26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, ddtheir kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, 27 Saying to ea stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast ||brought me forth: for they have turned †their back unto me, and not their face: but eein the time of their ftrouble they will say, Arise, and save us. 28 But gwhere are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, hif they can save thee in the time of thy †ftrouble: ifor according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. 29 kWherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the Lord. 30 In vain lhave I smitten your children; they received no correction: myour own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

31 nO generation, see ye the word of the Lord. oHave I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, †pWe are lords; we will come no more unto thee? 32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her qattire? yet rmy people have forgotten me days without number. 33 Why rrtrimmest thou thy way to seek love? stherefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways. 34 Also in thy skirts is found tthe blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by †secret search, but upon all these. 35 Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, uI will plead with thee, vbecause thou sayest, I have not sinned. 36 wWhy gaddest thou about so much to xchange thy way? ythou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, was thou wast ashamed of Assyria. 37 Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and zthine hands upon thine head: for the Lord hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.

3 †They say, aIf a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, ashall he return unto her again? shall not that bland be greatly polluted? but thou hast cplayed the harlot with many lovers; yet dreturn again to me, saith the Lord. 2 Lift up thine eyes unto ethe high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. fIn the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and bthou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. 3 Therefore gthe showers have been withholden, and there hath been no hlatter rain; and thou hadst ia whore’s forehead, kthou refusedst to be ashamed. 4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art lthe guide of mmy youth? 5 nWill he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.

6 *The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which obacksliding Israel hath done? pshe is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath cplayed the harlot. 7 qAnd I said after she had done all these things, dTurn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her rtreacherous ssister Judah saw it. 8 And I saw, twhen for all the causes whereby obacksliding Israel committed adultery uI had put her away, and given her va bill of divorce; tyet her rtreacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. 9 And it came to pass through the ||lightness of her whoredom, that bshe defiled the land, and committed adultery with wstones and with stocks. 10 And yet for all this her rtreacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me xwith her whole heart, but †feignedly, saith the Lord. 11 And the Lord said unto me, The obacksliding Israel yhath justified herself more than rtreacherous Judah. 12 Go and proclaim these words toward zthe north, and say, dReturn, thou obacksliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not acause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am bmerciful, saith the Lord, and cI will not keep anger for ever. 13 dOnly acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast escattered thy ways to the fstrangers gunder every green tree, and hye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. 14 iTurn, jO backsliding children, saith the Lord; for kI am married unto you: and I will take you lone of a city, and mtwo of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: 15 And nI will give you opastors according to mine heart, pwhich shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it †come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall ||that be done any more. 17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and qall the nations shall be gathered unto it, rto the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither sshall they walk any more after the ||imagination of their evil heart. 18 In those days tthe house of Judah shall walk ||with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of uthe north to vthe land that I have ||given for an inheritance unto your fathers. 19 But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a †pleasant land, †a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, xThou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away †from me. 20 Surely as a wife xxtreacherously departeth from her †husband, so yhave ye xxdealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.

21 A voice was heard upon zthe high places, weeping and asupplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and bthey have forgotten the Lord their God. 22 cReturn, ye backsliding children, and I dwill heal your ebackslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God. 23 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for ffrom the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly gin the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. 24 For hshame hath devoured ithe labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 We lie down in our shame, and jour confusion covereth us: for kwe have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, lfrom our youth even unto this day, and mhave not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.

4 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, areturn unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not bremove. 2 cAnd thou shalt swear, dThe Lord liveth, ein truth, in judgment, and ein righteousness; and fthe nations shall bless themselves in him, and gin him shall they glory. 3 For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, hBreak up your ifallow ground, and ksow not among thorns. 4 lCircumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: mlest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, mnbecause of the evil of your doings. 5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, oBlow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, pAssemble yourselves, and let us go into qthe defenced cities. 6 rSet up the standard toward Zion: ||retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from sthe north, and a great †destruction. 7 tThe lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place uto make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, vwithout an inhabitant. 8 For this wgird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: xfor xythe fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us. 9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall zwonder. 10 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! asurely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, bsaying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul. 11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem,

cA dry wind of dthe high places ein the wilderness toward the daughter of my people,

Not to fan, nor to cleanse,

12  Even ||a full wind from those places shall come unto me:

Now also will I †give sentence against them.

13  Behold, he shall come up as clouds,

And his chariots shall be fas a whirlwind:

His horses are gswifter than eagles.

Woe unto us! hfor we are spoiled.

14  O Jerusalem, iwash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved.

How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

15  For ka voice declareth lfrom Dan,

And publisheth affliction from mmount Ephraim.

16  Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem,

That watchers come nfrom a far country,

And give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

17  oAs keepers of a field, are they against her round about;

Because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the Lord.

18  Thy way and thy doings phave procured these things unto thee;

This is thy wickedness, because qit is bitter,

Because it reacheth unto thine heart.

19  rMy bowels, my bowels! I am pained at †my very heart;

sMy heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace,

Because thou hast heard, O my soul, tthe sound of the trumpet, ttthe alarm of war.

20  uDestruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled:

Suddenly are vmy tents spoiled, and vmy curtains in a moment.

21  How long shall I see the standard, and hear tthe sound of the trumpet?

22  For my people is foolish, wthey have not known me;

They are sottish children, and they have none understanding:

xThey are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

23  yI beheld the earth, and, lo, it was zwithout form, and void;

And the heavens, and athey had no light.

24  I beheld bthe mountains, and, lo, they trembled,

And all the hills moved lightly.

25  I beheld, and, lo, cthere was no man,

And call the birds of the heavens dwere fled.

26  I beheld, and, lo, ethe fruitful place was a wilderness,

And all the cities thereof were broken down

At the presence of the Lord, and by his ffierce anger.

27  For thus hath the Lord said,

The