| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected. | 1I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the LORD says and how he will answer my complaint. The LORD’s Second Reply |
| 2Then the LORD answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. | 2Then the LORD said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others. |
| 3For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. | 3This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed. |
| 4“Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith. | 4“Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God. |
| 5“Indeed, because he transgresses by wine, He is a proud man, And he does not stay at home. Because he enlarges his desire as hell, And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied, He gathers to himself all nations And heaps up for himself all peoples. | 5Wealth is treacherous, and the arrogant are never at rest. They open their mouths as wide as the grave, and like death, they are never satisfied. In their greed they have gathered up many nations and swallowed many peoples. |
| 6“Will not all these take up a proverb against him, And a taunting riddle against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases What is not his—how long? And to him who loads himself with many pledges’? | 6“But soon their captives will taunt them. They will mock them, saying, ‘What sorrow awaits you thieves! Now you will get what you deserve! You’ve become rich by extortion, but how much longer can this go on?’ |
| 7Will not your creditors rise up suddenly? Will they not awaken who oppress you? And you will become their booty. | 7Suddenly, your debtors will take action. They will turn on you and take all you have, while you stand trembling and helpless. |
| 8Because you have plundered many nations, All the remnant of the people shall plunder you, Because of men’s blood And the violence of the land and the city, And of all who dwell in it. | 8Because you have plundered many nations, now all the survivors will plunder you. You committed murder throughout the countryside and filled the towns with violence. |
| 9“Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house, That he may set his nest on high, That he may be delivered from the power of disaster! | 9“What sorrow awaits you who build big houses with money gained dishonestly! You believe your wealth will buy security, putting your family’s nest beyond the reach of danger. |
| 10You give shameful counsel to your house, Cutting off many peoples, And sin against your soul. | 10But by the murders you committed, you have shamed your name and forfeited your lives. |
| 11For the stone will cry out from the wall, And the beam from the timbers will answer it. | 11The very stones in the walls cry out against you, and the beams in the ceilings echo the complaint. |
| 12“Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, Who establishes a city by iniquity! | 12“What sorrow awaits you who build cities with money gained through murder and corruption! |
| 13Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts That the peoples labor to feed the fire, And nations weary themselves in vain? | 13Has not the LORD of Heaven’s Armies promised that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes? They work so hard, but all in vain! |
| 14For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea. | 14For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the LORD. |
| 15“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, Pressing him to your bottle, Even to make him drunk, That you may look on his nakedness! | 15“What sorrow awaits you who make your neighbors drunk! You force your cup on them so you can gloat over their shameful nakedness. |
| 16You are filled with shame instead of glory. You also—drink! And be exposed as uncircumcised! The cup of the LORD’s right hand will be turned against you, And utter shame will be on your glory. | 16But soon it will be your turn to be disgraced. Come, drink and be exposed! Drink from the cup of the LORD’s judgment, and all your glory will be turned to shame. |
| 17For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you, And the plunder of beasts which made them afraid, Because of men’s blood And the violence of the land and the city, And of all who dwell in it. | 17You cut down the forests of Lebanon. Now you will be cut down. You destroyed the wild animals, so now their terror will be yours. You committed murder throughout the countryside and filled the towns with violence. |
| 18“What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, The molded image, a teacher of lies, That the maker of its mold should trust in it, To make mute idols? | 18“What good is an idol carved by man, or a cast image that deceives you? How foolish to trust in your own creation— a god that can’t even talk! |
| 19Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’ Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, Yet in it there is no breath at all. | 19What sorrow awaits you who say to wooden idols, ‘Wake up and save us!’ To speechless stone images you say, ‘Rise up and teach us!’ Can an idol tell you what to do? They may be overlaid with gold and silver, but they are lifeless inside. |
| 20“But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.” | 20But the LORD is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him.” |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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