| New American Standard Bible 1995 | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 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! | 1If my head were a spring of water, my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night over the slain of my dear 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. | 2If only I had a traveler's lodging place in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a solemn assembly of treacherous people. |
| 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. | 3They bent their tongues like their bows; lies and not faithfulness prevail in the land, for they proceed from one evil to another, and they do not take Me into account. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 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. | 4Everyone has to be on guard against his friend. Don't trust any brother, for every brother will certainly deceive, and every friend spread slander. |
| 5"Everyone deceives his neighbor And does not speak the truth, They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves committing iniquity. | 5Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to speak lies; they wear themselves out doing wrong. |
| 6"Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me," declares the LORD. | 6You live in a world of deception. In their deception they refuse to know Me. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 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? | 7Therefore, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I am about to refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of My dear people? |
| 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. | 8Their tongues are deadly arrows-- they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peaceably with his friend, but inwardly he sets up an ambush. |
| 9"Shall I not punish them for these things?" declares the LORD. "On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself? | 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? |
| 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. | 10I will raise weeping and a lament over the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness grazing land, for they have been so scorched that no one passes through. The sound of cattle is no longer heard. From the birds of the sky to the animals, everything has fled--they have gone away. |
| 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." | 11I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a jackals' den. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, an uninhabited place. |
| 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? | 12Who is the man wise enough to understand this? Who has the LORD spoken to, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a wilderness, so no one can pass through? |
| 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, | 13The LORD said, "It is because they abandoned My instruction that I set in front of them and did not obey My voice or walk according to it. |
| 14but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them," | 14Instead, they followed the stubbornness of their hearts and followed after the Baals as their fathers taught them." |
| 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. | 15Therefore, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "I am about to feed this people wormwood and give them poisonous water to drink. |
| 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." | 16I will scatter them among the nations that they and their fathers have not known. I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off." |
| 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! | 17This is what the LORD of Hosts says: Consider, and summon the women who mourn; send for the skillful women. |
| 18"Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, That our eyes may shed tears And our eyelids flow with water. | 18Let them come quickly to raise a lament over us so that our eyes may overflow with tears, our eyelids soaked with weeping. |
| 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.'" | 19For a sound of lamentation is heard from Zion: How devastated we are. We are greatly ashamed, for we have abandoned the land; our dwellings have been torn down. |
| 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. | 20Now hear the word of the LORD, you women. Pay attention to the word of His mouth. Teach your daughters a lament and one another a dirge, |
| 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. | 21for Death has climbed through our windows; it has entered our fortresses, cutting off children from the streets, young men from the squares. |
| 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.'" | 22Speak as follows: This is what the LORD says: Human corpses will fall like manure on the surface of the field, like newly cut grain after the reaper with no one to gather it. |
| 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; | 23This is what the LORD says: The wise man must not boast in his wisdom; the strong man must not boast in his strength; the wealthy man must not boast in his wealth. |
| 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. | 24But the one who boasts should boast in this, that he understands and knows Me-- that I am Yahweh, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 25"Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised-- | 25"The days are coming"--the LORD's declaration--"when I will punish all the circumcised yet uncircumcised: |
| 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." | 26Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair on their temples. All these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart." |
| 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 | Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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