2Hear, O peoples, all of you,

give heed, O earth, and all that is in it!a

Let the Lord God be witness against you,

the Lord from his holy temple!*

3For see, the Lord goes out from his placeb

and descending, treads upon the heights of the earth.*

4The mountains melt under him

and the valleys split open,

Like wax before the fire,

like water poured down a slope.

5All this is for the crime of Jacob,

for the sins of the house of Israel.*

What is the crime of Jacob? Is it not Samaria?

And what is the sin of the house of Judah?

Is it not Jerusalem?

6So I will make Samaria a ruin in the field,

a place to plant vineyards;

I will throw its stones into the valley,

and lay bare its foundations.*

7All its carved figures shall be broken to pieces,c

all its wages shall be burned in the fire,

and all its idols I will destroy.

As the wages of a prostitute* it gathered them,

and to the wages of a prostitute they shall return.

8*For this I will lament and wail,

go barefoot and naked;

I will utter lamentation like the jackals,

mourning like the ostriches,d

9For her wound is incurable;

it has come even to Judah.

It has reached to the gate of my people,

even to Jerusalem.

10*Do not announce it in Gath,

do not weep at all;

In Beth-leaphrah

roll in the dust.e

11Pass by,

you who dwell in Shaphir!

The inhabitants of Zaanan

do not come forth from their city.

There is lamentation in Beth-ezel.

It will withdraw its support from you.

12The inhabitants of Maroth

hope for good,

But evil has come down from the Lord

to the gate of Jerusalem.

13Harness steeds to the chariots,

inhabitants of Lachish;

You are the beginning of sin

for daughter Zion,

For in you were found

the crimes of Israel.

14Therefore you must give back the dowry

to Moresheth-gath;

The houses of Achzib* are a dry stream bed

to the kings of Israel.

15Again I will bring the conqueror to you,

inhabitants of Mareshah;

The glory of Israel shall come

even to Adullam.

16Make yourself bald, cut off your hair,

for the children whom you cherish;

Make yourself bald as a vulture,

for they are taken from you into exile.*