<p class="poetry">No one is concerned about justice;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">no one sets forth his case truthfully.p> <p class="poetry">They depend on false words<n id="2" /> and tell lies;p> <p class="poetry">they conceive of oppression<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and give birth to sin.p>

<p class="poetry">They will not work in vain,p> <p class="poetry">or give birth to children that will experience disaster.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> will bless their childrenp> <p class="poetry">and their descendants.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">They say to a wooden idol,<n id="1" /> &#8216;You are my father.&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">They say to a stone image, &#8216;You gave birth to me.&#8217;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Yet when they are in trouble, they say, &#8216;Come and save us!&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">What will you say<n id="1" /> when the <sc>Lordsc><n id="2" /> appoints as rulers over you those alliesp> <p class="poetry">that you, yourself, had actually prepared as such?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Then anguish and agony will grip youp> <p class="poetry">like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">I said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Oh, mother, how I regret<n id="2" /> that you ever gave birth to me!p> <p class="poetry">I am always starting arguments and quarrels with the people of this land.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I have not lent money to anyone and I have not borrowed from anyone.p> <p class="poetry">Yet all of these people are treating me with contempt.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">The person who gathers wealth by unjust meansp> <p class="poetry">is like the partridge that broods over eggs but does not hatch them.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Before his life is half over he will lose his ill-gotten gains.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">At the end of his life it will be clear he was a fool.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Cursed be the manp> <p class="poetry">who made my father very gladp> <p class="poetry">when he brought him the newsp> <p class="poetry">that a baby boy had been born to him!<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Then I will reply,<n id="1" /> &#8216;I will bring them back from the land of the north.p> <p class="poetry">I will gather them in from the distant parts of the earth.p> <p class="poetry">Blind and lame people will come with them,p> <p class="poetry">so will pregnant women and women about to give birth.p> <p class="poetry">A vast throng of people will come back here.p>

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

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them<n id="1" /> as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution not enough,

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;But suppose he in turn has a son who notices all the sins his father commits, considers them, and does not follow his father&#8217;s example.<n id="1" />

Oholah was the name of the older and Oholibah<n id="1" /> the name of her younger sister. They became mine, and gave birth to sons and daughters.<n id="2" /> Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.p>

For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and their sons, whom they bore to me,<n id="1" /> they have passed through the fire as food to their idols.<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">All the birds of the sky nested in its boughs;p> <p class="poetry">under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth,p> <p class="poetry">in its shade all the great<n id="1" /> nations lived.p>

<p class="poetry">Otherwise, I will strip her naked,p> <p class="poetry">and expose her like she was when she was born.p> <p class="poetry">I will turn her land into a wildernessp> <p class="poetry">and make her country a parched land,p> <p class="poetry">so that I might kill<n id="1" /> her with thirst.p>

<p class="poetry">Ephraim will be struck down<n id="1" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">their root will be dried up;p> <p class="poetry">they will not yield any fruit.p> <p class="poetry">Even if they do bear children,p> <p class="poetry">I will kill their precious offspring.p>

<p class="poetry">The labor pains of a woman will overtake him,p> <p class="poetry">but the baby will lack wisdom;p> <p class="poetry">when the time arrives,p> <p class="poetry">he will not come out of the womb!p>

<p class="poetry">Jerusalem, why are you<n id="1" /> now shouting so loudly?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Has your king disappeared?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Has your wise leader<n id="4" /> been destroyed?p> <p class="poetry">Is this why<n id="5" /> pain grips<n id="6" /> you as if you were a woman in labor?p>

<p class="bodytext">And Adam had marital relations<n id="1" /> with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, &#8220;God has given<n id="2" /> me another child<n id="3" /> in place of Abel because Cain killed him.&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">The Nephilim<n id="1" /> were on the earth in those days (and also after this)<n id="2" /> when the sons of God were having sexual relations with<n id="3" /> the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children.<n id="4" /> They were the mighty heroes<n id="5" /> of old, the famous men.<n id="6" />p>