| Holman Christian Standard Bible | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Roam through the streets of Jerusalem. Look and take note; search in her squares. If you find one person, any who acts justly, who seeks to be faithful, then I will forgive her. | 1“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city. |
| 2When they say, "As the LORD lives," they are swearing falsely. | 2Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are swearing falsely.” |
| 3 LORD, don't Your eyes look for faithfulness? You have struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They made their faces harder than rock, and they refused to return. | 3O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent. |
| 4Then I thought: They are just the poor; they have played the fool. For they don't understand the way of the LORD, the justice of their God. | 4Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God. |
| 5I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God. However, these also had broken the yoke and torn off the chains. | 5I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.” But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains. |
| 6Therefore, a lion from the forest will strike them down. A wolf from an arid plain will ravage them. A leopard keeps watch over their cities. Anyone who leaves them will be torn to pieces because their rebellious acts are many, their unfaithful deeds numerous. | 6Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous. |
| 7Why should I forgive you? Your children have abandoned Me and sworn by those who are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery; they gashed themselves at the prostitute's house. | 7“Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes. |
| 8They are well-fed, eager stallions, each neighing after someone else's wife. | 8They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife. |
| 9Should I not punish them for these things? This is the LORD's declaration. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this? | 9Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this? |
| 10Go up among her vineyard terraces and destroy them, but do not finish them off. Prune away her shoots, for they do not belong to the LORD. | 10Go up through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not finish them off. Strip off her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD. |
| 11They, the house of Israel and the house of Judah, have dealt very treacherously with Me. This is the LORD's declaration. | 11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to Me,” declares the LORD. |
| 12They have contradicted the LORD and insisted, "It won't happen. Harm won't come to us; we won't see sword or famine." | 12They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine. |
| 13The prophets become only wind, for the LORD's word is not in them. This will in fact happen to them. | 13The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.” |
| 14Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD of Hosts says: Because you have spoken this word, I am going to make My words become fire in your mouth. These people are the wood, and the fire will consume them. | 14Therefore this is what the LORD God of Hosts says: “Because you have spoken this word, I will make My words a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes. |
| 15I am about to bring a nation from far away against you, house of Israel. This is the LORD's declaration. It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand. | 15Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand. |
| 16Their quiver is like an open grave; they are all mighty warriors. | 16Their quivers are like open graves; they are all mighty men. |
| 17They will consume your harvest and your food. They will consume your sons and your daughters. They will consume your flocks and your herds. They will consume your vines and your fig trees. They will destroy with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust. | 17They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.” |
| 18"But even in those days"--this is the LORD's declaration--"I will not finish you off. | 18“Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you. |
| 19When people ask, 'For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' You will respond to them: Just as you abandoned Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that is not yours. | 19And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’ ” |
| 20"Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah, saying: | 20Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah: |
| 21Hear this, you foolish and senseless people. They have eyes, but they don't see. They have ears, but they don't hear. | 21“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear. |
| 22Do you not fear Me? This is the LORD's declaration. Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary of the sea, an enduring barrier that it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot pass over it. | 22Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it. |
| 23But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and have gone away. | 23But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away. |
| 24They have not said to themselves, 'Let's fear the LORD our God, who gives the rain, both early and late, in its season, who guarantees to us the fixed weeks of the harvest.' | 24They have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’ |
| 25Your guilty acts have diverted these things from you. Your sins have withheld My bounty from you, | 25Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty. |
| 26for wicked men live among My people. They watch like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men. | 26For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men. |
| 27Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have grown powerful and rich. | 27Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich. |
| 28They have become fat and sleek. They have also excelled in evil matters. They have not taken up cases, such as the case of the fatherless, so they might prosper, and they have not defended the rights of the needy. | 28They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy. |
| 29Should I not punish them for these things? This is the LORD's declaration. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this? | 29Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this? |
| 30A horrible, terrible thing has taken place in the land. | 30A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land. |
| 31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it like this. But what will you do at the end of it? | 31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end? |
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