| NET Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1"Run for safety, people of Benjamin! Get out of Jerusalem! Sound the trumpet in Tekoa! Light the signal fires at Beth Hakkerem! For disaster lurks out of the north; it will bring great destruction. | 1"Run for cover, Benjaminites, out of Jerusalem! Sound the ram's horn in Tekoa; raise a smoke signal over Beth-haccherem, for disaster threatens from the north, even great destruction. |
| 2I will destroy Daughter Zion, who is as delicate and defenseless as a young maiden. | 2Though she is beautiful and delicate, I will destroy Daughter Zion. |
| 3Kings will come against it with their armies. They will encamp in siege all around it. Each of them will devastate the portion assigned to him. | 3Shepherds and their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents all around her. Each will pasture his own portion. |
| 4They will say, 'Prepare to do battle against it! Come on! Let's attack it at noon!' But later they will say, 'Oh, oh! Too bad! The day is almost over and the shadows of evening are getting long. | 4Set them apart for war against her; rise up, let's attack at noon. Woe to us, for the day is passing; the evening shadows grow long. |
| 5So come on, let's go ahead and attack it by night and destroy all its fortified buildings.' | 5Rise up, let's attack by night. Let us destroy her fortresses." |
| 6All of this is because the LORD who rules over all has said: 'Cut down the trees around Jerusalem and build up a siege ramp against its walls. This is the city which is to be punished. Nothing but oppression happens in it. | 6For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: Cut down the trees; raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This city must be punished. There is nothing but oppression within her. |
| 7As a well continually pours out fresh water so it continually pours out wicked deeds. Sounds of violence and destruction echo throughout it. All I see are sick and wounded people.' | 7As a well gushes out its water, so she pours out her evil. Violence and destruction resound in her. Sickness and wounds keep coming to My attention. |
| 8So take warning, Jerusalem, or I will abandon you in disgust and make you desolate, a place where no one can live." | 8Be warned, Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you; I will make you a desolation, a land without inhabitants. |
| 9This is what the LORD who rules over all said to me: "Those who remain in Israel will be like the grapes thoroughly gleaned from a vine. So go over them again, as though you were a grape harvester passing your hand over the branches one last time." | 9This is what the LORD of Hosts says: Glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine. Pass your hand once more like a grape gatherer over the branches. |
| 10I answered, "Who would listen if I spoke to them and warned them? Their ears are so closed that they cannot hear! Indeed, what the LORD says is offensive to them. They do not like it at all. | 10Who can I speak to and give such a warning that they will listen? Look, their ear is uncircumcised, so they cannot pay attention. See, the word of the LORD has become contemptible to them-- they find no pleasure in it. |
| 11I am as full of anger as you are, LORD, I am tired of trying to hold it in." The LORD answered, "Vent it, then, on the children who play in the street and on the young men who are gathered together. Husbands and wives are to be included, as well as the old and those who are advanced in years. | 11But I am full of the LORD's wrath; I am tired of holding it back. Pour it out on the children in the street, on the gang of young men as well. For both husband and wife will be captured, the old with the very old. |
| 12Their houses will be turned over to others as will their fields and their wives. For I will unleash my power against those who live in this land," says the LORD. | 12Their houses will be turned over to others, their fields and wives as well, for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 13"That is because, from the least important to the most important of them, all of them are greedy for dishonest gain. Prophets and priests alike, all of them practice deceit. | 13For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is making profit dishonestly. From prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. |
| 14They offer only superficial help for the harm my people have suffered. They say, 'Everything will be all right!' But everything is not all right! | 14They have treated My people's brokenness superficially, claiming, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace. |
| 15Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things? No, they are not at all ashamed. They do not even know how to blush! So they will die, just like others have died. They will be brought to ruin when I punish them," says the LORD. | 15Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently? They weren't at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD. |
| 16The LORD said to his people: "You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. Ask where the old, reliable paths are. Ask where the path is that leads to blessing and follow it. If you do, you will find rest for your souls." But they said, "We will not follow it!" | 16This is what the LORD says: Stand by the roadways and look. Ask about the ancient paths: Which is the way to what is good? Then take it and find rest for yourselves. But they protested, "We won't!" |
| 17The LORD said, "I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you, saying: 'Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!'" But they said, "We will not pay attention!" | 17I appointed watchmen over you and said: Listen for the sound of the ram's horn. But they protested, "We won't listen!" |
| 18So the LORD said, "Hear, you nations! Be witnesses and take note of what will happen to these people. | 18Therefore listen, you nations and you witnesses, learn what the charge is against them. |
| 19Hear this, you peoples of the earth: 'Take note! I am about to bring disaster on these people. It will come as punishment for their scheming. For they have paid no attention to what I have said, and they have rejected my law. | 19Listen, earth! I am about to bring disaster on these people, the fruit of their own plotting, for they have paid no attention to My word. They have rejected My instruction. |
| 20I take no delight when they offer up to me frankincense that comes from Sheba or sweet-smelling cane imported from a faraway land. I cannot accept the burnt offerings they bring me. I get no pleasure from the sacrifices they offer to me.' | 20What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me. |
| 21So, this is what the LORD says: 'I will assuredly make these people stumble to their doom. Parents and children will stumble and fall to their destruction. Friends and neighbors will die.' | 21Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I am going to place stumbling blocks before these people; fathers and sons together will stumble over them; friends and neighbors will also perish. |
| 22"This is what the LORD says: 'Beware! An army is coming from a land in the north. A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth. | 22This is what the LORD says: Look, an army is coming from a northern land; a great nation will be awakened from the remote regions of the earth. |
| 23Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears. They are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride forth on their horses. Lined up in formation like men going into battle to attack you, Daughter Zion.'" | 23They grasp bow and javelin. They are cruel and show no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, lined up like men in battle formation against you, Daughter Zion. |
| 24The people cry out, "We have heard reports about them! We have become helpless with fear! Anguish grips us, agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby! | 24We have heard about it, and we are discouraged. Distress has seized us-- pain like a woman in labor. |
| 25Do not go out into the countryside. Do not travel on the roads. For the enemy is there with sword in hand. They are spreading terror everywhere." | 25Don't go out to the fields; don't walk on the road. For the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side. |
| 26So I said, "Oh, my dear people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with painful sobs as though you had lost your only child. For any moment now that destructive army will come against us." | 26My dear people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in the dust. Mourn as you would for an only son, a bitter lament, for suddenly the destroyer will come on us. |
| 27The LORD said to me, "I have made you like a metal assayer to test my people like ore. You are to observe them and evaluate how they behave." | 27I have appointed you to be an assayer among My people-- a refiner-- so you may know and assay their way of life. |
| 28I reported, "All of them are the most stubborn of rebels! They are as hard as bronze or iron. They go about telling lies. They all deal corruptly. | 28All are stubborn rebels spreading slander. They are bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt. |
| 29The fiery bellows of judgment burn fiercely. But there is too much dross to be removed. The process of refining them has proved useless. The wicked have not been purged. | 29The bellows blow, blasting the lead with fire. The refining is completely in vain; the evil ones are not separated out. |
| 30They are regarded as 'rejected silver' because the LORD rejects them." | 30They are called rejected silver, for the LORD has rejected them. |
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