4 Her prophets are unprincipled;

they are treacherous people.

Her priests profane the sanctuary

and do violence to the law.

5 The Lord within her is righteous;

he does no wrong.

Morning by morning he dispenses his justice,

and every new day he does not fail,

yet the unrighteous know no shame.

6 “I have destroyed nations;

their strongholds are demolished.

I have left their streets deserted,

with no one passing through.

Their cities are laid waste;

they are deserted and empty.

7 Of Jerusalem I thought,

‘Surely you will fear me

and accept correction!’

Then her place of refuge would not be destroyed,

nor all my punishments come upon her.

But they were still eager

to act corruptly in all they did.

4 Her prophets are light and treacherous persons:

Her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.

5 The just Lord is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity:

Every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not;

But the unjust knoweth no shame. 6 I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate;

I made their streets waste, that none passeth by:

Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.

7 I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction;

So their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them:

But they rose early, and corrupted all their doings.

4 Its prophets are arrogant liars seeking their own gain.

Its priests defile the Temple by disobeying God’s instructions.

5 But the Lord is still there in the city,

and he does no wrong.

Day by day he hands down justice,

and he does not fail.

But the wicked know no shame.

6 “I have wiped out many nations,

devastating their fortress walls and towers.

Their streets are now deserted;

their cities lie in silent ruin.

There are no survivors—

none at all.

7 I thought, ‘Surely they will have reverence for me now!

Surely they will listen to my warnings.

Then I won’t need to strike again,

destroying their homes.’

But no, they get up early

to continue their evil deeds.

4 Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people;

Her priests have polluted the sanctuary,

They have done violence to the law.

5 The Lord is righteous in her midst,

He will do no unrighteousness.

Every morning He brings His justice to light;

He never fails,

But the unjust knows no shame.

6 “I have cut off nations,

Their fortresses are devastated;

I have made their streets desolate,

With none passing by.

Their cities are destroyed;

There is no one, no inhabitant.

7 I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me,

You will receive instruction’—

So that her dwelling would not be cut off,

Despite everything for which I punished her.

But they rose early and corrupted all their deeds.

4 Its prophets are proud;

they are people who cannot be trusted.

Its priests don’t respect holy things;

they break God’s teachings.

5 But the Lord is good, and he is there in that city.

He does no wrong.

Every morning he governs the people fairly;

every day he can be trusted.

But evil people are not ashamed of what they do.

6 “I have destroyed nations;

their towers were ruined.

I made their streets empty

so no one goes there anymore.

Their cities are ruined;

no one lives there at all.

7 I said, ‘Surely now Jerusalem will respect me

and will accept my teaching.’

Then the place where they lived would not be destroyed,

and I would not have to punish them.

But they were still eager

to do evil in everything they did.

4 Her prophets are light and treacherous persons; her priests have profaned the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. 5 Jehovah in the midst of her is righteous; he will not do iniquity; every morning doth he bring his justice to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame. 6 I have cut off nations; their battlements are desolate; I have made their streets waste, so that none passeth by; their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant. 7 I said, Only fear thou me; receive correction; so her dwelling shall not be cut off, according to all that I have appointed concerning her: but they rose early and corrupted all their doings.

4 Her prophets are vain-glorious, treacherous persons; her priests profane the sanctuary, they do violence to the law. 5 The righteous Jehovah is in the midst of her: he doeth no wrong. Every morning doth he bring his judgment to light; it faileth not: but the unrighteous knoweth no shame. 6 I have cut off nations: their battlements are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by; their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant. 7 I said, Only fear me, receive correction; so her dwelling shall not be cut off, howsoever I may punish her. But they rose early, they corrupted all their doings.

4 Its prophets are reckless and unfaithful. 

Its priests contaminate what is holy. 

They violate the teachings. 

5 The righteous Lord is in that city. 

He does no wrong. 

He brings his judgment to light every morning. 

He does not fail. 

But those who are perverted are shameless. 

6 “I will cut off the nations. 

Their towers will be destroyed. 

I will demolish their streets. 

No one will walk through them. 

Their cities will be completely destroyed. 

Not a single person will be left. 

No one will be living there. 

7 I said ⸤to my people⸥, 

‘You will fear me. 

You will accept correction!’ 

Then their homeland would not be wiped out 

even though I have punished them. 

Still, they continued to be corrupt in everything they did.” 

4 Her prophets are reckless —

treacherous men.

Her priests profane the sanctuary;

they do violence to instruction.

5 The righteous Lord is in her;

He does no wrong.

He applies His justice morning by morning;

He does not fail at dawn,

yet the one who does wrong knows no shame.

6 I have cut off nations;

their corner towers are destroyed.

I have laid waste their streets,

with no one to pass through.

Their cities lie devastated,

without a person, without an inhabitant.

7 I thought: You will certainly fear Me

and accept correction.

Then her dwelling place

would not be cut off

based on all that I had allocated to her.

However, they became more corrupt

in all their actions.

4 Its prophets are reckless,

faithless persons;

its priests have profaned what is sacred,

they have done violence to the law.

5 The Lord within it is righteous;

he does no wrong.

Every morning he renders his judgment,

each dawn without fail;

but the unjust knows no shame.

6 I have cut off nations;

their battlements are in ruins;

I have laid waste their streets

so that no one walks in them;

their cities have been made desolate,

without people, without inhabitants.

7 I said, “Surely the city will fear me,

it will accept correction;

it will not lose sight

of all that I have brought upon it.”

But they were the more eager

to make all their deeds corrupt.

4 Her prophets are arrogant men of treachery;

her priests have defiled that which is holy;

they do violence to the law.

5 Yahweh is righteous in her midst;

he does not do wickedness.

Morning by morning he renders his judgment;

at dawn he does not fail,

but an evil one knows no shame.

6 “I have cut off nations;

their strongholds are deserted.

I have laid waste their streets,

so that none pass through.

Their cities have been destroyed

and are without a man, without an inhabitant.

7 I have said, ‘Surely she will fear me;

she will accept discipline.

Then her dwelling place will not be cut down,

nor all that I have brought upon her.’

Surely they rise early;

they make all their deeds corrupt.

4 Their prophets are proud.

They can’t be trusted.

Their priests pollute the temple.

They break the law they teach others to obey.

5 In spite of that, the Lord is good to Jerusalem.

He never does anything that is wrong.

Every morning he does what is fair.

Each new day he does the right thing.

But those who do what is wrong

aren’t even ashamed of it.

6 The Lord says to his people,

“I have cut off other nations.

I have wiped out their forts.

I have left their streets deserted.

No one walks along them.

Their cities are destroyed.

Not even one person is left.

7 I said to you people of Jerusalem,

‘Because I cut off other nations,

you will have respect for me.

Now you will accept my warning.’

I wish you had returned to me.

Then your homes would not have been torn down.

And I would not have had to punish you so much.

But you still wanted to go on sinning

in every way you could.

4 Her prophets are reckless, treacherous men;

Her priests have profaned the sanctuary.

They have done violence to the law.

5 The Lord is righteous within her;

He will do no injustice.

Every morning He brings His justice to light;

He does not fail.

But the unjust knows no shame.

6 “I have cut off nations;

Their corner towers are in ruins.

I have made their streets desolate,

With no one passing by;

Their cities are laid waste,

Without a man, without an inhabitant.

7 “I said, ‘Surely you will revere Me,

Accept instruction.’

So her dwelling will not be cut off

According to all that I have appointed concerning her.

But they were eager to corrupt all their deeds.