The Beginning of the History of the Hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees 2

Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying,Thus saith Jehovah,I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals;how thou wentest after me in the wilderness,in “a land that was not sown.”“Israel was holiness unto Jehovah,”• the first-fruits of his increase:all that devour him shall be held guilty;“evil shall come upon them,” saith Jehovah.Hear ye the word of Jehovah,“O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:”thus saith Jehovah,What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me,that they are gone far from me,and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?Neither said they,Where is Jehovah that brought us up out of the land of Egypt,that led us through the wilderness,through a land of deserts and of pits,through a land of drought and of the shadow of death,through a land that none passed through,and where no man dwelt?And I brought you into a plentiful land,to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof;but when ye entered,• ye defiled my land,• and made my heritage an abomination.• The priests said not, Where is Jehovah?• and they that handle the law knew me not:• the rulers also transgressed against me,• and the prophets prophesied by Baal,• and walked after things that do not profit.Wherefore I will yet• contend with you, saith Jehovah,• and with your children’s children will I contend.

And though they say, As Jehovah liveth;“surely they swear falsely.”O Jehovah, do not thine eyes look upon truth?thou hast stricken them, but they were not grieved;thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction:they have made their faces harder than a rock;they have refused to return.Then I said, Surely these are poor;they are foolish;for they know not the way of Jehovah,nor the law of their God:I will get me unto the great men,and will speak unto them;for they know the way of Jehovah,and the law of their God.• But these with one accord have broken the yoke,• and burst the bonds.Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them,a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them,a leopard shall watch against their cities;every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces;because their transgressions are many,and their backslidings are increased.How can I pardon thee?“thy children have forsaken me,and sworn by them that are no gods:”“when I had fed them to the full,”• they committed adultery,• and assembled themselves in troops at the harlots’ houses.They were as fed horses roaming at large;every one neighed after his neighbor’s wife.Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah;“and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?”Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy;but make not a full end:take away her branches;for they are not Jehovah’s.For the house of Israel and the house of Judahhave dealt very treacherously against me, saith Jehovah.They have denied Jehovah, and said,• “It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us;”• “neither shall we see sword nor famine:”• “and the prophets shall become wind,and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.”Wherefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts,Because ye speak this word,behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire,and this people wood,and it shall devour them.

Trust ye not in lying words, saying,“The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah,the temple of Jehovah, are these.”Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.• Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery,• and swear falsely,• and burn incense unto Baal,• and walk after other gods that ye have not known,and come and stand before me in this house,which is called by my name, and say,• We are delivered;• that ye may do all these abominations?Is this house, which is called by my name,“become a den of robbers in your eyes?”Behold, I, even I, have seen it, saith Jehovah.But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh,where I caused my name to dwell at the first,and see what I did to itfor the wickedness of my people Israel.And now, because ye have done all these works, saith Jehovah,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 do unto the house which is called by my name,wherein ye trust,and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers,as I did to Shiloh.And I will cast you out of my sight,“as I have cast out all your brethren,even the whole seed of Ephraim.”Therefore“pray not thou for this people,”“neither lift up cry nor prayer for them,”neither make intercession to me;“for I will not hear thee.”

For I spake not unto your fathers,nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt,concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices:but this thing I commanded them, saying,Hearken unto my voice,and “I will be your God, and ye shall be my people;”• and walk ye in all the way that I command you,that it may be well with you.But• they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear,• but walked in their own counselsand in the stubbornness of their evil heart,　• and went backward, and not forward.Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egyptunto this day,I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets,daily rising up early and sending them:• yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear,• but made their neck stiff:they did worse than their fathers.And thou shalt speak all these words unto them;but “they will not hearken to thee:”thou shalt also call unto them;but “they will not answer thee.”And thou shalt say unto them,• This is the nation that hath not hearkenedto the voice of Jehovah their God,• nor received instruction:• truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.Cut off thy hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away,and take up a lamentation on the bare heights;for Jehovah hath rejected and forsaken“the generation of his wrath.”

For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight,saith Jehovah:they have set their abominations in the housewhich is called by my name,• to defile it.And they have built the high places of Topheth,which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom,to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire;• which I commanded not,• neither came it into my mind.Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah,that it shall no more be called Topheth,nor The valley of the son of Hinnom,• but The valley of Slaughter:for they shall bury in Topheth,till there be no place to bury.• And the dead bodies of this people shall be foodfor the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth;• and none shall frighten them away.Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah,and from the streets of Jerusalem,the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness,the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride;• for the land shall become a waste.

Why then is this people of Jerusalemslidden back by a perpetual backsliding?they hold fast deceit,they refuse to return.I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright:• no man repenteth him of his wickedness, saying,What have I done?• every one turneth to his course,as a horse that rusheth headlong in the battle.Yea, the stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times;and the turtle-dove and the swallow and the craneobserve the time of their coming;• but my people know not the law of Jehovah.How do ye say,We are wise, and the law of Jehovah is with us?• But, behold, “the false pen of the scribes hath wrought falsely.”• The wise men are put to shame,they are dismayed and taken:• lo, they have rejected the word of Jehovah;• and what manner of wisdom is in them?Therefore will I give their wives unto others,and their fields to them that shall possess them:• for every one from the least even unto the greatestis given to covetousness;• from the prophet even unto the priest“every one dealeth falsely.”And they have healed“the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly,” saying,• Peace, peace; when there is no peace.Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?• nay, they were not at all ashamed,• neither could they blush:• therefore shall they fall among them that fall;• in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down,saith Jehovah.I will utterly consume them, saith Jehovah:“there shall be no grapes on the vine,nor figs on the fig-tree,”• and the leaf shall fade;• and the things that I have given themshall pass away from them.

Why do we sit still?assemble yourselves,and let us enter into the fortified cities,and let us be silent there;• for Jehovah our God hath put us to silence,• and given us water of gall to drink,• because we have sinned against Jehovah.• We looked for peace, but no good came;and for a time of healing, and, behold, dismay!The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan:at the sound of the neighing of his strong onesthe whole land trembleth;for they are come, and have devoured the landand all that is in it;the city and those that dwell therein.For, behold, I will send serpents, adders, among you,which will not be charmed;• and they shall bite you, saith Jehovah.

And they bend their tongue, as it were their bow, for falsehood;• and they are grown strong in the land,but not for truth:• for they proceed from evil to evil,• and they know not me, saith Jehovah.• Take ye heed every one of his neighbor,and trust ye not in any brother;• for every brother will utterly supplant,and every neighbor will go about with slanders.• And they will deceive every one his neighbor,and will not speak the truth:• they have taught their tongue to speak lies;• they weary themselves to commit iniquity.Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit;through deceit they refuse to know me,saith Jehovah.

Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts,Behold, I will melt them, and try them;for how else should I do,because of the daughter of my people?• Their tongue is a deadly arrow;• it speaketh deceit:one speaketh peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth,• but in his heart he layeth wait for him.Shall I not visit them for these things? saith Jehovah;“shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?”For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing,and for the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation,because they are burned up, so that none passeth through;neither can men hear the voice of the cattle;both the birds of the heavens and the beasts are fled,they are gone.And I will make “Jerusalem heaps,”a dwelling-place of jackals;and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,without inhabitant.Who is the wise man, that may understand this?and who is he to whom the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken,that he may declare it?wherefore is the land perishedand burned up like a wilderness,so that none passeth through?

And Jehovah saith,• Because they have forsaken “my law which I set before them,”• and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein,• but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart,and after “the Baalim, which their fathers taught them;”therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel,Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood,and give them water of gall to drink.I will scatter them also among the nations,whom neither they nor their fathers have known;and I will send the sword after them,till I have consumed them.Thus saith Jehovah of hosts,Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come;and send for the skilful women, that they may come:and let them make haste,and take up a wailing for us,that our eyes may run down with tears,and our eyelids gush out with waters.For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion,• How are we ruined!• we are greatly confounded,• because we have forsaken the land,because they have cast down our dwellings.