Only gleanings will remain, as when beating an olive tree— two or three olives at the very top, four or five on a fruitful tree’s branches. It is a declaration of Adonai God of Israel.
From the ends of the earth we have heard songs: “Glory to the righteous!” But I say, “I waste away, I waste away! Oy to me! Traitors betray! With treachery traitors betray!”
The glorious beauty is a fading flower which is at the head of the fertile valley, like a first-ripe fig before summer— whoever sees it, swallows it up while it is still in his palm.
Then I said: “Oy to me! For I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I am dwelling among a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, Adonai-Tzva’ot!”
For I heard a cry like one in labor, the anguish of one giving birth to her first child— the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands saying, “Oy , now to me! For my soul faints before murderers.”
Roam the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares! If you can find a person, if there is one who does justice, who seeks truth, then I will pardon the city.
“Like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel. Like early fruit on a fig tree in its first season I saw your fathers. They came to Baal-peor and devoted themselves to shame. So they became as detestable as the thing they loved.