| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Woe to those who devise iniquity, And work out evil on their beds! At morning light they practice it, Because it is in the power of their hand. | 1What sorrow awaits you who lie awake at night, thinking up evil plans. You rise at dawn and hurry to carry them out, simply because you have the power to do so. |
| 2They covet fields and take them by violence, Also houses, and seize them. So they oppress a man and his house, A man and his inheritance. | 2When you want a piece of land, you find a way to seize it. When you want someone’s house, you take it by fraud and violence. You cheat a man of his property, stealing his family’s inheritance. |
| 3Therefore thus says the LORD: “Behold, against this family I am devising disaster, From which you cannot remove your necks; Nor shall you walk haughtily, For this is an evil time. | 3But this is what the LORD says: “I will reward your evil with evil; you won’t be able to pull your neck out of the noose. You will no longer walk around proudly, for it will be a terrible time.” |
| 4In that day one shall take up a proverb against you, And lament with a bitter lamentation, saying: ‘We are utterly destroyed! He has changed the heritage of my people; How He has removed it from me! To a turncoat He has divided our fields.’ ” | 4In that day your enemies will make fun of you by singing this song of despair about you: “We are finished, completely ruined! God has confiscated our land, taking it from us. He has given our fields to those who betrayed us. ” |
| 5Therefore you will have no one to determine boundaries by lot In the assembly of the LORD. | 5Others will set your boundaries then, and the LORD’s people will have no say in how the land is divided. True and False Prophets |
| 6“Do not prattle,” you say to those who prophesy. So they shall not prophesy to you; They shall not return insult for insult. | 6“Don’t say such things,” the people respond. “Don’t prophesy like that. Such disasters will never come our way!” |
| 7You who are named the house of Jacob: “Is the Spirit of the LORD restricted? Are these His doings? Do not My words do good To him who walks uprightly? | 7Should you talk that way, O family of Israel? Will the LORD’s Spirit have patience with such behavior? If you would do what is right, you would find my words comforting. |
| 8“Lately My people have risen up as an enemy— You pull off the robe with the garment From those who trust you, as they pass by, Like men returned from war. | 8Yet to this very hour my people rise against me like an enemy! You steal the shirts right off the backs of those who trusted you, making them as ragged as men returning from battle. |
| 9The women of My people you cast out From their pleasant houses; From their children You have taken away My glory forever. | 9You have evicted women from their pleasant homes and forever stripped their children of all that God would give them. |
| 10“Arise and depart, For this is not your rest; Because it is defiled, it shall destroy, Yes, with utter destruction. | 10Up! Begone! This is no longer your land and home, for you have filled it with sin and ruined it completely. |
| 11If a man should walk in a false spirit And speak a lie, saying, ‘I will prophesy to you of wine and drink,’ Even he would be the prattler of this people. | 11Suppose a prophet full of lies would say to you, “I’ll preach to you the joys of wine and alcohol!” That’s just the kind of prophet you would like! Hope for Restoration |
| 12“I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together like sheep of the fold, Like a flock in the midst of their pasture; They shall make a loud noise because of so many people. | 12“Someday, O Israel, I will gather you; I will gather the remnant who are left. I will bring you together again like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture. Yes, your land will again be filled with noisy crowds! |
| 13The one who breaks open will come up before them; They will break out, Pass through the gate, And go out by it; Their king will pass before them, With the LORD at their head.” | 13Your leader will break out and lead you out of exile, out through the gates of the enemy cities, back to your own land. Your king will lead you; the LORD himself will guide you.” |
| 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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