Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah {is} exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not. {full of blood: Heb. filled with, etc} {perverseness: or, wresting of judgment}

Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

They return, {but} not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this {shall be} their derision in the land of Egypt.

Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken {so much} against thee?

To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard {speeches} which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

Your country {is} desolate, your cities {are} burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and {it is} desolate, as overthrown by strangers. {overthrown...: Heb. the overthrow of}

Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed {like} a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.

Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, {and} draw out the tongue? {are} ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,

And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.

Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen {this}, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. {Is it...: or, Is there any thing lighter than to commit}

The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Bethshemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there.

{Thou art} of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, {and} holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth {the man that is} more righteous than he? {iniquity: or, grievance}

They are corrupt, and speak wickedly {concerning} oppression: they speak loftily.

A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; {upon...: Heb. upon bricks}

And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel {was} there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.

Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one {is} an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand {is} stretched out still. {folly: or, villany}

Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:

Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave {them} all into his hand.

Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought {them} to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter. {Damascus: Heb. Darmesek}

Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. {of the king: Heb. which were the king's} {fetters: or, chains}

The crown is fallen {from} our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned! {The...: Heb. The crown of our head is fallen}

Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed {as} a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.

A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; {upon...: Heb. upon bricks}

For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue {is} deceitful in their mouth.

And thou shalt be brought down, {and} shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust. {whisper: Heb. peep, or, chirp}

But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us. {take...: or, overtake}

In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

Her filthiness {is} in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified {himself}.

But the men of Sodom {were} wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.

They return, {but} not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this {shall be} their derision in the land of Egypt.

Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. {laden: Heb. of heaviness} {gone...: Heb. alienated, or, separated}

The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; {there is} none to raise her up.

The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead {their} dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. {queen...: or, frame, or, workmanship of heaven}