1 The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

² A jealous and avenging God is Jehovah: an avenger is Jehovah, and full of fury: Jehovah taketh vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth [wrath] for his enemies.

³ Jehovah is slow to anger, and great in power, and doth not at all clear [the guilty]: Jehovah,—his way is in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

⁴ He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.

⁵ The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt, and the earth is upheaved at his presence, and the world, and all that dwell therein.

⁶ Who shall stand before his indignation? and who shall abide in the fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken asunder by him.

⁷ Jehovah is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.

⁸ But with an overrunning flood he will make a full end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.

⁹ What do ye imagine against Jehovah? He will make a full end: trouble shall not rise up the second time.

¹⁰ Though they be tangled together [as] thorns, and be as drenched from their drink, they shall be devoured as dry stubble, completely.

¹¹ Out of thee is gone forth one that imagineth evil against Jehovah, a wicked counsellor.

¹² Thus saith Jehovah: Though they be complete in number, and many as they be, even so shall they be cut down, and he shall pass away; and though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.

¹³ And now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds asunder.

¹⁴ And Jehovah hath given commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy god will I cut off the graven image, and the molten image: I will prepare thy grave; for thou art vile.

¹⁵ Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth glad tidings, that publisheth peace! Celebrate thy feasts, Judah, perform thy vows: for the wicked one shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.

3 Woe to her that is rebellious and corrupted, to the oppressing city!

² She hearkened not to the voice; she received not correction; she confided not in Jehovah; she drew not near her God.

³ Her princes in the midst of her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves, that leave nothing for the morning.

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.

⁸ Therefore wait ye for me, saith Jehovah, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for my determination is to assemble the nations, that I may gather the kingdoms together, to pour upon them mine indignation,—all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

⁹ For then will I turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve him with one consent.

¹⁰ From beyond the rivers of Cush my suppliants, the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine oblation.

¹¹ In that day thou shalt not be ashamed for all thy doings wherein thou hast transgressed against me; for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that exult in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.

¹² And I will leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of Jehovah.

¹³ The remnant of Israel shall not work unrighteousness, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: but *they* shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

¹⁴ Exult, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; rejoice and be glad with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem:

¹⁵ Jehovah hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy; the King of Israel, Jehovah, is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not see evil any more.

¹⁶ In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear not; Zion, let not thy hands be slack.

¹⁷ Jehovah thy God is in thy midst, a mighty one that will save: he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love; he will exult over thee with singing.

¹⁸ I will gather them that sorrow for the solemn assemblies, who were of thee: the reproach of it was a burden [unto them].

¹⁹ Behold, at that time I will deal with all them that afflict thee; and I will save her that halted, and gather her that was driven out; and I will make them a praise and a name in all the lands where they have been put to shame.

²⁰ At that time will I bring you, yea, at the time that I gather you; for I will make you a name and a praise, among all the peoples of the earth, when I shall turn again your captivity before your eyes, saith Jehovah.

1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkijah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:

² to whom the word of Jehovah came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign;

³ it came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive, in the fifth month.

⁴ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

⁵ Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I hallowed thee, I appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.

⁶ And I said, Alas, Lord Jehovah! behold, I cannot speak; for I am a child.

⁷ But Jehovah said unto me, Say not, I am a child; for thou shalt go to whomsoever I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

⁸ Be not afraid of them; for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith Jehovah.

⁹ And Jehovah put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and Jehovah said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

¹⁰ See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up, and to break down, and to destroy, and to overthrow, to build and to plant.

¹¹ And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond-tree.

¹² And Jehovah said unto me, Thou hast well seen; for I am watchful over my word to perform it.

¹³ And the word of Jehovah came to me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething-pot, and its face is from the north.

¹⁴ And Jehovah said unto me, Out of the north shall evil break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

¹⁵ For behold, I am calling all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith Jehovah, and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah:

¹⁶ and I will pronounce my judgments against them for all their wickedness, in that they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.

¹⁷ Thou, therefore, gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I shall command thee: be not dismayed at them, lest I cause thee to be dismayed before them.

¹⁸ And I, behold, I appoint thee this day as a strong city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls, against the whole land; against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land.

¹⁹ And they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee, saith Jehovah, to deliver thee.

2 And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

² Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.

³ Israel was holiness unto Jehovah, the first-fruits of his increase: all that devour him are guilty; evil shall come upon them, saith Jehovah.

⁴ Hear the word of Jehovah, house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.

⁵ Thus saith Jehovah: What injustice have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and become vain?

⁶ And they said not, Where is Jehovah, that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and of pits, in a land of drought and of the shadow of death, in a land that no one passeth through, and where no man dwelleth?

⁷ And I brought you into a fruitful land, to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof; and ye entered and defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.

⁸ The priests said not, Where is Jehovah? and they that handled the law knew me not; and the shepherds transgressed against me; and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after [things that] do not profit.

⁹ Therefore will I yet plead with you, saith Jehovah, and with your children's children will I plead.

¹⁰ For pass over to the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there have been such a thing.

¹¹ Hath a nation changed [its] gods? and they are no gods;—but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

¹² Be astonished, ye heavens, at this, and shudder; be amazed very much, saith Jehovah.

¹³ For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, to hew them out cisterns, broken cisterns that hold no water.

¹⁴ Is Israel a bondman? Is he a home-born [slave]? Why is he become a spoil?

¹⁵ The young lions roared against him, they gave forth their voice, and they made his land desolate: his cities are burned, without inhabitant.

¹⁶ Even the children of Noph and Tahapanes have fed on the crown of thy head.

¹⁷ Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, at the time he was leading thee in the way?

¹⁸ And now, what hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? And what hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?

¹⁹ Thine own wickedness chastiseth thee, and thy backslidings reprove thee: know then and see that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

²⁰ For of old thou hast broken thy yoke, [and] burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not serve. For upon every high hill, and under every green tree, thou bowest down, playing the harlot.

²¹ And I,—I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed; how then art thou turned into the degenerate shoots of a strange vine unto me?

²² For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much potash, thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord Jehovah.

²³ How sayest thou, I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baals? See thy way in the valley, acknowledge what thou hast done—a swift dromedary traversing her ways!

²⁴ —a wild ass, used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind in her desire! In her ardour, who shall turn her away? All they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.

²⁵ Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst. But thou saidst, There is no hope; no, for I love strangers, and after them will I go.

²⁶ As a thief is ashamed when he is found, so shall the house of Israel be ashamed—they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets—

²⁷ saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth; for they have turned the back unto me, and not the face; and in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us!

²⁸ Where then are thy gods that thou hast made for thyself? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for as the number of thy cities, are thy gods, O Judah.

²⁹ Wherefore would ye contend with me? Ye all have transgressed against me, saith Jehovah.

³⁰ In vain have I smitten your children: they received no correction. Your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

³¹ O generation, mark ye the word of Jehovah. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel, or a land of thick darkness? Wherefore say my people, We have dominion; we will come no more unto thee?

³² Doth a virgin forget her ornaments, a bride her attire? But my people have forgotten me days without number.

³³ How dost thou trim thy way to seek love! Therefore hast thou also accustomed thy ways to wickedness.

³⁴ Yea, in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor, whom thou didst not encounter breaking in, but [it is found] upon all these.

³⁵ And thou sayest, Indeed I am innocent; his anger will turn from me. Behold, I will enter into judgment with thee because thou sayest, I have not sinned.

³⁶ Why dost thou gad about so much, and change thy way? Thou shalt also be brought to shame by Egypt, as thou wast brought to shame by Assyria.

³⁷ Thou shalt indeed go forth from her with thy hands upon thy head; for Jehovah hath rejected those thou confidest in, and thou shalt not prosper by them.

3 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? Would not that land be utterly polluted? But thou hast committed fornication with many lovers; yet return to me, saith Jehovah.

² Lift up thine eyes unto the heights and see, where hast thou not been lain with? In the ways hast thou sat for them, as an Arab in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy fornications and with thy wickedness.

³ And the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; but thou hast a harlot's forehead, thou refusest to be ashamed.

⁴ Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?

⁵ Will he keep [his anger] for ever? Will he preserve it perpetually? Behold, thou hast spoken and hast done evil things, and thou art [so] determined.

⁶ And Jehovah said unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen what backsliding Israel hath done? She hath gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath committed fornication.

⁷ And I said, After she hath done all these [things], she will return unto me; but she returned not. And her sister Judah, the treacherous, saw [it].

⁸ And I saw that when for all the causes wherein backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce, yet the treacherous Judah, her sister, feared not, but went and committed fornication also.

⁹ And it came to pass through the lightness of her fornication that she polluted the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

¹⁰ And even for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, saith Jehovah.

¹¹ And Jehovah said unto me, Backsliding Israel hath shewn herself more just than treacherous Judah.

¹² Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith Jehovah: I will not make my face dark upon you; for I am merciful, saith Jehovah; I will not keep [anger] for ever.

¹³ Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against Jehovah thy God, and hast turned thy ways hither and thither to the strangers under every green tree; and ye have not hearkened to my voice, saith Jehovah.

¹⁴ Return, backsliding children, saith Jehovah; for I am a husband unto you, and I will take you, one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

¹⁵ And I will give you shepherds according to my heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

¹⁶ And it shall come to pass, when ye are multiplied in the land and become fruitful, in those days, saith Jehovah, they shall say no more, Ark of the covenant of Jehovah! neither shall it come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit [it]; neither shall it be done any more.

¹⁷ At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem; and they shall no more walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart.

¹⁸ In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel; and they shall come together out of the land of the north, to the land which I caused your fathers to inherit.

¹⁹ And as for me, I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee the pleasant land, the goodly inheritance of the hosts of the nations? And I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from following me.

²⁰ Surely [as] a woman treacherously departeth from her companion, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah.

²¹ A voice is heard upon the heights, the weeping supplications of the children of Israel; for they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Jehovah their God.

²² —Return, backsliding children; I will heal your backslidings. … Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art Jehovah our God.

²³ Truly in vain [is salvation looked for] from the hills, [and] the multitude of mountains; truly in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel.

²⁴ But shame hath devoured the 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 our confusion covereth us; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah our God.

4 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith Jehovah, return unto me; and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not be a wanderer;

² —and thou shalt in truth, in justice, and in righteousness swear, [As] Jehovah liveth! and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

³ For thus saith Jehovah to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: Break up for you a fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

⁴ Circumcise yourselves for Jehovah, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my fury come forth like fire and burn, and there be none to quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

⁵ Declare ye in Judah, and cause it to be heard in Jerusalem, and say, … and blow the trumpet in the land, cry aloud and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fenced cities.

⁶ Set up a banner toward Zion; take to flight, stay not! For I am bringing evil from the north, and a great destruction.

⁷ The lion is come up from his thicket, the destroyer of the nations is on his way; he is gone forth from his place, to make thy land desolate; thy cities shall be laid waste, without inhabitant.

⁸ For this, gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl! for the fierce anger of Jehovah is not turned away from us.

⁹ And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall be amazed.

¹⁰ And I said, Alas, Lord Jehovah! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, 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, A hot wind [cometh] from the heights in the wilderness, on the way of the daughter of my people, not for fanning, nor for cleansing.

¹² A wind more vehement than that shall come from me: now will I also pronounce judgments against them.

¹³ Behold, he cometh up as clouds, and his chariots are as a whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are destroyed.

¹⁴ Wash thy heart, Jerusalem, from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

¹⁵ For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.

¹⁶ Inform the nations; behold, make Jerusalem to hear: Besiegers come from a far country, and raise their voice against the cities of Judah.

¹⁷ As keepers of a field are they against her round about; for she hath been rebellious against me, saith Jehovah.

¹⁸ Thy way and thy doings have procured these [things] unto thee; this is thy wickedness, yea, it is bitter, yea, it reacheth unto thy heart.

¹⁹ My bowels! my bowels! I am in travail! [Oh,] the walls of my heart! My heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace: for thou hearest, my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the clamour of war.

²⁰ Destruction upon destruction is proclaimed; for the whole land is wasted: suddenly are my tents laid waste, my curtains, in a moment.

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

²² For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have no intelligence; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

²³ I beheld the earth, and lo, it was waste and empty; and the heavens, and they had no light.

²⁴ I beheld the mountains, and lo, they trembled, and all the hills shook violently.

²⁵ I beheld, and lo, man was not, and all the fowl of the heavens were fled.

²⁶ I beheld, and lo, the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down, before Jehovah, before his fierce anger.

²⁷ For thus saith Jehovah: The whole land shall be a desolation; but I will not make a full end.

²⁸ For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back therefrom.

²⁹ At the noise of the horsemen and bowmen, every city fleeth; they go into the thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city is forsaken and no man dwelleth therein.

³⁰ —And thou, wasted one, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rendest thine eyes with paint, in vain dost thou make thyself fair: [thy] lovers despise thee, they seek thy life.

³¹ For I hear a voice, as of a woman in travail, anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion: she moaneth, she spreadeth forth her hands, [saying], Woe unto me! for my soul faileth because of murderers.

5 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broadways thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be [any] that doeth justice, that seeketh fidelity; and I will pardon it.

² And if they say, [As] Jehovah liveth! surely they swear falsely.

³ Jehovah, are not thine eyes upon fidelity? Thou hast smitten them, but they are not sore; thou hast consumed them, they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

⁴ And I said, Surely these are the wretched ones, they are foolish; for they know not the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God.

⁵ I will go unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they know the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God; but these have altogether broken the yoke, have burst the bonds.

⁶ Therefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the evenings shall waste them; the leopard lurketh against their cities, every one that goeth out thence is torn in pieces: for their transgressions are multiplied, their backslidings are increased.

⁷ Wherefore should I pardon thee? Thy children have forsaken me, and swear by them that are not God. I have satiated them, and they have committed adultery, and they troop to the harlots' house.

⁸ [As] well fed horses, they roam about, every one neigheth after his neighbour's wife.

⁹ Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah, and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

¹⁰ Go up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end; take away her battlements, for they are not Jehovah's.

¹¹ For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith Jehovah.

¹² They have denied Jehovah, and say, He is not; and evil shall not come upon us, nor shall we see sword nor famine;

¹³ and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

¹⁴ Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the 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.

¹⁵ Behold, I bring a nation upon you from afar, house of Israel, saith Jehovah: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest thou what they say.

¹⁶ Their quiver is as an open sepulchre; they are all mighty men.

¹⁷ And they shall eat up thy harvest and thy bread, they shall eat up thy sons and thy daughters, they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds, they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees; they shall destroy with the sword thy strong cities, wherein thou trustedst.

¹⁸ Nevertheless in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you.

¹⁹ And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah our God done all these things unto us? then shalt thou say to them, As ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

²⁰ Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,

²¹ Hear now this, O foolish and heartless people, who have eyes and see not; who have ears, and hear not.

²² Will ye not fear me? saith Jehovah. Will ye not tremble at my presence, who have set the sand a bound for the sea by a perpetual decree, and it shall not pass it? and its waves toss themselves, but they do not prevail; and they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

²³ But this people hath a stubborn and a rebellious heart; they have turned aside and are gone.

²⁴ And they say not in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, that giveth rain, both the early and the latter, in its season; who preserveth unto us the appointed weeks of harvest.

²⁵ Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden from you what is good.

²⁶ For among my people are found wicked [men]: they lay wait, as fowlers stoop down; they set a trap, they catch men.

²⁷ As a cage full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and have enriched themselves.

²⁸ They are become fat, they shine, yea, they surpass in deeds of wickedness; they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, and they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not adjudge.

²⁹ Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

³⁰ An appalling and horrible thing is committed in the land:

³¹ the prophets prophesy falsehood, and the priests rule by their means; and my people love [to have it] so. But what will ye do in the end thereof?

1 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

² Jehovah, how long shall I cry and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee, Violence! and thou dost not save.

³ Why dost thou cause me to see iniquity, and lookest thou upon grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up.

⁴ Therefore the law is powerless, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked encompasseth the righteous; therefore judgment goeth forth perverted.

⁵ See ye among the nations, and behold, and wonder marvellously; for [I] work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be declared [to you].

⁶ For behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation, which marcheth through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs.

⁷ They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.

⁸ And their horses are swifter than the leopards, and are more agile than the evening wolves; and their horsemen prance proudly, and their horsemen come from afar: they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour.

⁹ They come all of them for violence: the crowd of their faces is forwards, and they gather captives as the sand.

¹⁰ Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a scorn unto him; he derideth every stronghold: for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it.

¹¹ Then will his mind change, and he will pass on, and become guilty: this his power is become his +god.

¹² —Art thou not from everlasting, Jehovah my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. Jehovah, thou hast ordained him for judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast appointed him for correction.

¹³ [Thou art] of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on mischief: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, [and] keepest silence when the wicked swalloweth up a [man] more righteous than he?

¹⁴ And thou makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them.

¹⁵ He taketh up all of them with the hook, he catcheth them in his net, and gathereth them into his drag; therefore he rejoiceth and is glad:

¹⁶ therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; for by them his portion is become fat, and his meat dainty.

¹⁷ Shall he therefore empty his net, and not spare to slay the nations continually?