| International Standard Version | New International Version |
| 1You are righteous, LORD, even when I bring a complaint to you. But I want to discuss justice with you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper, while all who are treacherous are at ease? | 1You are always righteous, LORD, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? |
| 2You plant them and they take root, they grow and bear fruit. "You are near to us," they say with their mouths, but the truth is that you're far from their hearts. | 2You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit. You are always on their lips but far from their hearts. |
| 3You know me, LORD. You see me and test my thoughts toward you. Pull the wicked out like sheep for slaughter; set them apart for the day of butchering. | 3Yet you know me, LORD; you see me and test my thoughts about you. Drag them off like sheep to be butchered! Set them apart for the day of slaughter! |
| 4How long will the land mourn and the vegetation of every field dry up? Because of the wickedness of those who live in it, animals and birds are swept away. For they say, "He does not see our future." | 4How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered? Because those who live in it are wicked, the animals and birds have perished. Moreover, the people are saying, "He will not see what happens to us." |
| 5Indeed, if you run with others on foot, and they tire you out, how can you compete with horses? You are secure in a land at peace, but how will you do in the thicket of the Jordan? | 5"If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan? |
| 6Indeed, even your brothers and your father's family conspire against you. Even they cry out after you loudly. Don't believe them, even though they speak friendly words to you. | 6Your relatives, members of your own family-- even they have betrayed you; they have raised a loud cry against you. Do not trust them, though they speak well of you. |
| 7I'll forsake my house, I'll abandon my inheritance. I'll give the beloved of my heart into the hand of her enemies. | 7"I will forsake my house, abandon my inheritance; I will give the one I love into the hands of her enemies. |
| 8My inheritance has become like a lion in the forest to me. She roars at me; therefore, I hate her. | 8My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest. She roars at me; therefore I hate her. |
| 9Is my inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to me? Are the other birds of prey all around her coming against her? Go, gather all the wild animals and bring them to devour it. | 9Has not my inheritance become to me like a speckled bird of prey that other birds of prey surround and attack? Go and gather all the wild beasts; bring them to devour. |
| 10Many shepherds will destroy my vineyard. They'll trample down my portion. They'll turn my pleasant portion into a desolate desert. | 10Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard and trample down my field; they will turn my pleasant field into a desolate wasteland. |
| 11They'll make it into a desolate place, and, desolate, it will cry out in mourning to me. The whole land will be desolate because no one takes it to heart. | 11It will be made a wasteland, parched and desolate before me; the whole land will be laid waste because there is no one who cares. |
| 12On all the barren heights in the desert destroyers will come. Indeed, a sword of the LORD will devour from one end of the land to the other. There will be no peace for any person. | 12Over all the barren heights in the desert destroyers will swarm, for the sword of the LORD will devour from one end of the land to the other; no one will be safe. |
| 13They have sown wheat, but they have harvested thorns. They have tired themselves out, but they don't show a profit. Now be disappointed about your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD. | 13They will sow wheat but reap thorns; they will wear themselves out but gain nothing. They will bear the shame of their harvest because of the LORD's fierce anger." |
| 14This is what the LORD says about all the wicked neighbors who strike out against the land I've given to my people Israel as their inheritance: "I'm about to uproot them from their land, and I'll uproot the house of Judah from among them. | 14This is what the LORD says: "As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the people of Judah from among them. |
| 15After I've uprooted them, I'll again have compassion on them. I'll return each one of them to his inheritance, and each one to his own land. | 15But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country. |
| 16If they have learned the ways of my people well, to swear by my name: 'As surely as the LORD lives,' just as they once taught my people to swear by Baal, then they'll be built up among my people. | 16And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, 'As surely as the LORD lives'--even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal--then they will be established among my people. |
| 17But if they don't listen, then I'll completely uproot that nation and destroy it," declares the LORD. | 17But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it," declares the LORD. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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