| Holman Christian Standard Bible | International Standard Version |
| 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"Wander through the streets of Jerusalem. Look and investigate; search through her squares and see whether you find anyone— even one person there—doing justice and seeking truth. Then I'll forgive them. |
| 2When they say, "As the LORD lives," they are swearing falsely. | 2Although they say, 'As surely as the LORD lives,' still 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. | 3LORD, don't your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they didn't flinch. You brought them to an end, but they refused to receive discipline. They made their faces harder than stone, and they 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, "These are only the poor, they're foolish, for they don't know the LORD's way, the requirement 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. | 5Let me go to the leaders and speak to them. For they know the LORD's way, the requirement of their God." "But they, all together, have broken the yoke and torn off the restraints. |
| 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 attack them, a wolf from the desert will devastate them. A leopard is watching their towns, and everyone who goes out of them will be torn to pieces. For their transgressions are many, and their apostasies 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. | 7Why should I forgive you? Your sons have forsaken me, and you have sworn by those who aren't gods. When I gave them enough food to satisfy them, they committed adultery and marched to the prostitute's house. |
| 8They are well-fed, eager stallions, each neighing after someone else's wife. | 8They were well-fed, lusty stallions, each one 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? | 9"Should I not punish them for these things?" asks the LORD, "And on a nation like this, should I not seek retribution?" |
| 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. | 10"Go through her rows of vines and destroy them, but don't completely destroy them. Strip away her branches, because they aren't the LORD's. |
| 11They, the house of Israel and the house of Judah, have dealt very treacherously with Me. This is the LORD's declaration. | 11For both 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." | 12"They have lied about the LORD by saying, 'He wouldn't do that! Disaster won't come on us. We won't see sword and 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 nothing but wind, and the word is not in them. So may the disaster happen to 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 the Heavenly Armies says: "Because you people have said this, my words in your mouth will become a fire and these people the wood. The fire will destroy them. |
| 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. | 15People of Israel, I'm now bringing a nation from far away to attack you," declares the LORD. "It is an enduring nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you don't know. And you won't understand what they say. |
| 16Their quiver is like an open grave; they are all mighty warriors. | 16Their quiver is like an open grave, and all of them are powerful warriors. |
| 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. | 17"They'll devour your harvest and your food. They'll devour your sons and your daughters. They'll devour your vines and your fig trees. With their swords they'll batter down your 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 won't destroy you completely. |
| 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. | 19When the people ask, 'Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?' you are to say to them, 'Just as you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'" |
| 20"Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah, saying: | 20"Declare this to the descendants 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. | 21Hear this, you foolish and stupid people: They have eyes, but don't see; they have ears, but don't 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. | 22You don't fear me, do you?' declares the LORD. 'You don't tremble before me, do you? I'm the one who put the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot cross. Though the waves toss, they cannot prevail against it, though they roar, they 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 have 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 don't say to themselves, 'Let's fear the LORD our God, who gives rain in its season, both the autumn and the spring rain. He sets aside for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.' |
| 25Your guilty acts have diverted these things from you. Your sins have withheld My bounty from you, | 25Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have held back from you what is good. |
| 26for wicked men live among My people. They watch like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men. | 26"Evil men are found among my people. They lie in wait like someone who traps birds. They set a trap, but they do so to catch people. |
| 27Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have grown powerful and rich. | 27Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are filled with treachery. This is how they have become prominent 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. | 28and have grown fat and sleek. There is no limit to their evil deeds. They don't argue the case of the orphan to secure justice. They don't defend the rights of the poor. |
| 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 this?' asks the LORD. 'Should I not avenge myself on a nation like this?' |
| 30A horrible, terrible thing has taken place in the land. | 30"An appalling and horrible 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, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?" |
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