17. And I have put judgment for a line, And righteousness for a plummet, And sweep away doth hail the refuge of lies, And the secret hiding-place do waters overflow.
18. And disannulled hath been your covenant with death, And your provision with Sheol doth not stand, An overflowing scourge, when it passeth over, Then ye have been to it for a treading-place.
19. From the fulness of its passing over it taketh you, For morning by morning it passeth over, By day and by night, And it hath been only a trembling to consider the report.
20. For shorter hath been the bed Than to stretch one's self out in, And the covering hath been narrower Than to wrap one's self up in.
21. For as [at] mount Perazim rise doth Jehovah, As [at] the valley in Gibeon He is troubled, To do His work--strange [is] His work, And to do His deed--strange [is] His deed.'
22. And now, show not yourselves scorners, Lest strong be your bands, For a consumption, that is determined, I have heard, by the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, [Is] for all the land.
23. Give ear, and hear my voice, Attend, and hear my saying:
24. The whole day plougheth the ploughman to sow? He openeth and harroweth his ground!