mad Heb. הַנְבָלִים, madmen.

their desire Heb. רוּחָם [lit. their spirit,] like רְצוֹנָם, their will.

Like foxes in ruins When a man comes upon a breach in a ruin, the fox flees through another breach, and it does not stand in the breach to fight.

You have not gone up into the breaches You did not do good deeds so that you could prevent the evil from coming.

They prophesied Heb. חָזוּ, a term for prophecy.

and expect their words to be fulfilled Heb. וְיִחֲלוּ . “Now how do they expect that their words will be fulfilled?” [The word is] an expression of hope (תּוֹחֶלֶת). Some say that it is ecuydiyant in Old French, and they hoped. [Other editions read: et croiront, and they believed.] Another explanation: An expression of waiting.

and it is building a flimsy wall And behold My people are like builders of a partition, and the prophets are plastering with daub-earth similar to lime cement, but which does not resist the rains.

daub Heb. תָּפֵל, ajo[s]tamanz in Old French, coating, layer, and others say: plastre, plaster.

then you Heb. וְאַתֵּנָה, like וְאֶתֵּן [the second person pronoun in the feminine plural].

gigantic hailstones Heb. אַבְנֵי אֶלְגָּבִישּׁ, huge hailstones, and I say that because they shine as do all [crystal] hailstones, he likens them to crystal (גָבִישּׁ), which is a precious stone, as in the way that it is stated (Job 28:18): “Coral and crystal (וְגָבִישּׁ).” Our Sages (Ber. 54b) said: [They are called] אֶלְגָבִישּׁ because they [once] stood in the air over a man עַל גַב אִישּׁ, and this is Moses, our teacher, as it is said (Exod. 9: 33): “and rain did not reach the earth” those that started to fall did not reach the earth.

will fall on the wall.

Where is the plaster When the calamity comes, such will be said to you: “Where is the peace that you promised?”

the wall That is Jerusalem.

Woe to those who sew cushions Heb. לִמְתַפְּרוֹת, coseres(es) in Old French, needle-women; coudre, to sew. They would sew something like small cushions and hang them on the armpits of those consulting them, and they would divine with those cushions with a false divination; and to those whom they wished, they would tell a favorable divination, and to whom they wished, they would tell an unfavorable divination.

armpits Heb. אַצִילֵי, aisselles in French.

armpits Heb. אַצִילֵי יָדַי, like אַצִילֵי יָדַיִם, as in (Hosea 12:12): “the furrows of the fields (שָׂדָי).”

and who make the veils on the heads of people. They, too, are made to divine with, but I do not know what they are. Since it says (verse 21), “And I shall tear them,” I say that they are of cloth, and Jonathan renders: פַּת כּוּמָרִין, embroidered cloths over the heads of idolatrous statues, and so he renders (16:16): “mounds of striped clothing” בָּמוֹת טְלֻאוֹת covered with פַּת כּוּמָרִין “cloths of idolatrous statues.”

the veils Heb. הָמִּסְפָּחוֹת, like (I Sam. 2: 36): “Allow me to join (סָפְחֵנִי).” Faltres in Old French, veils, wraps, coverings.

to ensnare souls With them they ensnare souls for Gehinnom, for they encourage the wicked by divining favorably for them, and they discourage the righteous by divining unfavorably for them.

Will you ensnare the souls, etc. This is a rhetorical question.

and sustain your own souls Heb. לָכֶנָה, like לָכֶן, for you take reward for this and thereby earn a livelihood.

for fistfuls of barley Heb. בְּשֳּׁעֲלֵי, like (Isa. 40:12): “Who measured water with his fist (בְּשָּׁעֳלוֹ)?” Jaloynes in Old French, double-handfuls. Another explanation: an expression of a measure.

and for morsels of bread E an piyezes in Old French, and with morsels, that you take as your fee.

to slay souls that will not die i.e., to say about souls that will not die, “These will die,” and to say about souls that will not live, “These will live,” for your divinations are false, and My people accept your false divinations.

to fly away To fly to Gehinnom because of you.

and I shall free the people whose souls As the Targum renders: and I shall save the people upon whose souls you cast a spell to destroy them.

whose souls The people [whose souls you ensure] to fly away.

Because you break the heart of the righteous one with falsehood When you divine unfavorably for him, and he is anguished, and his heart is broken.