Woe [to] apostate sons, The affirmation of Jehovah! To do counsel, and not from Me, And to spread out a covering, and not of My spirit, So as to add sin to sin.
‘Now, lo, thou hast trusted for thee on the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; which a man leaneth on, and it hath gone into his hand, and pierced it! — so [is] Pharaoh king of Egypt to all those trusting on him.
And how dost thou turn back the face of one captain of the least of the servants of my lord, that thou dost trust for thee on Egypt for chariot, and for horsemen?
Thy princes [are] apostates, and companions of thieves, Every one loving a bribe, and pursuing rewards, The fatherless they judge not, And the plea of the widow cometh not to them.
Ah, sinning nation, a people heavy [with] iniquity, A seed of evil doers, sons — corrupters! They have forsaken Jehovah, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have gone away backward.
Because ye have said: ‘We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a provision, An overflowing scourge, when it passeth over, Doth not meet us, Though we have made a lie our refuge, And in falsehood have been hidden.’
Woe [to] those going deep from Jehovah to hide counsel, And whose works have been in darkness. And they say, ‘Who is seeing us? And who is knowing us?’
Woe [to] those going down to Egypt for help, And on horses lean, And trust on chariots, because many, And on horsemen, because very strong, And have not looked on the Holy One of Israel, And Jehovah have not sought.
And each hath been as a hiding-place [from] wind, And as a secret hiding-place [from] inundation, As rivulets of waters in a dry place, As a shadow of a heavy rock in a weary land.
Then hath Jehovah prepared Over every fixed place of Mount Zion, And over her convocations, A cloud by day, and smoke, And the shining of a flaming fire by night, That, over all honour a safe-guard,
And when they say unto you, ‘Seek unto those having familiar spirits, And unto wizards, who chatter and mutter, Doth not a people seek unto its God? — For the living unto the dead!
‘Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Thus do ye say unto the king of Judah, who is sending you unto Me, to seek Me: Lo, the force of Pharaoh that is coming out to you for help hath turned back to its land, to Egypt,
And He saith unto Me, ‘Son of man, I am sending thee unto the sons of Israel, unto nations who are rebels, who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me, unto this self-same day.
and use unto the rebellious house a simile, and thou hast said unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: To set on the pot, to set [it] on, and also to pour into it water,
And it is no more to the house of Israel for a confidence, Bringing iniquity to remembrance, By their turning after them, And they have known that I [am] the Lord Jehovah.’
As an adamant harder than a rock I have made thy forehead; thou dost not fear them, nor art thou affrighted before them, for a rebellious house [are] they.’
And now do they add to sin, And make to them a molten image of their silver, By their own understanding — idols, A work of artisans — all of it, Of them they say, who [are] sacrificers among men, ‘The calves let them kiss.’
Woe to them, for they wandered from Me, Destruction to them, for they transgressed against Me, And I — I ransom them, and they have spoken lies against Me,
And he answereth and speaketh unto me, saying: ‘This [is] a word of Jehovah unto Zerubbabel, saying: Not by a force, nor by power, But — by My Spirit, said Jehovah of Hosts.
but, according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou dost treasure up to thyself wrath, in a day of wrath and of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
‘And it hath been, in his hearing the words of this oath, and he hath blessed himself in his heart, saying, I have peace, though in the stubbornness of my heart I go on, in order to end the fulness with the thirst.
‘Remember — do not forget — that [with] which thou hast made Jehovah thy God wroth in the wilderness; even from the day that thou hast come out of the land of Egypt till your coming in unto this place rebels ye have been with Jehovah;