² “Hear, heaven! Listen, earth!
For Adonai is speaking.

“I raised and brought up children,
but they rebelled against me.
³ An ox knows its owner
and a donkey its master’s stall,
but Isra’el does not know,
my people do not reflect.

⁴ “Oh, sinful nation,
a people weighed down by iniquity,
descendants of evildoers,
immoral children!
They have abandoned Adonai,
spurned the Holy One of Isra’el,
turned their backs on him!

⁵ “Where should I strike you next,
as you persist in rebelling?
The whole head is sick,
the whole heart diseased.
⁶ From the sole of the foot to the head
there is nothing healthy,
only wounds, bruises and festering sores
that haven’t been dressed or bandaged
or softened up with oil.

⁷ “Your land is desolate,
your cities are burned to the ground;
foreigners devour your land in your presence;
it’s as desolate as if overwhelmed by floods.
⁸ The daughter of Tziyon is left
like a shack in a vineyard,
like a shed in a cucumber field,
like a city under siege.”

⁹ If Adonai-Tzva’ot had not left us
a tiny, tiny remnant,
we would have become like S’dom,
we would have resembled ‘Amora.
¹⁰ Hear what Adonai says,
you rulers of S’dom!
Listen to God’s Torah,
you people of ‘Amora!

¹¹ “Why are all those sacrifices
offered to me?” asks Adonai.
“I’m fed up with burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fattened animals!
I get no pleasure from the blood
of bulls, lambs and goats!
¹² Yes, you come to appear in my presence;
but who asked you to do this,
to trample through my courtyards?
¹³ Stop bringing worthless grain offerings!
They are like disgusting incense to me!
Rosh-Hodesh, Shabbat, calling convocations —
I can’t stand evil together with your assemblies!
¹⁴ Everything in me hates your Rosh-Hodesh
and your festivals;
they are a burden to me —
I’m tired of putting up with them!

¹⁵ “When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
no matter how much you pray,
I won’t be listening;
because your hands are covered with blood.

¹⁶ “Wash yourselves clean!
Get your evil deeds out of my sight!
Stop doing evil, ¹⁷ learn to do good!
Seek justice, relieve the oppressed,
defend orphans, plead for the widow.

¹⁸ “Come now,” says Adonai,
“let’s talk this over together.
Even if your sins are like scarlet,
they will be white as snow;
even if they are red as crimson,
they will be like wool.
¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the good of the land;
²⁰ but if you refuse and rebel,
you will be eaten by the sword”;
for the mouth of Adonai has spoken.

²¹ How the faithful city has become a whore!
Once she was filled with justice,
righteousness lodged in her;
but now murderers!
²² Your silver is no longer pure,
your wine is watered down.
²³ Your leaders are rebels, friends of thieves.
They all love bribes and run after gifts.
They give no justice to orphans,
the widow’s complaint doesn’t catch their attention.

²⁴ “Therefore,” says the Lord, Adonai-Tzva’ot,
the Mighty One of Isra’el,
“I will free myself of my adversaries,
I will take vengeance on my enemies.
²⁵ But I will also turn my hand against you!
I will cleanse your impurities as with lye
and remove all your alloyed base metal.
²⁶ I will restore your judges as at first
and your advisers as at the beginning.
After that, you will be called
the City of Righteousness, Faithful City.
²⁷ Tziyon will be redeemed by justice;
and those in her who repent, by righteousness.

²⁸ “Rebels and sinners together will be broken
and those who abandon Adonai be consumed.
²⁹ You will be ashamed of the sacred oaks you desired,
you will blush at the gardens you chose;
³⁰ for you will be like an oak whose leaf fades,
like a garden without any water.
³¹ The strong will be like tinder
and [the idol’s] maker like a spark;
both will burn together,
and no one will put them out.”