As for your birth, on the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water; ¹  you were certainly not rubbed down with salt, nor wrapped with blankets. ² 

I will eliminate from among you the rebels and those who revolt ¹  against me. I will bring them out from the land where they have been residing, but they will not come to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; ¹  you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me, ²  declares the sovereign Lord. ³ 

“‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the city of bloodshed, the pot whose rot ¹  is in it, whose rot has not been removed ²  from it! Empty it piece by piece. No lot has fallen on it. ³ 

“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: I will destroy the idols, and put an end to the gods of Memphis. There will no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt; so I will make the land of Egypt fearful. ¹ 

I will no longer subject you to ¹  the nations’ insults; no longer will you bear the shame of the peoples, and no longer will you bereave ²  your nation, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

“‘I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. ¹ 

The Lord said to me: “This gate will be shut; it will not be opened, and no one will enter by it. For the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it will remain shut.

The prince will not take away any of the people’s inheritance by oppressively removing them from their property. He will give his sons an inheritance from his own possessions so that my people will not be scattered, each from his own property.’”

Just as it is written in the law of Moses, so all this calamity has come on us. Still we have not tried to pacify ¹  the LORD our God by turning back from our sin and by seeking wisdom ²  from your reliable moral standards. ³ 

What he will honor is a god of fortresses – a god his fathers did not acknowledge he will honor with gold, silver, valuable stones, and treasured commodities.

Ephraim boasts, ¹  “I am very rich! I have become wealthy! ²  In all that I have done to gain my wealth, ³  no one can accuse me of any offense ⁴  that is actually sinful.” ⁵ 

“I overthrew some of you the way God ¹  overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. ²  You were like a burning stick ³  snatched from the flames. Still you did not come back to me.” The Lord is speaking!

You say, “When will the new moon festival ¹  be over, ²  so we can sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, ³  so we can open up the grain bins? ⁴  We’re eager ⁵  to sell less for a higher price, ⁶  and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales! ⁷ 

Residents ¹  of Shaphir, ²  pass by in nakedness and humiliation! ³  The residents of Zaanan can’t leave their city. ⁴  Beth Ezel ⁵  mourns, ⁶  “He takes from you what he desires.” ⁷ 

Does the family ¹  of Jacob say, ²  ‘The Lord’s patience ³  can’t be exhausted – he would never do such things’? ⁴  To be sure, my commands bring a reward for those who obey them, ⁵ 

The Lord is slow to anger ¹  but great in power; ²  the Lord will certainly not ³  allow the wicked ⁴  to go unpunished.He marches out ⁵  in the whirlwind and the raging storm; dark storm clouds billow like dust ⁶  under his feet. ⁷ 

The just Lord resides ¹  within her; he commits no unjust acts. ²  Every morning he reveals ³  his justice. At dawn he appears without fail. ⁴  Yet the unjust know no shame.

The Israelites who remain ¹  will not act deceitfully. They will not lie, and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth. Indeed, they will graze peacefully like sheep ²  and lie down; no one will terrify them.”

Before that time there was no compensation for man or animal, nor was there any relief from adversity for those who came and went, because I had pitted everybody – each one – against everyone else.