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¹ Alas! for the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, And for his fading wreath of majestic beauty, - Which is on the head of the fertile valley, of them who are overcome with wine.² Lo! My Lord hath one who is, strong and bold, Like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, Like a storm of mighty waters overflowing, Hath he thrust it down to the earth with force:³ With the feet shall be trodden down, the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,⁴ So shall his fading wreath of majestic beauty, Which is on the head of the fertile valley, become - Like the first-ripe fig before fruit-harvest, Which when he that looketh upon it seeth while it is yet in his hand, he swalloweth it up.⁵ In that day, will Yahweh of hosts become A crown of beauty, and A diadem of majesty, - Unto the remnant of his people:⁶ Even a spirit of justice - to him that presideth over justice, And strength to them who would turn back the battle at the gate.⁷ But as for these, With wine, do they reel, and With strong drink, do they stagger, - Priest and prophet, reel with strong drink They are swallowed up through wine They stagger through strong drink, They reel in prophetic vision, They totter in pronouncing judgment.⁸ For, all tables, are full of filthy vomit, - There is no place!

⁹ Whom, would he teach knowledge? And, whom, would he cause to understand the message? Them who are weaned from the milk? taken from the breasts?¹⁰ For it is - Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, - A little here a little there.¹¹ For, with a jabbering lip, and with an alien tongue, must he speak unto this people!¹² To whom he said - This, is the rest - give ye rest to the weary, and This, is the quietness, - But they were unwilling to hear.¹³ So the word of Yahweh must be to them - Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, A little here, a little there, - That they may go and fall backward and be torn and snared and captured.

¹⁴ Wherefore, hear ye the word of Yahweh, Ye men who scoff, - Ye rulers of this people that is in Jerusalem.¹⁵ Because ye have said - We have solemnised a covenant with death, And with hades, have we effected a vision, - The overflowing scourge when it sweepeth by, shall not reach unto us, For we have made lying our refuge. And in falsehood, have we hid ourselves,¹⁶ Therefore, Thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh, Behold me! founding in Zion a stone, A stone of testing, The costly corner of a well-laid foundation, he that trusteth, shall not make haste!¹⁷ But I will make - Justice the line, and Righteousness the plummet, - And the hail shall, sweep away, your refuge of lying, And your hiding-place, the waters shall overflow;¹⁸ So shall be wiped out your covenant with death, And your vision with hades, not stand, - When the overflowing scourge, sweepeth past, then shall ye be thereby beaten down:¹⁹ As often as it sweepeth past, it shall take you away, For morning by morning, shall it pass along. By day and by night, - And it shall be nothing less than a terror to make out the message;²⁰ For too short is the couch to stretch oneself out, - And, the coverlet, too narrow, when one draweth up his feet.²¹ For as in Mount Perazim, will Yahweh, arise, As in the vale of Gibeon, will he be stirred, - To do his work - foreign is his work, And to perform his task - strange is his task.²² Now, therefore do not show yourselves scoffers, Lest your fetters, be bound fast, - For, of a full end, and that a decreed one, have I heard from My Lord, Yahweh of hosts upon all the land

²³ Give ear, and hear ye my voice, - Hearken, and hear ye my speech: - ²⁴ All day long, doth the plowman plow for sowing? Doth he continue laying open and harrowing his soil?²⁵ Doth he not when he hath levelled the face thereof, Cast abroad the fennel? And, the cummin, doth he not scatter? And plant wheat in rows, And barley in a lot, And spelt in the border thereof?²⁶ Yea One hath trained him to good judgment, His God, directeth him.²⁷ For not with a sledge, must, black coriander be threshed, Nor must, the wheel of a cart, on cummin, be turned, But with a staff, must fennel be eaten, And cummin with a rod:²⁸ Bread-corn, must be crushed, - Yet would he not be evermore, threshing, it, So he hasteneth over it the wheel of his cart, with his horsemen, He crusheth it not!²⁹ Even this, from Yahweh of hosts, cometh forth, - Who hath bestowed distinction upon counsel, And magnified sound wisdom.