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Chapter 3

Jerusalem Reproached

Ah! Rebellious and polluted,
    the tyrannical city![a]
It listens to no voice,
    accepts no correction;
In the Lord it has not trusted,
    nor drawn near to its God.(A)
Its officials within it
    are roaring lions;
Its judges are desert wolves
    that have no bones to gnaw by morning.(B)
Its prophets are reckless,
    treacherous people;
Its priests profane what is holy,
    and do violence to the law.(C)
But the Lord in its midst is just,
    doing no wrong;
Morning after morning rendering judgment
    unfailingly, at dawn;
    the wicked, however, know no shame.

I have cut down nations,
    their battlements are laid waste;
I have made their streets deserted,
    with no one passing through;
Their cities are devastated,
    with no one dwelling in them.(D)
I said, “Surely now you will fear me,
    you will accept correction;
They cannot fail to see
    all I have brought upon them.”
Yet the more eagerly they have done
    all their corrupt deeds.

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Footnotes

  1. 3:1 The tyrannical city: Jerusalem.