I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose {that} in which I delighted not. {delusions: or, devices}

But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;

Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose {that} wherein I delighted not.

All the ways of a man {are} clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen {doth gather} her brood under {her} wings, and ye would not!

To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending {them}, but ye have not hearkened;

And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching {them}, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction. {back: Heb. neck}

Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.

Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded. {shall be rewarded: or, shall be in peace}

Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that {are} in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and {against} the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.

Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded {them} to do; but they did {them} not. {imagination: or, stubbornness}

Wherefore, when I came, {was there} no man? when I called, {was there} none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because {there is} no water, and dieth for thirst.

Therefore it shall come to pass, {that} as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.

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 I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy. {kinds: Heb. families}

For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.

But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;

They provoked him to jealousy with strange {gods}, with abominations provoked they him to anger.

And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: {imagination: or, stubbornness} {drunkenness...: Heb. the drunken to the thirsty}

And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein {is} the breath of life, from under heaven; {and} every thing that {is} in the earth shall die.

And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not. {punish: Heb. visit upon}

And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;

For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal.

Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, {and cast you} out of my presence:

Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be {accomplished} in that day before thee.

Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending {them}, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.

Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, {even} all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:

She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God. {correction: or, instruction}

Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them. {to escape: Heb. to go forth of}