God

At that time shall it bee saide to this people and to Ierusalem, A dry winde in the hie places of the wildernes commeth towarde ye daughter of my people, but neither to fanne nor to clense.

A mightie winde shall come vnto me from those places, and nowe will I also giue sentence vpon them.

They haue compassed her about as the watchmen of the fielde, because it hath prouoked me to wrath, saith the Lord.

For my people is foolish, they haue not knowen me: they are foolish children, and haue none vnderstanding: they are wise to doe euill, but to doe well they haue no knowledge.

I behelde, and loe, the fruitfull place was a wildernesse, and all the cities thereof were broken downe at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce wrath.

For thus hath the Lord saide, The whole lande shall be desolate: yet will I not make a full ende.

Therefore shall the earth mourne, and the heauens aboue shall be darkened, because I haue pronounced it: I haue thought it, and will not repent, neither will I turne backe from it.

For I haue heard a noyse as of a woman trauailing, or as one labouring of her first child, euen the voyce of the daughter Zion that sigheth and stretcheth out her handes: woe is me nowe: for my soule fainteth because of the murtherers.

Run to and from by the streetes of Ierusalem, and beholde nowe, and knowe, and inquire in the open places thereof, if ye can finde a man, or if there be any that executeth iudgement, and seeketh the trueth, and I will spare it.

For though they say, The Lord liueth, yet doe they sweare falsely.

O Lord, are not thine eyes vpon the trueth? thou hast striken them, but they haue not sorowed: thou hast consumed them, but they haue refused to receiue correction: they haue made their faces harder then a stone, and haue refused to returne.

Therefore I saide, Surely they are poore, they are foolish, for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the iudgement of their God.

I will get me vnto the great men, and will speake vnto them: for they haue knowen the way of the Lord, and the iudgement of their God: but these haue altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bondes.

Howe should I spare thee for this? thy children haue forsaken me, and sworne by them that are no gods: though I fed them to the full, yet they committed adulterie, and assembled them selues by companies in the harlots houses.

Shall I not visite for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not my soule be auenged on such a nation as this?

Clime vp vpon their walles, and destroy them, but make not a full ende: take away their batilments, for they are not the Lords.

For the house of Israel, and the house of Iudah haue grieuously trespassed against me, saith the Lord.

They haue denied the Lord, and saide, It is not he, neither shall the plague come vpon vs, neither shall we see sworde nor famine.

Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hostes, Because ye speake such wordes, beholde, I will put my wordes into thy mouth, like a fire, and this people shall be as wood, and it shall deuoure them.

Loe, I will bring a nation vpon you from farre, O house of Israel, saith the Lord, which is a mightie nation, and an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither vnderstandest what they say.

Neuerthelesse at those dayes, sayth the Lord, I will not make a full ende of you.

And when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the Lord our God doe these things vnto vs? then shalt thou answere them, Like as ye haue forsaken me and serued strange gods in your land, so shall ye serue strangers in a land that is not yours.

Feare ye not me, saith the Lord? or will ye not be afraide at my presence, which haue placed the sand for the bounds of the sea by the perpetuall decree that it cannot passe it, and though the waues thereof rage, yet can they not preuaile, though they roare, yet can they not passe ouer it?

For they say not in their heart, Let vs nowe feare the Lord our God, that giueth raine both early and late in due season: hee reserueth vnto vs the appointed weekes of the haruest.

For among my people are founde wicked persons, that lay waite as hee that setteth snares: they haue made a pit, to catch men.