“For the sake of Zion I will not be silent; for the sake of Jerusalem ¹  I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines brightly ²  and her deliverance burns like a torch.”

You assist ¹  those who delight in doing what is right, ²  who observe your commandments. ³  Look, you were angry because we violated them continually. How then can we be saved? ⁴ 

“They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die, ¹  and the fire that consumes them will not die out. ²  All people will find the sight abhorrent.” ³ 

I have listened to them very carefully, ¹  but they do not speak honestly. None of them regrets the evil he has done. None of them says, “I have done wrong!” ²  All of them persist in their own wayward course ³  like a horse charging recklessly into battle.

¹ So I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least important to the most important of them, all of them are greedy for dishonest gain. Prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit.

How long must the land be parched ¹  and the grass in every field be withered? How long ²  must the animals and the birds die because of the wickedness of the people who live in this land? ³  For these people boast, “God ⁴  will not see what happens to us.” ⁵ 

Why must I continually suffer such painful anguish? Why must I endure the sting of their insults like an incurable wound? Will you let me down when I need you like a brook one goes to for water, but that cannot be relied on?” ¹ 

Ask yourselves this and consider it carefully: ¹  Have you ever seen a man give birth to a baby? Why then do I see all these strong men grabbing their stomachs in pain like ²  a woman giving birth? And why do their faces turn so deathly pale?

We will obey what the Lord our God to whom we are sending you tells us to do. It does not matter whether we like what he tells us or not. We will obey what he tells us to do so that things will go well for us.” ¹ 

Do not lose your courage or become afraid because of the reports that are heard in the land. For a report will come in one year. Another report will follow it in the next. There will be violence in the land with ruler fighting against ruler.”

This is what the Lord who rules over all ¹  says, “Babylon’s thick wall ²  will be completely demolished. ³  Her high gates will be set on fire. The peoples strive for what does not satisfy. ⁴  The nations grow weary trying to get what will be destroyed.” ⁵ 

This is because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies (although I have not grieved him), and because you have encouraged the wicked person not to turn from his evil conduct and preserve his life.

“‘As for the prophet, if he is made a fool by being deceived into speaking a prophetic word – I, the Lord, have made a fool of ¹  that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.

“Son of man, suppose a country sins against me by being unfaithful, and I stretch out my hand against it, cut off its bread supply, ¹  cause famine to come on it, and kill both people and animals.

It is sharpened for slaughter, it is polished to flash like lightning! “‘Should we rejoice in the scepter of my son? No! The sword despises every tree! ¹ 

He ¹  returns what was taken in pledge, pays back what he has stolen, and follows the statutes that give life, ²  committing no iniquity. He will certainly live – he will not die.

Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must trample the rest of your pastures with your feet? When you drink clean water, must you muddy the rest of the water by trampling it with your feet?

(But there is one who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion; he can turn the darkness into morning and daylight ¹  into night. He summons the water of the seas and pours it out on the earth’s surface. The Lord is his name!

He builds the upper rooms of his palace ¹  in heaven and sets its foundation supports ²  on the earth. ³  He summons the water of the sea and pours it out on the earth’s surface. The Lord is his name.

Jerusalem, why are you ¹  now shouting so loudly? ²  Has your king disappeared? ³  Has your wise leader ⁴  been destroyed? Is this why ⁵  pain grips ⁶  you as if you were a woman in labor?