| Berean Study Bible | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people. | 1Oh that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people! |
| 2If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people. | 2Oh that I had in the desert A wayfarers' lodging place; That I might leave my people And go from them! For all of them are adulterers, An assembly of treacherous men. |
| 3“They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD. | 3"They bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me," declares the LORD. |
| 4“Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander. | 4"Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; Because every brother deals craftily, And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. |
| 5Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity. | 5"Everyone deceives his neighbor And does not speak the truth, They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves committing iniquity. |
| 6You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD. | 6"Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me," declares the LORD. |
| 7Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of the daughter of My people? | 7Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, I will refine them and assay them; For what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people? |
| 8Their tongues are deadly arrows; they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him. | 8"Their tongue is a deadly arrow; It speaks deceit; With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, But inwardly he sets an ambush for him. |
| 9Should I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?” | 9"Shall I not punish them for these things?" declares the LORD. "On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself? |
| 10I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away. | 10"For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing, And for the pastures of the wilderness a dirge, Because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, And the lowing of the cattle is not heard; Both the birds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone. |
| 11“And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.” | 11"I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, A haunt of jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant." |
| 12Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a desert, so no one can pass through it? | 12Who is the wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through? |
| 13And the LORD answered, “It is because they have forsaken My law, which I set before them; they have not walked in it or obeyed My voice. | 13The LORD said, "Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, |
| 14Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.” | 14but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them," |
| 15Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. | 15therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. |
| 16I will scatter them among the nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off.” | 16"I will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them." |
| 17This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them. | 17Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come; And send for the wailing women, that they may come! |
| 18Let them come quickly and take up a lament over us, that our eyes may overflow with tears, and our eyelids may gush with water. | 18"Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, That our eyes may shed tears And our eyelids flow with water. |
| 19For the sound of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How devastated we are! How great is our shame! For we have abandoned the land because our dwellings have been torn down.’ ” | 19"For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion, 'How are we ruined! We are put to great shame, For we have left the land, Because they have cast down our dwellings.'" |
| 20Now, O women, hear the word of the LORD. Open your ears to the word of His mouth. Teach your daughters to wail, and one another to lament. | 20Now hear the word of the LORD, O you women, And let your ear receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a dirge. |
| 21For death has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the town squares. | 21For death has come up through our windows; It has entered our palaces To cut off the children from the streets, The young men from the town squares. |
| 22Declare that this is what the LORD says: “The corpses of men will fall like dung upon the open field, like newly cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather it.” | 22Speak, "Thus says the LORD, 'The corpses of men will fall like dung on the open field, And like the sheaf after the reaper, But no one will gather them.'" |
| 23This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches. | 23Thus says the LORD, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; |
| 24But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth—for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD. | 24but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD. |
| 25“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised yet uncircumcised: | 25"Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised-- |
| 26Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.” | 26Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and all those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart." |
| The Berean Bible (Berean Study Bible (BSB) © 2016, 2018 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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