<html><b>I will go to the great ones</b> They will hearken. But I did not avail, and they too together broke the yoke of the Holy One, blessed be He, off them.</html>

<html><b>a lion</b> The kingdom of Babylon. <b>a wolf</b> The kingdom of Media. <b>a leopard</b> The kingdom of Greece. <b>shall be torn to pieces</b> by Edom. <b>a wolf of the deserts</b> Heb. ערבות, an expression of (supra 2:6) ערבה ושוחה “plains and pits,” a wolf of the desert. <b>hastens</b> Heb. שקד. Menahem (p. 180) associates it with an expression of watching. Comp. (Prov. 8:34) “To watch (לשקוד) My doors daily.” And Jonathan rendered it as an expression of lying in wait.</html>

<html><b>Shall I forgive you for this?</b> This is the rhetorical question, Shall I forgive you for this? And Menahem (p. 22) explains אי like אין, not. For this I will not forgive you, because your children have forsaken Me, when I sated them with all good. <b>they banded together</b> They gather in troops.</html>

<html><b>Like armed stallions they would arise early</b> Like these stallions who are armed with erect membra, every morning they would arise at daybreak. <b>they would neigh</b> Heb. יצהלו. This too is an expression appropriate for horses. Comp. (8:16) “From the sound of the neighing (מצהלות) of his steeds,” an expression of shouting (esjodement in O.F.).</html>

<html><b>Ascend upon its rows</b> Heb. בשרותיה, an expression of a plain. Menahem (p. 181) associates it as an expression of a wall with (II Sam. 22:30) “I scale a wall (שור),” but נטישותיה (cep in Prov.) do not fitfor they are the roots of the vineyard to be associated either with the walls or with the plain. I say, therefore, that בשרותיה is an expression of the rows of the vineyard. Jonathan, however, rendered בשרותיה, in her cities, and נטישותיה, her palaces.</html>

<html><b>And [they] said, “It is not He”</b> [The Targum renders:] Our good fortune does not come before Him.</html>

<html><b>And the prophets shall become wind</b> As the Targum renders: And the false prophets shall become naught. That is to say, the prophecy that the false prophets prophesy for us in the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, their words shall turn to futility, and the speech of holiness that they say to us in the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, is not in them. <b>So shall be done to them</b> The prophet says to those who say this, “So shall be done to them as the Lord said to me, and what did the Lord say to me? “Because you have spoken this word, etc.”</html>

<html><b>and it shall consume them</b> Heb. ואכלתם.</html>

<html><b>mighty</b> Heb. איתן, strong. <b>It is an ancient nation</b> From days of yore it began to rebel against Me, in the generation of separation in the land of Shinar.</html>

<html><b>His quiver</b> Heb. אשפתו. The place of the arrow case.</html>

<html><b>He will impoverish your fortified cities [upon which you rely, with the sword]</b> This verse is in the wrong order [and should be arranged as follows:] He will impoverish with the sword your fortified cities upon which you rely. <b>impoverish</b> Heb. ירשש, he will impoverish. <b>with the sword</b> With troops. Comp. “And a sword will not pass in your land” (Lev. 26:6).</html>

<html><b>Will you not fear Me?</b> Does not the sea, which is not concerned about retribution and does not look forward to receiving reward, fear Me and not cross the boundary that I set around it? <b>do you not quake</b> Heb. תחילו, an expression of fear. <b>and toss themselves</b> i.e., its waves, and they lift themselves to cross the border but cannot cross. <b>and its waves roar</b> A loud sound of roaring. <b>but they do not pass it</b> The waves do not pass the border.</html>

<html><b>the early rain and the latter rain</b> Heb. יורה ומלקוש, as the Targum renders: בכיר ולקיש, the early rain and the latter rain. <b>the weeks of the laws of harvest</b> Seven weeks in which He ordained two ordinances of harvest, the ordinance of the omer, and the ordinance of the two breads. <b>He keeps for us</b> that the harvest should be in its time.</html>

<html><b>have brought about these</b> Have brought about these laws. Have cast aside these laws from you, so they don’t guard you and you will be consumed from hunger.</html>

<html><b>they lie in wait</b> Heb. ישור. Comp. למען שוררי because of those who lie in wait for me (Psalms 27: 11), an expression of “I see him (אשורנו) but not near” (Num. 24:17). <b>as a trap bites</b> As a trap that they make to catch deer in the forest, bites when his foot enters it and it bites him and holds onto his foot and he is caught, and the call this (piege in O. F.). <b>they stationed an ambush</b> (Canbel in O.F.) So do those who lie in wait make for a city or on the road. <b>they station</b> Heb. יציבו, like “the garrison (מצב) of the Philistines” (I Sam. 14:4).</html>

<html><b>As a cage</b> That is a place where they fatten fowl, and so does Jonathan render it, like a fattening place, and in O.F. (frank).</html>

<html><b>they have become thick</b> Heb. עשתו, an expression of “a block (עֶשֶת) of ivory” (Song 5:14), a thick body, and in O.F. enboeront. <b>they transgressed in deeds of wickedness</b> If evil or a sin came into their hand, they did not turn away from it, but transgressed it and committed it. <b>they did not plead the cause of the orphan</b> in order that they prosper.</html>

<html><b>An appalling…thing</b> Heb. שמה, a wonder. <b>and horrible thing</b> Heb. ושערורה, a disgraceful thing to all, and what is the appalling thing? The prophets prophesy falsely and say, “Rob and plunder,” and the priests, who are the judges of the people and their overseers, govern the people on the hands of the prophets, that is to say, after them. Comp. (II Sam. 15) “And the king was crossing and all the people were crossing on his hand,” stated concerning David, meaning ‘after him.’ Here too, “on their hands” means ‘after them,’ to do according to the words of the prophets.</html>