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1 Hoy (woe, doom) to the ateret ge'ut (crown of pride),
to the shikkorei Ephrayim (drunkards of Ephrayim),
whose glorious beauty
is a fading tzitz (flower),
which are on the rosh of the verdant gey (valley)
of them that are overcome with yayin!
2 Hinei, Adonoi hath one, chazak and strong,
which as a tempest of barad (hail) and a destroying storm,
as a flood of mighty mayim overflowing,
shall cast them down to ha'aretz with the yad.
3 The ateret ge'ut (crown of pride), the shikkorei Ephrayim,
shall be trodden under foot;
4 And the glorious beauty,
which is at the rosh of the verdant gey,
shall be a fading tzitz,
and as the bikkurah (first ripe fruit) before kayitz (summer); which when he that looketh upon it seeth,
while it is yet in his palm he eateth it up.
5 In that day shall Hashem Tzva'os be
for an ateret of glory,
and for a wreath tiferet,
unto the remnant of His people,
6 And for a ruach mishpat
to him that sitteth in mishpat,
and for gevurah to them
that turn back the milchamah at the gate.
7 But they also have gone astray through yayin,
and through strong drink are out of the way;
the kohen and the navi have erred through strong drink,
they are swallowed up with yayin,
they are out of the way through strong drink;
they go astray from the vision,
they stumble in rendering decisions.
8 For all shulchanot are full of vomit and filthiness,
so that there is no makom (place) clean.
9 Whom shall He teach da'as?
And whom shall He make to understand doctrine?
Them that are just weaned from cholov,
and just drawn from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept;
line upon line, line upon line;
sham (here) a little, and sham (there) a little;
11 For with stammering safah (lips) and with lashon acheret (another tongue, different tongue)
will He speak to HaAm Hazeh.
12 To whom He said,
This is the menuchah (rest) wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest;
and this is the refreshing;
yet they would not hear.
13 But the Devar Hashem was unto them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept;
line upon line, line upon line;
sham a little, and sham a little;
that they might go, and fall backward,
and be broken, and snared, and taken [captive].
14 Therefore hear the Devar Hashem, ye scoffing anashim,
that rule HaAm Hazeh which is in Yerushalayim.
15 Because ye have said,
We have cut a brit with mavet,
and with Sheol are we in agreement;
when the overflowing scourge shall pass through,
it shall not come unto us;
for we have made kazav our refuge,
and under sheker have we hid ourselves;
16 Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem:
Hineni, I lay in Tziyon for a foundation an even (stone),
an even bochan (a tried stone), a pinnat yikrat (precious cornerstone), a sure foundation;
the ma'amin (believer) shall not panic.
17 Mishpat also will I make as the measuring line,
and tzedakah to be the plumbline;
and the barad shall sweep away the refuge of kazav,
and the mayim shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your brit (covenant) with mavet shall be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand;
when the overflowing scourge shall pass through,
then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 As often as it goeth forth it shall seize you;
for boker by boker shall it pass over,
by day and by night;
and it shall be a terror just to understand the message.
20 For the matztza (bed, mattress) is shorter than one can stretch himself on it;
and the blanket narrower than that he can wrap himself in.
21 For Hashem shall rise up as in Har Peratzim,
He shall be in wrath as in the valley of Giv'on,
that He may do His ma'aseh, His zar ma'aseh (strange work, foreign work);
and bring to pass His avodah, His nochriyah avodah.
22 Now therefore be ye not mockers,
lest your chains be made chazak;
for I have heard from Adonoi Hashem Tzva'os
a destruction,
even determined upon kol ha'aretz (the whole earth).
23 Give ye ozen, and hear my voice;
pay heed, and hear my speech.
24 Doth the plowman plow kol hayom to sow?
Doth he keep turning and breaking the clods of his adamah?
25 When he hath made level the surface thereof,
doth he not sow the dill,
and scatter the cumin,
and plant in rows the chittah (wheat) and the se'orah (barley) in the appointed place,
and the spelt in their place?
26 For Elohav doth instruct him,
and doth teach him properly.
27 For the dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
neither is an ofan agalah (cart wheel) rolled about upon the cumin;
but the dill is beaten out with a rod,
and the cumin with a club.
28 Grain for lechem must be ground;
because he will not ever be threshing it,
nor break it with the gilgal (wheel) of his agalah (cart, wagon),
nor grind it with his parash.
29 This also cometh forth from Hashem Tzva'os,
Who is wonderful in etzah, and excellent in wisdom.