14 Therefore hear the word of the lord, ye men of scorn, rulers of this people which is in Jerusalem.

15 Because ye have said: We have made a covenant with death, and have made an agreement with hell; the overflowing scourge, when it passeth through, shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood have we hid ourselves:

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am he that hath founded in Zion a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-, stone of sure foundation; he that believeth shall not be in haste.

17 And I will set judgment for a line, and righteousness for a, plummet ; and hail sweepeth the refuge of lies, and waters shall overflow the hiding place.

9. ‘ ’: lit. hearing.12 init. Or, ‘Inasmuch as he ’ ‘refreshing’: or, ‘quiet.15. ‘an ’ lit. a vision (an interview ?). ‘overflowing’: or, ‘sweeping’: so ver. 18.16. Generally held to be the strict rendering of the pointed Hebrew: in which case A.V. ‘I ’ requires diff. pointing. ‘a tried ’ lit. a stone of proof. ‘of ’ Heb. ‘of founded ’

18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; the overﬂowing scourge, when it passeth through, ye shall be for it to tread down.

19 As oft as it passeth through, it shall take you away; for morning by morning shall it pass through, by day and by night; and it shall be sheer vexation to discern the message.

20 For the bed is too short for stretching oneself out, and the covering too narrow when wrapping oneself.

21 For the Lord shall rise up as (in) mount Perazim, he shall be disquieted as (in) the valley of Gibeon, to do his deed— strange is his deed: and to work his work—alien is his work.

22 And now deal ye not scoffingly, lest your bonds grow strong; for a destruction and a decision have I heard from the Lord God of Hosts, upon the whole earth.

23 Give ye ear, and hear my voice; attend, and hear my speech.

24 Is the ploughman always ploughing, to sow? (always) opening and harrowing his ground?

25 Doth he not, when he hath made plain the face thereof, cast abroad fennel, and scatter cummin, and set the wheat in rows, and barley in the appointed place, and spelt in the border thereof?

26 And he instructeth him according to judgment; his God teacheth him.

27 For fennel is not threshed with a sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled upon cummin; for fennel is beaten out with a staff, and cummin with a rod.

28 Bread (corn) is crushed ; for not for ever is he threshing it, and driving his cart wheel and his horses; he doth not crush it.

18. disannulled,’ lit. ‘smeared over,’ obliterated.19. Or, ‘utter terror (agitation) to discern the message’ (lit. hearing), cf. ver. 9.25 fin. Or, ‘as the border thereof.’26. Or, ‘correcteth’ it according to...’27. Or, ‘but fennel is beaten...’28. Or, ‘Is bread corn crushed? Nay, not for ever so...’

29 This also cometh forth from the Lord of Hosts; he maketh counsel wonderful, he maketh wisdom great.

XXIX. 1 Ah, Ariel, Ariel, city (where) David camped! add ye year to year; let the feasts go round.

2 And I will distress Ariel, and there shall be lamentation and lament; and she shall be unto me as Ariel.

3 And I will encamp against thee round about, and will lay ’ siege against thee with a mound, and raise siege works against thee :

4 And thou shalt be brought down, out of the earth shalt thou speak, and thy speech shall come low from the dust; and thy voice shall be as that of a ghost from the ground, and thy speech shall chirp out of the dust.