1. “At that time,” declares יהוה, “they shall bring the bones of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah, and the bones of its heads, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, out of their graves,
2. and shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of the heavens, which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought, and to which they have bowed themselves. They shall not be gathered nor buried, they shall be for dung on the face of the earth.
3. “And death shall be preferred to life by all the rest of those who remain of this evil people, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,” declares יהוה of hosts.
4. “And you shall say to them, ‘Thus said יהוה, “Would they fall, and not rise? Does one turn away and not return?
5. “Why then has this people, Yerushalayim, turned away in a continual backsliding? They cling to deceit, they refuse to turn back.
6. “I have listened and heard – they do not speak right. No man has repented of his evil, saying, ‘What have I done?’ They all turned to their own course, like a horse rushing into battle.
7. “Even a stork in the heavens knows her appointed times. And a turtledove, and a swallow, and a thrush observe the time of their coming. But My people do not know the right-ruling of יהוה.
8. “How do you say, ‘We are wise, and the Torah of יהוה is with us’? But look, the false pen of the scribe has worked falsehood.
9. “The wise shall be put to shame, they shall be broken down and caught. See, they have rejected the Word of יהוה, so what wisdom do they have?
10. “Therefore I give their wives to others, and their fields to possessing ones. For from the least even to the greatest, they are all greedy for gain. From the prophet to the priest, all act falsely.
11. “And they heal the breach of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace.