Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any* that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
And though they say, The \+w LORD|strong="H3068"\+w** liveth; surely they swear falsely.
O \+w LORD|strong="H3068"\+w**, are* not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but* they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
Therefore I said, Surely these are* poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the \+w LORD|strong="H3068"\+w**, nor* the judgment of their God.
I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the \+w LORD|strong="H3068"\+w**, and* the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and* burst the bonds.
Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and* a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and* their backslidings are increased.
¶ How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are* no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
They were as* fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.
Shall I not visit for these things*? saith the \+w LORD|strong="H3068"\+w**: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
¶ Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are* not the \+w LORD’s|strong="H3068"\+w**.
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the \+w LORD|strong="H3068"\+w**.
They have belied the \+w LORD|strong="H3068"\+w**, and said, It is* not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:
And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is* not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
Wherefore thus saith the \+w LORD|strong="H3068"\+w** God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the \+w LORD|strong="H3068"\+w**: it is* a mighty nation, it is* an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.
Their quiver is* as an open sepulchre, they are* all mighty men.
And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which* thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.
Nevertheless in those days, saith the \+w LORD|strong="H3068"\+w**, I will not make a full end with you.
¶ And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the \+w LORD|strong="H3068"\+w** our God all these things* unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is* not yours.
Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
Fear ye not me? saith the \+w LORD|strong="H3068"\+w**: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for* the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the \+w LORD|strong="H3068"\+w** our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
¶ Your iniquities have turned away these things*, and your sins have withholden good things* from you.
For among my people are found wicked men:* they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
As a cage is full of birds, so are* their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
Shall I not visit for these things*? saith the \+w LORD|strong="H3068"\+w**: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
¶ A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;