1:1 Here is the message about Judah and Jerusalem
1:2 Listen, O heavens,
pay attention, O earth!
For the Lord speaks:
“I raised children,
but
1:3 An ox recognizes its owner,
a donkey recognizes where its owner puts its food;
but Israel does not recognize me,
my people do not understand.”
1:4
the people weighed down by evil deeds.
They are offspring who do wrong,
children
They have abandoned the Lord,
and rejected the Holy One of Israel.
They are alienated from him.
1:5
Why do you continue to rebel?
Your head has a massive wound,
your whole body is weak.
1:6 From the soles of your feet to your head,
there is no spot that is unharmed.
There are only bruises, cuts,
and open wounds.
They have not been cleansed
nor have they been treated
1:7 Your land is devastated,
your cities burned with fire.
Right before your eyes your crops
are being destroyed by foreign invaders.
They leave behind devastation and destruction.
1:8 Daughter Zion
like a hut in a vineyard,
or a shelter in a cucumber field;
she is a besieged city.
1:9 If the Lord who commands armies
we would have quickly become like Sodom,
we would have become like Gomorrah.
1:10 Listen to the Lord’s word,
you leaders of Sodom!
Pay attention to our God’s rebuke,
people of Gomorrah!
1:11 “Of what importance to me are your many sacrifices?”
says the Lord.
“I am stuffed with
of rams and the fat from steers.
The blood of bulls, lambs, and goats
I do not want.
1:12 When you enter my presence,
do you actually think I want this –
animals trampling on my courtyards?
1:13 Do not bring any more meaningless
I consider your incense detestable!
You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations,
but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations!
1:14 I hate your new moon festivals and assemblies;
they are a burden
that I am tired of carrying.
1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I look the other way;
when you offer your many prayers,
I do not listen,
because your hands are covered with blood.
1:16
Remove your sinful deeds
from my sight.
Stop sinning!
1:17 Learn to do what is right!
Promote justice!
Give the oppressed reason to celebrate!
Take up the cause of the orphan!
Defend the rights of the widow!
1:18
“Though your sins have stained you like the color red,
you can become
though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet,
you can become
1:19 If you have a willing attitude and obey,
then you will again eat the good crops of the land.
1:20 But if you refuse and rebel,
you will be devoured
Know for certain that the Lord has spoken.
1:21 How tragic that the once-faithful city
has become a prostitute!
She was once a center of
fairness resided in her,
but now only murderers.
1:22 Your
your beer is diluted with water.
1:23 Your officials are rebels,
they associate with
All of them love bribery,
and look for
They do not take up the cause of the orphan,
or defend the rights of the widow.
1:24 Therefore, the sovereign Lord who commands armies,
the powerful ruler of Israel,
“Ah, I will seek vengeance
I will take revenge against my enemies.
1:25 I will attack you;
I will purify your metal with flux.
I will remove all your slag.
1:26 I will reestablish honest judges as in former times,
wise advisers as in earlier days.
Then you will be called, ‘The Just City,
Faithful Town.’”
1:27
and her returnees by righteousness.
1:28 All rebellious sinners will be shattered,
those who abandon the Lord will perish.
1:29 Indeed, they
you
you will be embarrassed because of the sacred orchards
where you choose to worship.
1:30 For you will be like a tree whose leaves wither,
like an orchard
1:31 The powerful will be like
their deeds like a spark;
both will burn together,
and no one will put out the fire.
2:1 Here is the message about Judah and Jerusalem
2:2 In the future
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure
as the most important of mountains,
and will be the most prominent of hills.
All the nations will stream to it,
2:3 many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the temple of the God of Jacob,
so
and
For Zion will be the center for moral instruction;
the Lord will issue edicts from Jerusalem.
2:4 He will judge disputes between nations;
he will settle cases for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,
and they will no longer train for war.
2:5 O descendants
come, let us walk in the Lord’s guiding light.
2:6 Indeed, O Lord,
the descendants of Jacob.
For diviners from the east are everywhere;
they consult omen readers like the Philistines do.
Plenty of foreigners are around.
2:7 Their land is full of gold and silver;
there is no end to their wealth.
Their land is full of horses;
there is no end to their chariots.
2:8 Their land is full of worthless idols;
they worship
what their own fingers have fashioned.
2:9 Men bow down to them in homage,
they lie flat on the ground in worship.
Don’t spare them!
2:10 Go up into the rocky cliffs,
hide in the ground.
Get away from the dreadful judgment of the Lord,
from his royal splendor!
2:11 Proud men will be brought low,
arrogant men will be humiliated;
the Lord alone will be exalted
in that day.
2:12 Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has planned a day of judgment,
for
for all who are proud – they will be humiliated;
2:13 for all the cedars of Lebanon,
that are so high and mighty,
for all the oaks of Bashan;
2:14 for all the tall mountains,
for all the high hills,
2:15 for every high tower,
for every fortified wall,
2:16 for all the large ships,
for all the impressive
2:17 Proud men will be humiliated,
arrogant men will be brought low;
the Lord alone will be exalted
in that day.
2:18 The worthless idols will be completely eliminated.
2:19 They
and into holes in the ground,
trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord
and his royal splendor,
when he rises up to terrify the earth.
2:20 At that time
their silver and gold idols,
which they made for themselves to worship,
into the caves where rodents and bats live,
2:21 so they themselves can go into the crevices of the rocky cliffs
and the openings under the rocky overhangs,
trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord
and his royal splendor,
when he rises up to terrify the earth.
2:22 Stop trusting in human beings,
whose life’s breath is in their nostrils.
For why should they be given special consideration?
3:1 Look, the sovereign Lord who commands armies
is about to remove from Jerusalem
every source of security, including
all the food and water,
3:2 the mighty men and warriors,
judges and prophets,
omen readers and leaders,
3:3 captains of groups of fifty,
the respected citizens,
advisers and those skilled in magical arts,
and those who know incantations.
3:4 The Lord says,
malicious young men
3:5 The people will treat each other harshly;
men will oppose each other;
neighbors will fight.
Youths will proudly defy the elderly
and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected.
3:6 Indeed, a man will grab his brother
right in his father’s house
‘You own a coat –
you be our leader!
This heap of ruins will be under your control.’
3:7 At that time
‘I am no doctor,
I have no food or coat in my house;
don’t make me a leader of the people!’”
3:8 Jerusalem certainly stumbles,
Judah falls,
for their words and their actions offend the Lord;
they rebel against his royal authority.
3:9 The look on their faces
like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin.
Too bad for them!
For they bring disaster on themselves.
3:10 Tell the innocent
for they will be rewarded for what they have done.
3:11 Too bad for the wicked sinners!
For they will get exactly what they deserve.
3:12 Oppressors treat my
creditors rule over them.
My people’s leaders mislead them;
they give you confusing directions.
3:13 The Lord takes his position to judge;
he stands up to pass sentence on his people.
3:14 The Lord comes to pronounce judgment
on the leaders of his people and their officials.
He says,
You have stashed in your houses what you have stolen from the poor.
3:15 Why do you crush my people
and grind the faces of the poor?”
The sovereign Lord who commands armies
3:16 The Lord says,
“The women
They walk with their heads high
and flirt with their eyes.
They skip along
and the jewelry on their ankles jingles.
3:17 So
the Lord will make the front of their heads bald.”
3:18
3:24 A putrid stench will replace the smell of spices,
a rope will replace a belt,
baldness will replace braided locks of hair,
a sackcloth garment will replace a fine robe,
and a prisoner’s brand will replace beauty.
3:25 Your
your strong men will die in battle.
3:26 Her gates will mourn and lament;
deprived of her people, she will sit on the ground.
4:1 Seven women will grab hold of
one man at that time.
They will say, “We will provide
we will provide
but let us belong to you
take away our shame!”
4:2 At that time
the crops given by the Lord will bring admiration and honor;
the produce of the land will be a source of pride and delight
to those who remain in Israel.
4:3 Those remaining in Zion,
will be called “holy,”
all in Jerusalem who are destined to live.
4:4 At that time
he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem’s midst,
as he comes to judge
and to bring devastation.
4:5 Then the Lord will create
over all of Mount Zion
and over its convocations
a cloud and smoke by day
and a bright flame of fire by night;
indeed a canopy will accompany the Lord’s glorious presence.
4:6 By day it will be a shelter to provide shade from the heat,
as well as safety and protection from the heavy downpour.
5:1 I
a song to my lover about his vineyard.
My love had a vineyard
on a fertile hill.
5:2 He built a hedge around it,
and planted a vine.
He built a tower in the middle of it,
and constructed a winepress.
He waited for it to produce edible grapes,
but it produced sour ones instead.
5:3 So now, residents of Jerusalem,
people
you decide between me and my vineyard!
5:4 What more can I do for my vineyard
beyond what I have already done?
When I waited for it to produce edible grapes,
why did it produce sour ones instead?
5:5 Now I will inform you
what I am about to do to my vineyard:
I will remove its hedge and turn it into pasture,
I will break its wall and allow animals to graze there.
5:6 I will make it a wasteland;
no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground,
and thorns and briers will grow there.
I will order the clouds
not to drop any rain on it.
5:7 Indeed
the people
He waited for justice, but look what he got – disobedience!
He waited for fairness, but look what he got – cries for help!
5:8 Those who accumulate houses are as good as dead,
those who also accumulate landed property
until there is no land left,
and you are the only landowners remaining within the land.
5:9 The Lord who commands armies told me this:
“Many houses will certainly become desolate,
large, impressive houses will have no one living in them.
5:10 Indeed, a large vineyard
and enough seed to yield several bushels
5:11 Those who get up early to drink beer are as good as dead,
those who keep drinking long after dark
until they are intoxicated with wine.
5:12 They have stringed instruments,
and wine at their parties.
So they do not recognize what the Lord is doing,
they do not perceive what he is bringing about.
5:13 Therefore my
because of their lack of understanding.
Their
their
5:14 So Death
and open wide its mouth;
Zion’s dignitaries and masses will descend into it,
including those who revel and celebrate within her.
5:15 Men will be humiliated,
they will be brought low;
the proud will be brought low.
5:16 The Lord who commands armies will be exalted
the sovereign God’s authority will be recognized when he judges.
5:17 Lambs
amid the ruins the rich sojourners will graze.
5:18 Those who pull evil along using cords of emptiness are as good as dead,
who pull sin as with cart ropes.
5:19 They say, “Let him hurry, let him act quickly,
so we can see;
let the plan of the Holy One of Israel
then we will know it!”
5:20 Those who call evil good and good evil are as good as dead,
who turn darkness into light and light into darkness,
who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter.
5:21 Those who think they are wise are as good as dead,
those who think they possess understanding.
5:22 Those who are champions
who display great courage when mixing strong drinks.
5:23 They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff,
they ignore the just cause of the innocent.
5:24 Therefore, as flaming fire
and dry grass disintegrates in the flames,
so their root will rot,
and their flower will blow away like dust.
For they have rejected the law of the Lord who commands armies,
they have spurned the commands
5:25 So the Lord is furious
he lifts
The mountains shake,
and corpses lie like manure
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again.
5:26 He lifts a signal flag for a distant nation,
he whistles for it to come from the far regions of the earth.
Look, they
5:27 None tire or stumble,
they don’t stop to nap or sleep.
They don’t loosen their belts,
or unstrap their sandals to rest.
5:28 Their arrows are sharpened,
and all their bows are prepared.
The hooves of their horses are hard as flint,
and their chariot wheels are like a windstorm.
5:29 Their roar is like a lion’s;
they roar like young lions.
They growl and seize their prey;
they drag it away and no one can come to the rescue.
5:30 At that time
it will sound like sea waves crashing against rocks.
One will look out over the land and see the darkness of disaster,
clouds will turn the light into darkness.