Lexicon :: Strong's H5423 - nāṯaq

“My days are past, my purposes and plans are frustrated and torn apart;

The wishes of my heart [are broken].

“He is torn from his tent which he trusted [for safety],

And he is marched and brought to the king of terrors (death).

“Let us break apart their [divine] bands [of restraint]

And cast away their cords [of control] from us.”

He brought them out of darkness and the deep (deathly) darkness

And broke their bonds apart.

No one among them is weary or stumbles,

No one slumbers or sleeps;

Nor is the belt at their waist undone [as if unprepared for action],

Nor is the strap of their sandal broken.

Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts and observances;

Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a undisturbed settlement,

A tent which will not be taken down;

Not one of its stakes will ever be pulled up,

Nor any of its ropes be severed.

“[Rather] is this not the fast which I choose,

To undo the bonds of wickedness,

To tear to pieces the ropes of the yoke,

To let the oppressed go free

And break apart every [enslaving] yoke?

“For long ago you broke your yoke [in deliberate disobedience]

And tore off your bonds [of the law that I gave you];

You said, ‘I will not serve and obey You!’

For on every high hill

And under every green tree

You have lain down [in idolatrous worship] like a [compliant] prostitute.

“I will go to the great [men]

And speak to them,

For they [must] know the way of the LORD,

The ordinance of their God.”

But [I found the reverse to be true, that] they too had all alike broken the yoke [of God’s law]

And had burst the bonds [of obedience to Him].

The bellows blow fiercely,

The lead is consumed by the fire;

In vain they continue refining,

But the wicked are not separated and removed.

My tent is destroyed,

And all my [tent] cords are broken;

My children have been taken from me [as captives] and are no more.

There is no one to stretch out my tent again

And to set up my [tent] curtains.

But You, O LORD, know me [and understand my devotion to You];

You see me;

And You examine the attitude of my heart toward You.

Drag out the faithless like sheep for the slaughter [O LORD]

And set them apart for the day of slaughter.

“As I live,” says the LORD, “though [fn]Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet [ring] on My right hand, yet would I pull you (Coniah) off.

‘It shall come about on that day,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘that I will break the yoke off your neck and I will tear off your bonds and force apart your shackles; and strangers will no longer make slaves of the people [of Israel].

‘You will drink it and drain it,

Then you will gnaw its fragments

And tear your breasts;

for I have spoken,’ says the Lord GOD.

“Now, I will break his yoke [of taxation] off you,

And I will tear off your shackles.”