Judah and Jerusalem shall be punished for their disobedience—The Lord pleads for and judges his people—The daughters of Zion are cursed and tormented for their worldliness—Compare Isaiah 3. Between 559 and 545 B.C.

1 - For behold, the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem, and from Judah, the stay and the staff, the whole staff of bread, and the whole stay of water—

2 - The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient;

3 - The captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.

4 - And I will give children unto them to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

5 - And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor; the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honorable.

6 - When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, and shall say: Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let not this ruin come under thy hand—

7 - In that day shall he swear, saying: I will not be a healer; for in my house there is neither bread nor clothing; make me not a ruler of the people.

8 - For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, because their tongues and their doings have been against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

9 - The show of their countenance doth witness against them, and doth declare their sin to be even as Sodom, and they cannot hide it. Wo unto their souls, for they have rewarded evil unto themselves!

10 - Say unto the righteous that it is well with them; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

11 - Wo unto the wicked, for they shall perish; for the reward of their hands shall be upon them!

12 - And my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they who lead thee cause thee to err and destroy the way of thy paths.

13 - The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.

14 - The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people and the princes thereof; for ye have eaten up the vineyard and the spoil of the poor in your houses.

15 - What mean ye? Ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor, saith the Lord God of Hosts.

16 - Moreover, the Lord saith: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched-forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet—

17 - Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts.

18 - In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments, and cauls, and round tires like the moon;

19 - The chains and the bracelets, and the mufflers;

20 - The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the ear-rings;

21 - The rings, and nose jewels;

22 - The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping-pins;

23 - The glasses, and the fine linen, and hoods, and the veils.

24 - And it shall come to pass, instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle, a rent; and instead of well set hair, baldness ; and instead of a stomacher, a girding of sackcloth; burning instead of beauty.

25 - Thy men shall fall by the sword and thy mighty in the war.

26 - And her gates shall lament and mourn ; and she shall be desolate, and shall sit upon the ground.

27 - So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

28 - He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

29 - But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

30 - Let both grow together until the harvest : and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

31 - ¶ Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:

32 - Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

33 - ¶ Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

34 - All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

35 - That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables ; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

36 - Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

37 - He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

38 - The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

39 - The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

40 - As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

41 - The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

42 - And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

43 - Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

44 - ¶ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

45 - ¶ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:

46 - Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

47 - ¶ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

48 - Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.

49 - So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,

50 - And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

51 - Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.

52 - Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.

53 - ¶ And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence.

54 - And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?

55 - Is not this the carpenter’s son ? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

56 - And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

57 - And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.

58 - And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.