| New King James Version | Berean Study 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! | 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. |
| 2Oh, that I had in the wilderness A lodging place for travelers; That I might leave my people, And go from them! For they are all adulterers, An assembly of treacherous men. | 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. |
| 3“And like their bow they have bent their tongues for lies. They are not valiant for the truth on the earth. For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,” says the LORD. | 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. |
| 4“Everyone take heed to his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; For every brother will utterly supplant, And every neighbor will walk with slanderers. | 4“Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander. |
| 5Everyone will deceive his neighbor, And will not speak the truth; They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves to commit iniquity. | 5Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity. |
| 6Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the LORD. | 6You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD. |
| 7Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, I will refine them and try them; For how shall I deal with the daughter of My people? | 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? |
| 8Their tongue is an arrow shot out; It speaks deceit; One speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, But in his heart he lies in wait. | 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. |
| 9Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the LORD. “Shall 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?” |
| 10I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, And for the dwelling places of the wilderness a lamentation, Because they are burned up, So that no one can pass through; Nor can men hear the voice of the cattle. Both the birds of the heavens and the beasts have fled; They are gone. | 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. |
| 11“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.” | 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.” |
| 12Who is the wise man who may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? Why does the land perish and burn up like a wilderness, so that no one can pass through? | 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? |
| 13And the LORD said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it, | 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. |
| 14but they have walked according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them,” | 14Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone 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 water of gall to drink. | 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. |
| 16I will scatter them also among the Gentiles, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. And I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them.” | 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.” |
| 17Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider and call for the mourning women, That they may come; And send for skillful wailing women, That they may come. | 17This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them. |
| 18Let them make haste And take up a wailing for us, That our eyes may run with tears, And our eyelids gush with water. | 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. |
| 19For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How we are plundered! We are greatly ashamed, Because we have forsaken the land, Because we have been cast out of our dwellings.’ ” | 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.’ ” |
| 20Yet hear the word of the LORD, O women, And let your ear receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a lamentation. | 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. |
| 21For death has come through our windows, Has entered our palaces, To kill off the children— no longer to be outside! And the young men— no longer on the streets! | 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. |
| 22Speak, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Even the carcasses of men shall fall as refuse on the open field, Like cuttings after the harvester, And no one shall gather them.’ ” | 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.” |
| 23Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; | 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. |
| 24But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD. | 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. |
| 25“Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that I will punish all who are circumcised with the uncircumcised— | 25“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised yet uncircumcised: |
| 26Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, and all who are in the farthest corners, who dwell in the wilderness. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.” | 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.” |
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